Frequently Asked Questions

Have you heard the saying, "the only stupid question is one you don't ask"? If there's something you want to know about our program, about licencing, about motorcycling, about how to do something safely, PLEASE ASK. The only type of question we won't answer the way you might like is, "what kind of a bike should I buy?" Our stock answer to that one is below.

General Questions about bikes

What kind of bike should I buy?
Should I buy a new bike or a used one?
Which is the best bike shop in the area?
I have a chance to buy a {year/brand/model} for {$$here}. Is it a good deal?
How often should I change the oil?
What should I do when I put the bike away for the winter?
What brand of spark plug wires should I use?

General questions about Humber College

Is Humber College the best place to take a motorcycle course?
Why is it so expensive?
Can I purchase a gift certificate for a friend to take a course?

Questions about the Basic Riders Course

What do I need in order to take the Basic Riders Course?
I'm 6'7" and weigh 350 lbs. (or I'm 4'11" and 97 lbs soaking wet). Do you have a bike I can ride?
Tell me about the Thursday Night classroom session
What time do I have to be there?
What happens when the weather is bad?
What if I fail the test?

So you want to be an Instructor...

What does it take to become an Instructor?

Frequently Asked Questions: the Answers

What kind of a bike...
Everybody's different. Our position is, if it has two wheels (sometimes three!) it can't be bad. There are many different styles of bikes (ranging from scooters to trail bikes to sport bikes to cruisers to touring bikes and hybrid combinations like "sport-touring" or "dual sport" and specialty bikes like racing bikes, choppers, mini-bikes), lots of different brands, they're made on all the different continents (except maybe Antarctica!). Part of the fun of motorcycling is deciding what bike you want by going to shows and shops, reading magazines, doing demo rides at dealers and chatting with other riders.

We can't tell you to buy a new bike or an old bike, to spend $30,000 or $300, to get a 50cc motor or a 2300cc monster (you can get a V8 in some custom bikes!). The type of bike you buy depends entirely on what style of riding you want to do. It's our experience that people's riding evolves, so many riders change bikes from time to time.

Our instructors are all motorcyclists. And they're all different. Ask them.

Tell you what: here's Humber College's official position on this question:

"Buy a bike that matches your eyes".

Maintenance Questions
OK, again we can't tell you what to do. Some people do their own maintenance, some people would rather have a mechanic or a shop do the work for them. It's up to you.

We will say this: it is important for your own safety to make sure your bike is in proper mechanical shape. Your best source of information on how to maintain the bike is your owner's manual. Read it. If you are not mechanically inclined, go talk to someone who is.

If you want to learn a little more about maintaining your bike, check out our basic maintenance course. And feel free to pick our instructors' brains!

Is Humber College a good place to take a motorcycle course?
We think so. For a lot of reasons.

For one thing, we've been doing this for more than 25 years. We select and train instructors to our very high standards, and we conform to the Canada Safety Council course curricula. Our instructors are re-certified every spring and are up to date on all the newest techniques and procedures. We rigorously maintain a large fleet of training motorcycles and our training ranges are meticulously laid out and maintained.

Of course we can't be all things to all people: we focus on street riding. There are specialty courses for other types of riding off-road, racing, etc. Check out our links page for more information.

Why is it so expensive?
We don't think it is. Feel free to disagree.

Think about what you're getting. Expert instruction from highly trained and competent instructors, in a safe and spacious environment, using well-maintained bikes and equipment. Student/instructor ratios are consistently low and everyone gets a lot of personal attention.

And of course your insurance company will thank you in a very substantial way for successfully completing our certificate programs.

Can I purchase a gift certificate for a friend to take a course?
Yes. Please call Andy in the office at 416 798 0300 x21 to make those arrangements.

What do I need in order to take the Basic Rider's Course?
In the course description, we tell you that you need to bring a current M1 licence, the proper riding gear, and a good attitude.

You do NOT need to have any riding experience to take this course.

You'll be riding on a motorcycle from our fleet, so you don't need to have one of your own. At the end of the course, we administer the Ontario Ministry of Transportation M2 licence upgrade test; if you don't have an "M1" licence, you're not eligible to receive the documentation (you can still take the course without an M1, but you won't get an upgrade). You can read further about the M1 and M2 permits.

We insist on the proper riding gear. It's for your own safety. And we're REALLY diligent about enforcing this requirement show up without the proper gear and you won't be riding. Read about what we require here. Common sense prevails: we know it gets hot in that jacket under a broiling mid-summer sun, but we believe in the saying, "I'd rather sweat than bleed". And "pushing the edge of the envelope" isn't a great idea. When we say you have to wear a minimum of denim pants, we're not talking about low-cut fashion jeans that leave a mile of exposed skin, or wide bell-bottoms that can get caught in the bike parts. We've been known to use duct tape generously and it's really hard to get it off your skin! 4" spike heels won't work, and neither will your grandfather's old World War II leather bomber pilot helmet (you wouldn't believe what we've seen!).

