Confessions of an outlaw biker. For the last decade or so, I had been breaking the law. I'd been driving motorcycles illegally. First, let me state in my defense: 1. I wear a helmet even though the law doesn't make me; 2. I don't have a tattoo.

• Oklahoma Motorcycle License School

Also, I didn't know I was a renegade. Ignorance is no excuse, of course, even if it's the best one I had. Only recently did I come to realize the rebel I was.

A police officer stopped me for a traffic violation. That's when I heard for the first time the term 'motorcycle endorsement.' And the fact I didn't have one. And the fact I needed one.

Since it was Independence Day, the officer gave me his 'holiday special' - a warning. Still, this would have been easier to accept had it happened one week earlier. One week earlier I could have gone to a tag agent, signed a paper and received a motorcycle endorsement. That's because a week earlier that's all the state required, provided I swore I had ridden a motorcycle 'regularly' for at least two years. I have ridden motorcycles since the Johnson administration.

Oklahoma Motorcycle License School

The best way to achieve your goal of passing the Oklahoma motorcycle permit exam is to practice with this free OK motorcycle permit practice test. The study tool below is designed to evaluate your knowledge of the official Oklahoma Motorcycle Operator Manual, the state’s official study guide. Aug 4, 2016 - Oklahoma law will change Aug. 26 for people 17 or younger who are seeking a driver license with an M (motorcycle) endorsement, a media.

In the last 32 years, I've ridden dirt bikes, 'pocket rockets,' bullet bikes. I rode a Norton 750 to Colorado and back and drove a Suzuki 250 on a rocky pass over the Continental Divide. Since my discovery of the 'M' endorsement happened after July 1, 2000 - a deadline added to the law in 1996 - I had to again pass a written quiz and a driving test to get on the right side of the law.

Which makes me wonder: Was I the only oblivious lawbreaker out there? Are there other unknowing renegades still cruising about on some of those 53,000 motorcycles registered in Oklahoma.

They also would have the test standing between them and their former law-abiding lifestyle. They also would face a possible $100 fine for driving without one. More than 140,000 Oklahomans have the M, state officials say. Officials figure everyone knows about the M by now. They said each driver should have received one license renewal notice - back in the early 1990s when the state had money to send them - that mentioned various changed license requirements. Those affected things like driving large trucks, transporting hazardous materials and driving motorcycles.

Of course, officials admit, some people probably never got the notices, or they ignored them, or they read 'Expiration Notice,' and renewed their license without asking for the M. The M is even mentioned on the back of the Oklahoma driver's license, points out Karen Gentry, director of driver testing for the Department of Public Safety. It's in a list of endorsements that include 'Tank' and 'Double/Triple.' It also was mentioned on mine, as I discovered when I peeled off a bar code sticker put there by a video store. Cub Hood remembers 'no notification that I'm aware of.'

Hood found out about the M endorsement 'like, word of mouth.' From friends. These days, though, said Hood, parts manager for an Oklahoma City Harley dealer, it would be hard not to know 'if you're really into motorcycling.' I thought I was. Holly Swinford is.

Still, she thinks 'there will be lots of people who will be surprised' about the M, and expiration of the test waiver. Swinford, a campaign official for an Oklahoma congressional candidate, also heads American Bikers Aimed Towards Education (ABATE), a motorcycle lobbying group.

Motorcyclists who belong to groups - and there are many groups - probably know about the M. People who subscribe to motorcycle newsletters or read motorcycle chat on the Internet probably would, too. So would people who hang around motorcycle shops or use a tag agent who might have mentioned the M. However, Swinford said, GDIs might not.

'Gosh-darned independents,' roughly translated. People who don't join things, hang with a crowd or pack up. 'We motorcyclists tend to have that real independent streak anyway,' Swinford said. It sounds better than 'stupid.' The road to Oklahoma's M is a long one, complete with exemptions to exemptions. It even made outlaws of law officers. It began with a federal traffic-reform law Congress passed in 1986.

That law required states to create more uniform traffic laws, like requiring a separate license or endorsement for motorcycles. Before Oklahoma adopted the new laws in January 1991, a regular operator's license was good enough to ride a motorcycle. The new laws didn't mess with some driving privileges, though. Driving motor homes the size of the USS Nimitz, for instance. 'I've got a real problem with that,' said J.D. Roberts, who coordinated the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety's transition to the 'classified' driver's license system. Lobbying by older folks who drive most land yachts kept that privilege endorsement-free, regardless of size, Roberts said.

When the M was first imposed, it wasn't easy getting the word out. 'We even had Oklahoma City motorcycle police officers out patrolling the streets for months without the endorsement,' Roberts said. It was easy for experienced bikers who heard about the M to get one. State law said public safety officials could waive tests for the M if a person showed 'satisfactory proof that the applicant has regularly operated a motorcycle' for two years.

Registration for a bike, for instance. Public safety officials allowed this exemption for four years, figuring every driver would get a license expiration notice once in that period.

Every driver would become aware. Well, they didn't. When the exemption ended in January 1995, the problems began. 'It was a very confusing thing,' Roberts said.

'The motorcycle thing probably caused us as much hassle and headaches as anything.' Old-time bikers who missed the deadline had to again take a test many had taken when they were 14. Like 'Fly,' Fred Vannoy's longtime biker buddy. 'He got stopped and he needed that damn endorsement,' Vannoy said. However, Vannoy, who looks every pound the biker, said he got an unofficial waiver from a license inspector. 'I walked in with my tattoos and my vest,' he said. 'They didn't question me.'

Still, so many bikers complained about retesting that the Legislature in 1996 'yielded to the pressure,' Roberts said. Lawmakers ordered another four-year test waiver. The one that expired July 1. These days, you can still get a waiver for half the test - the driving part - but you must pay for an approved three-day motorcycle safety course.

Norman McDonald, who offers one in Tulsa for $175, said even old-time bikers need refresher courses. 'They pick up bad habits, too,' he said. Like driving way too close to each other, like in that old TV show about California Highway Patrol motorcycle officers. 'They've seen too many 'CHiPs,' McDonald said. Otherwise, a motorcycle renegade, oblivious or not, has two options: 1.

Take the test; 2. Remain forever the outlaw.

The best way to achieve your goal of passing the Oklahoma motorcycle permit exam is to practice with this free OK motorcycle permit practice test. The study tool below is designed to evaluate your knowledge of the official Oklahoma Motorcycle Operator Manual, the state’s official study guide. The format of the OK motorcycle permit practice test is almost identical to that of the official exam administered at your local DMV office. This practice test includes an optional hint for each question, just in case you are unable to decide on the correct answer. Review the explanation that follows each practice question to increase your chance of remembering the information.

There’s no better way to prepare to ace the official exam. Take the OK motorcycle permit practice test today!