Work out what you need
What are you riding?
This reflects RCW 46.04.330 and RCW 46.20.500 as written. If a manufacturer changes a design, apply the statutory test rather than relying on an older article.
Washington has no "autocycle"
Many states created a separate autocycle class for enclosed three-wheelers. Washington did not. Instead it handles them inside the definition of motorcycle.
RCW 46.04.330 defines a motorcycle as a motor vehicle designed to travel on not more than three wheels, not including stabilizing conversion kits, on which the driver either:
- rides on a seat or saddle and it is designed to be steered with a handlebar, or
- rides on a seat in a partially or completely enclosed seating area equipped with safety belts, and it is designed to be steered with a steering wheel.
The exemption, and exactly how far it reaches
RCW 46.20.500 then says a person holding a valid driver license may operate a motorcycle as defined under RCW 46.04.330(2) without a motorcycle endorsement.
Category two only. So the test is not "does it have three wheels." It is three conditions together:
- steered with a steering wheel,
- fitted with safety belts,
- partially or completely enclosed seating area.
All three, or you need the endorsement. The DOL states the same three-part test on its own guidance.
What that means for specific machines
The DOL never names a model, which is why riders searching for a particular machine find nothing. Apply the test yourself:
- Steering wheel, belts, enclosed seating. Driver license is enough. This is the category the Polaris Slingshot style of vehicle is built to sit in.
- Handlebars, saddle, no belts. Three-wheel endorsement required. Can-Am Ryker and Spyder style machines are steered with handlebars, so they fall here.
- A conventional motorcycle with a sidecar. Three-wheel endorsement required.
- Tilting twin-wheel machines, the leaning three-wheelers, route through the three-wheel endorsement. The DOL maintains a separate twin-wheel exam form for exactly this.
If a manufacturer changes a design, re-run the test rather than trusting an older article. The statute is the constant, the product is not.
The conversion kit trap, which runs the other way
People assume adding a third wheel makes a bike easier and therefore less regulated. The opposite is true.
RCW 46.20.500 provides that a person operating a motorcycle with a stabilizing conversion kit must hold a licence specially endorsed for a three-wheeled motorcycle. Note also that the definition of motorcycle in 46.04.330 expressly says "not including any stabilizing conversion kits" when counting wheels.
So bolting a trike kit onto your two-wheeler does not let you ride it on your two-wheel endorsement. It requires the three-wheel endorsement.
Your endorsement does not carry across
The most common and most expensive misunderstanding here: a three-wheel endorsement does not authorise a two-wheel motorcycle. The restriction code on a Washington license distinguishes two-wheel only, three-wheel only, and both.
Riders who tested on a trike and later buy a two-wheeler need to test again for two-wheel. It is a different machine and a genuinely different skill: a trike does not lean, does not countersteer, and cannot be balanced the way a motorcycle is.
Our 2-wheel versus 3-wheel guide covers the machine differences in more depth.