Final Course of 2025 – November 11 through 16

Learn to Ride – Standard and Complete Courses

Standard Course includes classroom, motorcycle skills and skills test. Complete also includes traffic course.

MSA/MST (Skills Test) conducted as part of your course.

IslandRider Motorcycle Training specializes in taking new riders, including those who have never operated a motorcycle or even driven a clutch operated vehicle, and taking them through all the steps to becoming a safe and confident, fully licensed, unrestricted class 6 motorcycle rider.

• 2 evening classes in our classroom on the second floor of Barnes H-D in Langford.
• 2 full days (Saturday/Sunday) of skills training in the parking lot at 4000 Seymour Place, Victoria.
• Take your skills test as part of the course, and skip the MST at ICBC.
• Choose our standard novice course for $800, or choose our standard course + traffic course for $1175

---

---

Skills Refresher / Skills Upgrade Class

Looking for information on our intermediate and advanced classes?

Frequently Asked Questions

• Q: Is the MST included?
• A: Yes, if you take our STANDARD ($800) or COMPLETE course, the MSA (same as MST) is included as part of the course. In order to conduct the MSA, a motorcycle school must be a certified class 6/8 testing facility (we are!) and each student must successfully complete a minumum 18 hour course with an ICBC certified curriculum.
• Q: Do I need my own motorcycle?
• A: NO: IslandRider provides motorcycles for all parts of the training course.
• Q: Do I need to purchase my own helmet and riding gear prior to taking a course?
• A: NO. While we recommend that each student purchases their own helmet before taking the course, it is not mandatory. IslandRider will provide used helmets in various sizes (from XS to XXL) at no cost, as well as motorcycle gloves and motorcycle jackets (sizes XS to XL). Please note that we have limited gear available in sizes larger than XL.
• Q: Can I get my full license without having my own motorcycle?
• A: It Depends. Our STANDARD course includes theory and skills training, as well as the MST. Street lessons and road test lessons can be added on for an additional fee, or our COMPLETE course includes a traffic class, a motorcycle rental for practice on your own time, a motorcycle road test lesson, and the use of a school bike for your road test. Many of our COMPLETE course students have been successful in passing their road tests using only school bikes for all trainiing and testing.
• Q: Does your course include classroom/theory lessons?
• A: YES, the classroom is a mandatory part of any certified curriculum course. Our classroom is held on two consecutive weeknights from 6pm to 10pm in the classroom on the second floor of Barnes H-D, just off Westshore Parkway near Hwy 1 in Langford.
• Q: What happens if I don’t pass the MSA, or if I can’t learn enough in two days to feel safe on the road?
• A: Most of our students pass the MSA on the first attempt, however if you don’t pass the test (two attempts are permitted on the same day), then there are two options for you. If you were simply nervous, and failed the MSA due to this reason, you may return on any subsequent weekend for 2 hours of MSA practice and a retest, at no additional cost. If however, you failed the MSA due to a lack of skill, or if you decide not to take the test because you and/or your instructor feel that you are not ready to ride safely on the street, then we offer a second weekend of training at a cost of just $400.
• Q: Is IslandRider the same company as Urban Rider?
• A: Urban Rider is the parent organization, holding the ICBC school licence and authoring the ICBC-approved training program that allows the MSA (MST) to be built directly into our courses. Urban Rider delivers training in Victoria, Langley, and Burnaby. IslandRider is Urban Rider’s Vancouver Island identity. It is owned and managed by John and Tais, the original founders of Urban Rider. That means students at IslandRider are taught using the very same Urban Rider curriculum and ICBC-approved course structure. The only difference is in the name: IslandRider represents the Victoria branch, where John and Tais themselves do the teaching, while Langley and Burnaby locations are operated by partner schools. In short: IslandRider is the Vancouver Island branch of Urban Rider, personally overseen by its founders.

Photo Gallery of Skills Training at Seymour Place

Road Test Training

Available exclusively to students who have taken our Novice Couse.

Take the stress out of the road test with professional training by a qualified coach. The road test is primarily about good habits: stopping before the stop line, checking for hazards, shoulder checking consistently and maintaining a safe speed.