As far as attitude is concerned, you're here to learn. And so are your fellow students (you'd be amazed how much you can learn from them too, and we know that many friendships and long term relationships have been kindled in our parking lots!) So have some consideration for them, and bring the right attitude with you. Regardless of how much riding experience you have, you will learn something on our course!

We sometimes prefer when people have no riding experience. "Less for you to un-learn", we say. We'd like it if you know how to ride a bicycle since balancing a bike is hard to grasp in a few minutes. Tell us if you don't. If you know how to drive a standard shift car, you'll catch on to the operation of the clutch more easily, but we're here to teach you this stuff and we're good at it!

I'm really big (or really small). Do you have a bike to fit me?
That's why we chose the Yamaha VStar250. It's a street bike, first of all, and we are teaching a street riding course, right?

While it's true that someone as big as you might find the bike a little cramped, we can adjust the handlebars to make room for your long legs, and stiffen up the suspension if we need to. And, we have replaced the levers with smaller versions on some bikes for those with small hands. Our instructors are skilled at making those little adjustments that will make you more comfortable so you can concentrate on having a great learning experience.

What's the Thursday night classroom about?
The classroom session is a necessary part of the Basic Riders course.

Its purpose is

• to prepare the ministry paperwork for the course
• to tell you what to expect (and what we expect from you)
• to educate you about the proper riding gear
• to learn about safe riding techniques and what to expect on the road
• to talk about attitude and how it's connected to riding safely

We used to do the classroom on the Friday night, but then people would find out too late that they didn't have the proper riding gear for the course the next morning. So we moved it to Thursday to give you time to go shopping!

If you're taking the mid-week course, the classroom is run on the Tuesday morning, and we finish at noon so you can have a lunch break before we start riding at 1:00. That doesn't give you a lot of time to shop, so have the right gear!

You DO NOT need to bring your gear to the classroom! The chairs are not motorized and won't fall over if you're careful! That said, you WILL need your gear for Tuesday afternoon if you're taking the midweek course.

What time do I have to be there?
It's important that you arrive on time for your course session(s). If you miss a significant portion of any lesson, you will not be allowed to continue the course. And, it's common courtesy to the other students in your group.

Here are the times:

• Thursday night classroom: sign-in starts at about 6:00pm since it takes a long time to get everyone registered. Please be there by 6:30pm at the latest so that we can start the session on time at 7:00. We finish at around 10:00pm.
• Saturday and Sunday mornings: We're actually up in the parking lot, starting lessons at 8:30am. For that to happen, you need to be in the parking lot, with all your riding gear, by 8:15am at the very latest. 8:00 would be better.
• On Saturdays, the course ends a little after 5:00pm, but we need to get the bikes back to the compound, so expect that it will be 5:30 before you're able to leave. On Sundays, we have to complete the paperwork so that you can get your coveted M2-upgrade, insurance certificate and graduation package. There's a classroom wrapup (not only informative, but very entertaining!) that finishes around 6:00pm.
• Mid-week courses run Tuesdays through Thursdays. The classroom session starts at 8:30am so please be there at 8:00 so we can get the registration and paperwork done. You don't need your riding gear at the classroom, but you will for the riding sessions which start at 1:00pm in the parking lot (be there at 12:45 latest). The classroom session ends shortly before noon.
• On Wednesdays and Thursdays, we try to get going a bit earlier than the official 8:30 start time, so we'd like you to be in the compound at 8:00am if you can. It can get pretty hot out there in the mid-summer afternoon sun so we try to end the day a bit earlier than the weekend sessions.

What happens when the weather is bad?
We're not trying to be perverse, but we really like it when the weather is bad. If you take your course on a bright, sunny, warm day and then get caught out there in a rainstorm or cold temperatures, you'll have little appreciation for what you and your bike are capable of. We think you learn a lot more when the road and weather conditions are less than ideal.

We're proud to say that we've only cancelled the course a couple of times in the last decade: once when there was a 6" (15cm) layer of ice in the parking lot!

Come prepared. Have good rain gear with you, and something warm to wear when it gets cold; bring water and sunscreen to those mid-summer scorchers!

What if I fail the test?
Fail? There are no failures. We have NEVER had a failure at Humber. However, if you were unsuccessful on the Ministry test and did not pass it the first time, no problem. This gives us the opportunity to work with you a little further to improve some of those basic skills and arrange for a re-test.

So what does it take to become an instructor?
A desire to give something back to the motorcycling community, lots of dedication, time and effort. Have a look at this page:

Our Instructor Course page,

Check it out...