Sidecar Training Courses 2023?

Well I looked into what California has in the way of training, and it's odd. My Wife took her MSF course 25 years ago nearby, but now MSF seems to have no presence here at all. The state took control of motorcycle training here at some point with the California Motorcyclist Safety Program, administered by the CHP. Over 100 locations statewide.

Riding a motorcycle here requires an M1 endorsement. Completing the course waives the riding test at the DMV.

Trikes and sidecars only require the normal class C license, so I located no organized training at all for them.

The oddest thing I found was that sidecar rigs must be inspected, and registered as special construction vehicles. Why? no clue. I'm good, because I hand built my bike, and it already has a SPCN title. This may well be one of the many rules, regulations, laws that are ignored here, because the folks tasked to enforce them don't know about them either.

James Carlisle @jamesmortonsmotorcycles-com,

I think you may have possibly misunderstood my post, or at least the intention of it. I did not mean that YOU were misleading, in any way, just the FUNNY part of Washington State being the Evergreen State, and the Evergreen Safety Council being tied in with the S/TEP programs.

I believe you...nothing to prove.

But as Chris @not-bob stated above, laws on sidecars and trikes ...and even 2 wheeled motorcycles vary greatly from state to state.

The olde days of the MSF are long gone.

@miles-ladue Thank you.  I did misunderstand the tone of your post.  I assumed it wasn't meant the way I read it and decided not to take offense.  But I did want to answer the questions I saw. The fact that S/TEP is alive in some states is promising.  When it was the only game in the basic skills training town, it was the best curriculum in town.  I don't know how to get it back, but at least the curriculum is still licensable.  In states where MSF holds sway (most states with Basic Rider Training), the curriculum is substandard.  MSF is profit-driven and heavily influenced by the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC made up primarily of the manufacturers and MSF).  ESC (Evergreen Safety Council) was not profit-driven or influenced by the manufacturers.  Guys like Washingtonian David Hough had a big influence on ESC. He worked for them on occasion on the Aviation side of their portfolio.  His son lives here on the East Coast and is one of my customers at Morton's Motorcycles.

@not-bob The California state of affairs on motorcycle safety is both simpler and more complicated than in other states.  CMSP, like MSLV, is just the state-run Motorcycle Safety Program.  MSF was the vendor in 2016 until CHP (which manages CMSP) requested some influence over the curriculum, including requiring that the training meet the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Model National Standards for Entry-Level Motorcycle Rider Training.  MSF refused to meet the standard and chose not to bid.  Several vendors, including Lee Parks (Californian, Motorcycle Racer, Author, and Purveyor of Advanced Rider Training in the vein of Reg Pridmore), submitted bids.  Lee Parks reduced the cost of the training borne by the State of California and improved its quality.  He met and exceeded the NHTSA training standards.  He has resisted much of the MIC's influence.  Since then, his school, Total Control, has become the largest motorcycle training school in the US.  MSF is bigger by the number of students trained, but it uses independent contractors (Schools) that, in turn, independently contract coaches.  Lee Parks maintains much more direct control over everything, right down to his coaching staff.  Simple yet complex.  In addition to California, Idaho, Ohio, Oregon, and South Dakota do not use the MSF Curriculum for motorcycle licensing.

James Carlisle @jamesmortonsmotorcycles-com,

Couple of notes...David Hough, being a fellow Washingtonian, and an all around good guy, is know by most around the World, and I knew him personally for many years.

In Washington State, the DOL (Dept of Licensing), just like the DMV in Calif.....allows that if you take the S/TEP classes in Washington, the one day classroom instruction, and the one day On The Field instructions, and pass both classes, then DOL will automatically issue you a 3 Wheeled endorsement in this state. That is 100% separate from a 2 Wheeled endorsement. To be clear, the DOL in Washington State does not even have classes or tests for 3 Wheeled vehicles at any location of the DOL in this state. If you want a 3 wheeled endorsement on your Drivers License, then you HAVE to take the 2 day classes from S/TEP. The S/TEP people issue you a Certificate, and you take that Certificate to the local DOL, and they issue your 3 Wheeled endorsement.

I checked on Total Control, they do have a three wheeled course described on their website, for trikes, Can Am Spyders, and sidecar outfits. However, there were none listed on their calendar. My city has regularly scheduled motorcycle training by an outfit named Pacific Motorcycle Training, even available through our school districts adult education program. Total Control does offer clinics throughout the state though, they had an intermediate motorcycle rider clinic here two days ago.

Though their website is a bit vague, Total Control seems to operate in many states, and boasts much corporate sponsorship, so they may have a curriculum to base a more widespread sidecar training program on in some way.

Total Control has been granted the contract to begin training in Illinois beginning in March 2027. As the IDOT (Illinois Dept. Of Transportation, commonly known as 'One Letter Short Of An Idiot) training program has been in shambles for years, it is quite welcome here. It was announced at my chapter's ABATE meeting this month with a big round of applause.

As one of three Safety & Ed instructors, and the only sidecar pilot in the chapter, I expect to be 'cajoled' into looking into become an instructor.