If you ask other riders how to pass the motorcycle road test, they will give you advice such as “exagerate your shoulder checks” and “shoulder check 3 times for every lane change or turn”. The truth is, no exageration is necessary, and checking once is usually enough. Many riders have failed because they didn’t understand which should checks are necessary. Coaching will allow you to understand which shoulder checks you are missing so that you can focus on other things during your road test (such as watching out for school zones and playground zones!

There are 5 types of skills that the ICBC examiner is watching for. The rider is permitted to make just a few mistakes in each of the 5 categories. Being perfect in 4 of the skills, but very weak in 1 category will still result in failure. In other words, you don’t have to be perfect, but don’t repeatedly make the same mistake. The most common mistakes are 1) failure to shoulder check consistently, particularly on right turns, and 2) going too slow! Many riders try to stay well under the speed limit in order to avoid failure due to speeding, but it isn’t safe to hold up traffic on busy city streets (except to obey the law: in other words, do the speed limit on a fast moving street, not 10kph under the limit!).

Success on the road test requires that you can observe speed limits and laws of the road. Any violation of the law is reason for an automatic failure. This would include speeding (there is some leniency given regarding speed on main streets, but be sure not to go even a little over in a 30 zone), not stopping completely for red lights on right turns, or riding in restricted bus lanes. Any dangerous action might also result in immediate failure, such as an unsafe lane change or unsafe turn in an intersection or a long skid of your rear tire demonstrating a lack of control over the motorcycle.

Our motorcycle speedometers have been tested, comparing the reported speed to a GPS app to ensure that the rider is aware of the actual speed that they are moving at. Many motorcycle speedometers are inaccurate, even on new bikes. The speed is taken from the front wheel rotation, and something as simple as low or high air pressure, or a low or high profile tire can alter the speed reading, so manufacturers seem to err on the side of caution and set the speedometer reading low (typcially about 10% faster than the actual speed of the motorcycle). If you are going to ride your own motorcycle for the ICBC road test, make sure that your speedometer is accurate. This can be done by running an app on your phone and mounting the phone to the handlebars (not permitted for class 8 riders) or by measuring your speed against one of those neighbourhood radar signs that show “Your Speed is…”

MST Bike Rental

Motorcycles can be delivered to your MST at the Langford testing center (979 Dunford) at a cost of $120, or they can be picked up (truck or supervisor required) at 2903 Sooke Lake Rd, Langford at a cost of $80. Advance reservation required.

During our training season (January 31st through Nov. 1st 2026), you may register to show up on any Sunday afternoon at 2pm at 4001 Seymour Place, Victoria and watch the demo/explanation of the MST course. We discuss the rules of the test, and provide tips for how to pass. There is no additional charge to watch the demonstration and explanation.

The Most Common Reasons for Failing the Motorcycle Skills Test:

• Slowing down before the examiner gives the stop signal
• Not stopping quick enough
• Long skid of the back tire
• Going too slow during the sudden stop exercise
• Unable to complete the u-turn without putting foot down multiple times or going around the boundary cones.

While none of the above items will fail you automatically if they simply occur once during the test, all parts of the test are repeated, and any two of the above errors occuring at any time during the test will cause a failure due to ‘skills’ incompetency. Most people worry about the slow portion of the MST, but as you can see from the list above, the braking portion offers far more opportunities to fail.

There are also several items which are automatic fails if they occur during the ICBC motorcycle skills test. Basically, anything that would be considered illegal or dangerous on the street, such as a wheelie or stoppie (lifting the front or rear wheel off the ground), losing control of your motorcycle or dropping it, or riding with no hands.

Training Locations:

• Classroom and traffic classes meet at Barnes H-D just off Westshore Parkway in Langford.
• Skills training and MST classes are held in the parking lot at 4001 Seymour Place, Victoria (Open Map View)
• Motorcycle rentals and traffic classes, as well as road test lessons meet at 2903 Sooke Lake Rd, Langford.

_{IslandRider Motorcycle Training is a motorcycle training program on Vancouver Island by Urban Rider Motorcycle School Ltd. Urban Rider is a motorcycle driver training school licensed through ICBC with a corporate address of 2840 Sooke Lake Rd. Langford, BC V9B 4R3}