Looking at the comments from different regions, I see that "licensing" is quite different from area to area. Here in Ontario we have the graduated licensing set-up, as it is called. With this process there are three graduated levels of licensing:
M1: Requires only that you take a multiple-choice test that covers motorcycle related items as well as rules of the road. This beginner license is good for 90 days and allows riding any licensed motorcycle on the streets, with 4 restrictions: 1. No passengers. 2. No riding half-hour after sunset until half-hour before sunrise. 3. No riding on highways with posted speed limits over 80 kph (50mph) - except with some specific listed exceptions in northern part of province. 4. No alcohol - that's 0.000% registered blood alcohol level.
M2: Requires that you pass a skills demonstration test on a motorcycle, in a parking lot. We give instruction and are regulated to administer this test at a safety school with which I teach. Our school supplies the parking lot and motorcycles (all under 250cc) where students in two days and an evening classroom are taken through all basic operation, starting as if they had absolutely zero previous experience. The M2 is issued only after the person demonstrates the required skills, either by completing successfully a safety course such as ours, or after being tested by the licensing ministry at their facilities on the applicant's own motorcycle. (It can be harder to go around pylons on a many bikes larger than 250cc.
) The M2 is also only issued after the rider operates under the M1 restrictions for at least 60 days. The M2 is good for a period of 5 years, and has only one restriction: NO ALCOHOL!
M: This final level of license (which doesn't expire, except every 5 years you pay a re-registration fee) is obtained after a period of 18-22 months having a M2 level of license. The shorter period of wait comes from having obtained the M2 at a safety course. The test for getting it is a road test on your own motorcycle - or one you provide. That's where all the traffic checks are needed in completing a prescribed route, where the "evaluator" follows as a passenger in an automobile while giving road direction to the motorcyclist in front over a one-way radio headset. There are no more restrictions with a full M license, except if you are found to have more than 0.08% blood alcohol, you go to jail. If you have over 0.05% (but less than 0.08%) they take your driving license for an escalating period of time (that also includes operating any other vehicle...they are all the same...just a different classes of license)...and they start counting how may more times you might found to be drinking and driving /riding.
Besides the three graduated levels of motorcycle licenses that are described above, there are some special variants. One deals with only being qualified/allowed to ride a three-wheeled motorcycle, and the other restricts you to a "limited-speed scooter" (defined as having a displacement no more than 50cc and certified by the manufacturer to only be capable of 60 kph - about 40 mph).
One more thing: All motorcyclists must wear an approved helmet. Eye protection and body armor is optional for the "law".
