Cheapest safety course? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Cheapest safety course?

M

matthewbennett

New member
Forum Sponsor
Hi, I'm a new rider looking to get my bike on the road but most insurance companies are requiring I complete the safety course first.

The safety courses I've seen are around $500 which seems quite expensive to me, so I am wondering if anybody knows what the actual cheapest option is for the GTA.

Thanks!
 
Most are similar price.

Just a word of advice, if you are starting off riding looking for the cheapest training, you need to rethink your hobby. You want the best even if it costs a bit more. Those hours on their bikes can save you thousands (and even your life). Obviously flying down to superbike school in california is not required, but if one school was highly recommended and cost a few hundred more (and I'd be surprised if the gap between the cheapest and most expensive GTA course was that much), I would be all over it.
 
There is nothing cheap when it comes to this sport. Cheap courses don't exist because 1. Somebody has to pay the instructors, the facility, purchase and maintain a fleet of motorcycles, carry huge liability insurance and the list goes on.

All these courses are MTO and Canada Safety Council sanctioned providers so prices will not vary vary much from provider to provider. If one was way cheaper than other I would wonder why.

Now of you had a time machine you could go back to 1982 when I took my course which cost a whole $80 at the time through Sheridan College and no graduated licensing so after passing the final test on Sunday I had my full M!!!
 
Last edited:
$500 is money very well spent. This course can and will teach you skills that could very well save your life some day, and yes, more and more insurance companies require it.

Although it's not a token amount of money, as mentioned, this is not a cheap sport. You will easily spend at least that much again buying just the very basics of proper riding gear, much less the insurance and upkeep of your bike itself.
 
There are lots of ways to learn how to ride a motorcycle better, which makes riding safer, but only a very few that are acceptable by the insurance company check box.

Another way to look at it; you are extremely fortunate that training even exists now, when some of us here started out there was no such thing and no insurance adjustment existed.
 
matthewbennett said:
The safety courses I've seen are around $500 which seems quite expensive to me.....
Click to expand...

Alright. Do some basic figuring on what it costs to run the business...

Buy storage bins
Rent parking lot
Rent classroom
Buy school bikes
Repair school bikes every weekend
Buy gas for all bikes
Pay instructors (basically the new minimum wage)
Annual overhaul of all bikes (transport all bikes to main compound, brake pads, clutches, fluids, more detailed repairs, return bikes to each location)
Pay Mechanics and transporters
And of course, insurance on top of it all.

Does $425 per person + taxes really seem ridiculous now? It's cheap. Really cheap.
You will pretty much save double the cost of the course in reduced insurance fees.
 
You could apply to become a motorcycle trainer, then they will have to train you for free and pay you to be there ;)
 
Trials said:
You could apply to become a motorcycle trainer, then they will have to train you for free and pay you to be there ;)
Click to expand...

Hate to tell you but you have to have your full M for a minimum of I think 3 years before you can become an instructor.
 
Oh!
I could apply to become a motorcycle trainer, then they will have to train me for free and pay me to be there :wink:
 
BigEvilDoer said:
Alright. Do some basic figuring on what it costs to run the business...

Buy storage bins
Rent parking lot
Rent classroom
Buy school bikes
Repair school bikes every weekend
Buy gas for all bikes
Pay instructors (basically the new minimum wage)
Annual overhaul of all bikes (transport all bikes to main compound, brake pads, clutches, fluids, more detailed repairs, return bikes to each location)
Pay Mechanics and transporters
And of course, insurance on top of it all.

Does $425 per person + taxes really seem ridiculous now? It's cheap. Really cheap.
You will pretty much save double the cost of the course in reduced insurance fees.
Click to expand...
Compare it to dirtbike riding courses, like trail tours or smart adventures.

We're talking about $230-80 worth
In one day, they show you how to ride dirt, they rent out the equipment (bike, helmet, body gear) you get to ride trails for most of the day, guided, and it's a HUGE confidence booster on the bike.
But, they don't do the theoretical classes, you don't end up with a license, its one day (not 2 + theory), you don't learn to interact with the crazy traffic we have to deal with every single day.

So i think the safety course is definitely worth the money/value.
 
matthewbennett said:
Hi, I'm a new rider looking to get my bike on the road but most insurance companies are requiring I complete the safety course first.

The safety courses I've seen are around $500 which seems quite expensive to me, so I am wondering if anybody knows what the actual cheapest option is for the GTA.

Thanks!
Click to expand...


Dude, don't take a course for insurance costs. Take the course for your skillset.

I think RTI is around 420?

All the schools follow a similar curriculum - everyone will tell you the school they went to is best, but only someone that's attended them all can really say anything about it (but you will also have to doubt the opinion due to the multiple attendances...)

Some only train, but don't test and might be cheaper.

But the ones that train and test will be the same.

Good luck.
 
CHRIS63 said:
No, and I don't have to.

It's 2018, Google reviews are the only thing you should be looking at. I recently took a firearms course that was 1.5hrs away from me because it had 138 4.9/5 stars.
Click to expand...

I think you totally missed his point.

Unless you (or the people posting the reviews) are also taking the competitors courses to have a point of comparison, the reviews don't tell the whole story. Just because company A provided a great course, someone went to it and posted a 5 star review doesn't mean company B isn't just as good...and a star value can be biased by people who trash a company over stupid things. I'd bet that people who took the courses and were not successful post crappy reviews online about it despite it being *their* fault in the end...but nobody wants to take responsibility for anything anymore, right?

And online reviews are notoriously iffy to base every decision in life on. I can show you a business in Trenton who has stacked their profile with hundreds of fake 5 star reviews but you have to dig deep to find the real people who actually did business with them..they found it to be a complete disaster.

Helpful, sure. Be all - end all? Nope.
 
Cheapest would be to befriend an instructor that gets a friends and family discount.

Best wouldn't be in the G.T.A. :p ;)

But if you're going to cheap out, then motorcycling isn't for you.
 
Last edited:
CHRIS63 said:
No, and I don't have to.

It's 2018, Google reviews are the only thing you should be looking at. I recently took a firearms course that was 1.5hrs away from me because it had 138 4.9/5 stars.
Click to expand...

Having a rating that high tells me they understand social media rankings and waste part of the teaching time telling people to give 5 star reviews only. Anything 4 stars or less is worse than no rating.
 
PrivatePilot said:
And online reviews are notoriously iffy to base every decision in life on. I can show you a business in Trenton who has stacked their profile with hundreds of fake 5 star reviews but you have to dig deep to find the real people who actually did business with them..they found it to be a complete disaster.

Helpful, sure. Be all - end all? Nope.
Click to expand...

Agreed! I have an absolute nightmare experience of dealing with a local shop for service. Gave them multiple chances to make things right, cost me more money every time. $4k down the drain. Have great reviews though.

I deal with being on the receiving end of online reviews. People know to use the threat of a negative review to get whatever they want. The businesses with great reviews solicit/pay for the reviews, and pay off anyone that threatens a negative one. Online review are the farthest thing from an organic reflection on the quality of the business.
Forum Sponsor
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom