Idaho STAR Program

Negative experience: Can't rate zero stars, unfortunately. After paying the money, completing the online course, waiting a month, and completing the entire first day, I was turned away for being late on the second day due to my alarm not going off. Technically I was an hour early, but spring forward happened on this day. Lucky me. I understand it's somewhat my bad, but I breezed through the first day, and no doubt could have joined the group with ease. Hopefully reason can change this policy for people who already ride, because losing money on shit like this doesn't need to happen. Also, the head instructor could use an attitude check. The guy was making more than a few riders frustrated at the little mistakes they were making. There was a younger instructor doing a much better job, simply because he was teaching, rather than shaming and teaching.

Fantastic experience: Great training

Fantastic experience: Purl, Brian, Wayne and Mark were amazing. Both class instruction and the range coaching were top notch!

Fantastic experience: I am SO glad I took the STARS course! My instructors were absolutely amazing, and if I had taken the course 20 years ago, I wouldn't have almost had to have my arm amputated following a terrible motorcycle accident I suffered because I thought I knew what I was doing (I know how to ride a dirtbike! That must mean I know how to ride on the street!.....NOT!) Flash forward 20 years when I wanted to get back in the saddle, I decided to enroll in STARS. Like I said, my instructors were so knowledgeable, patient, and encouraging. Most of all, the knowledge and information they taught me were simply CRITICAL in being able to operate a motorcycle safely. If you already know how to operate a motorcycle but want to learn how to ride on the street, sign up for the Basic II course. Much respect to these fine folks, their instruction is undoubtedly sparing people from injury, suffering, and death. These guys ROCK!

Fantastic experience: I took the intermediate course. The first part was a zoom session. This was followed by the field experience at Skyview High School. I was so impressed with the level of professionalism and preparedness of the classroom instructor and the field instructors. I learned a lot of things that I thought I already knew. I found out how much I didn’t know. I am much more prepared to continue my riding. My class was on 4/2 and 4/6. Even if you have been riding for sometime, I highly recommend participating in an Idaho STAR motorcycle class.

Fantastic experience: Professional Motorcycle Training for Riders, by Riders. Recommend!

Fantastic experience: Under 12 dollars per instruction hour and instructors are experts. Unbelievable value. So happy with this class. (Oct 21 and 22 capitol high) Thank you!

Fantastic experience: Took the advanced skills class yesterday. Great instructors Jim and Tom shared their skills with us. Very patient. Thanks for the help guys.

Fantastic experience: Awesome program! Thank you for giving me the knowledge I needed to start my adventure!

Fantastic experience: Great instructor's who are very knowledgeable.

Fantastic experience: I just finished this class and it was fantastic I'm so glad I took this class my instructors Mark and Jim were both very informative and nice to work with if I ever hear of someone looking to get a motorcycle I will definitely recommend this class. 10/10 would do it again for fun

Fantastic experience: I took the beginners course with instructors Joe and Jessie this weekend. They were very helpful and supportive through out the class. They even taught me a way to help with counter steering that doesn't put to much pressure on my bad shoulder. They were always positive while they helped correct our mistakes or when we had problems with the bike we were riding. Thank you Idaho Star and their instructors for helping me reach my dream of driving a motorcycle.

Negative experience: I took this course when I initially got my endorsement. Highly recommend it to anyone that’s going to ride. Now ten years later I’m going to take advanced course. But I did want to mention I found the payment method after filling out the entire form doesn’t take any cards other than visa and master card. Just a heads up. Ride Free!!

Fantastic experience: I honestly can’t say enough awesome things about this program. I was one of the few who had never even been on a dirt bike before let alone a motorcycle. I don’t even know how to drive a manual car. So the panic, worry and nervousness I had was on the highest level. At some points I had to be reminded to breath. Lol. Seriously I was shaking nervous. Thankfully we had, I am quite sure, two of the best instructors. I was blessed with having them as my instructors or else I know I wouldn’t have gotten through that course in one piece. Shawn and Nick you guys are awesome and I can’t thank you enough for your patients and great instruction and of course for giving me the courage and confidence to ride. Hope to see you both in the intermediate course.

Positive experience: I had training last Saturday and Sunday(May 29th-30th) at Meridian high school . I had two instructors. The younger one was very nice and patient with me. He gave me many suggestions with positive feedbacks. However, the older instructor was not patient with me at all and he literally yelled at me. As a beginner, I already had many details need to worry while riding, he put more stress on me. When I was asking him questions, he was mocking me at least couple times. At the end of the training the older instructor told me that I passed the riding test but he doesn’t think that I am ready for on the road. He said that I need practice more. I agreed with him. I passed all the subjects at the first time. There were couple students needed to redo the subjects. I asked one of the student who took twice to pass. He told me that instructor said he is ready to ride on the road but need more practice. I am very confused with why the older instructor let me pass the first time but told me that I am not ready on the road. He explained some parts I could do better. Of course, I could do a lot better that is why I am here to learn. All in all, I wish he could just tell me the problem and let me do it again. Not just saying that I am not ready fo the road which is very frustrating.

Fantastic experience: I had an excellent experience with my STAR course both online and in the field. Online, at first I thought that the course seemed a bit antiquated but quickly realized it didn't matter because of how many things I learned from it. When I went to the in-person portion, I had a great experience and received top-tier communication & feedback from the STAR instructors, Sunshine and Tom. The motorcycles rode well and I felt like I got a ton of good practice in. As a college student with a pretty limited amount of disposable income, before I took the course I was on the fence about dishing out the cash for it. However, I have absolutely no regrets and feel that I got my money's worth and then some from the class. I would recommend it to anybody who has any interest in riding motorcycles.

Fantastic experience: I appreciated the Idaho Star office reaching out to me to reschedule my course during a busy COVID time. My instructors (Scott and Rick) were both professional, informative, and helped me feel comfortable despite rainy conditions. I would consider taking an intermediate class with this program.

Negative experience: The instructor's "in my opinion are power hungry & lack common sense. "....ie. final test in the hottest part of the day while under an extreme heat advisory. Witnessed a guy get passed who dropped a motorcycle previously while others who had years of experience get failed for turning their head in a way that isn't natural & wouldn't be done when actually riding.

Fantastic experience: I took the beginners course some time ago and the riding portion was great! The instructors were extremely helpful and informative on what we all were doing wrong and right and able to correct everyone. I recommend everyone that asks about getting started riding to take their course even if they've ridden before.

Fantastic experience: Took the Basic course this past weekend. It was a lot of fun and very informative! It was nice getting back on the bike after 7 years. Instructors were great and gave plenty of feed back on how to improve my riding. I'll be taking the Intermediate course soon!

Negative experience: The course was all good information. You read their handbook and then have a class to go over it. Then you do the skills test after practicing the skills together. Which is a nice concept. I aced the written exam. I had been riding my bike around a lot before the skills test and was comfortable. Come the skills portion. They show you how to do everything and then you will be tested later. At no point did I receive any correction or told I was doing anything wrong during the practice. Once the test rolled around I did exactly what I was supposed to. One kid completely bombed it. During a portion where you are not to put your feet down or a hit a cone. He did both multiple times and he would do wheelies in the parking lot. At a course where we are to learn safety. That person passed. And they didn’t pass me even though during the whole practice skills portion they never gave me any corrections or directions on how to improve or that I was doing anything wrong. So come the test I just did what we had been practicing and somehow I failed? The girl instructor clearly didn’t like me and I wonder if that had a little to do with the final determination. I was even told by the other students that if “I hadn’t passed then they definitely didn’t pass.” I was one of the first ones to get called back on whether or not I passed. I thought for sure multiple people failed. Come to find out I was the only one. I was also the only girl in the class and the girl instructor clearly didn’t like me. When I asked afterward what I did wrong to fail they said “you just need to get more comfortable,” and walked off so I couldn’t ask anything else. Keep in mind we did the test in the rain! I was not COMFORTABLE! I never did find out exactly what portion of the test I failed on. Was it the cone weaving, sharp turn, lane changing, hard stop?? I’ll never know. They did offer a redo at later date to be announced and I would have to pay more money to do it. I thought about it. But then I wonder did they just think they could get more money out of this dumb girl if didn’t pass her? I had already paid a hefty course fee in my opinion. I didn’t go redo and I did a parking lot test instead and passed just fine. I will not be recommending this course to anyone. You can find all the material they teach you with a simple google search. It’s not that hard to schedule a parking lot test and pass with only a $25 fee. I would still like to know why I actually failed and to see my score sheet. Also I would be willing to be contacted and answer any questions honestly if attempted. I attended the Idaho Falls course*

Fantastic experience: It's a pleasure working with the Idaho STAR team! The Idaho STAR online eRider program streamlines motorcycle training; making it quicker for students to get their completion card and start riding on the open roads.

Fantastic experience: I had extremely limited knowledge of motorcycles before the STARs beginner eCourse. In fact, I was a little terrified of motorcycles and of taking a class where surely, I'd look like a fool. First of all, the STAR course does NOT make you feel like a fool, quite the opposite. I can't say enough good things about the instructors (Jim and Mark), who made sure we were knowledgeable and confident with our motorcycles even before riding with our feet-up. The on-bike lessons start slowly and simply so a beginner student like me, never felt rushed or overwhelmed. By the end of day 2, I was astounded by how far my abilities had come. I'm an absolute believer in this program and will encourage anyone I meet, who's interested in motorcycles, to take it. Perhaps the biggest asset are the instructors, who are true motorcycle enthusiasts. Their joy in riding, and riding correctly, is infectious. I can't thank them and this program enough for giving me the pride I feel now at having completed the first class. If you're on the fence about taking a course, like I was, just do it... it's safe, fun, supportive, and exhilarating.

Negative experience: During the riding portion of the class I crashed on my motorcycle and crushed my ankle. The instructor looked at my ankle and stated that it is not bruised and offered an ice pack. I was unable to continue the course and had to struggle to my vehicle by myself on (later discovered at the ER) a broken fibula. There was no offer to redo the course. Clearly the instructors care more about money than their students.

Fantastic experience: I crashed a little under a year ago and I will admit, I was considering selling my bike and never riding again. I decided I would take the experience course as I come from a family or very confident riders and I had been riding on and off for a few years. I had some extreme mental blocks to get past call it fear or some form of PTSD I don't know, I just know that the thought of getting on a bike was terrifying to me. The course in the morning taught by Will was awesome, I learned what I did wrong and we even were able to talk about it and what to do differently safely. Then it came to range time on the bike. I was having a LOT of trouble with turning the bike right ( the way I was turning when I crashed ) Mike and Will both where AMAZING at giving me suggestions and were very understanding with my situation. By the halfway point of the range time I was COMFORTABLY AND CONFIDENTLY doing tight figure 8 turns - something I would have never had the courage to try before Will and Mikes help. If you are an advanced rider I HIGHLY recommend taking the course to learn some technical pieces that will improve your enjoyment riding and your safety. If you are a brand new rider I can see this course as being the MOST valuable thing you could do.

Fantastic experience: Cant recommend this enough. I took Basic 1 and was constantly learning things in a way that was fun while also drilling in good habits. Instructors ( S/O to Kirk and Brian) were approachable and made for a relaxed environment, which definitely helped those riders who were more nervous. The price is a steal considering what you get out of it, too! I plan on enrolling in their more advanced programs down the line

Fantastic experience: This program is an absolute must if you want to ride and never have, have ridden in the past or already do. The instructors are awesome. They're approachable, informative, and I never felt like they were negatively singling me or anyone else out. They truly want you to leave a better rider. At the end you'll be a more confident and safer rider. Do it for yourself and especially others.

Fantastic experience: Absolute must for anyone riding a motorcycle on the street. I don't care how good you think you are, you will learn something from these classes.