ILWACO — Jay Varley dreaded the drive, but now hopes others never have to bother.
Motorcyclists on the coast will soon have an endorsement and test site close to home, bypassing the “dangerous and frustrating” two-hour or more commute to certified testing facilities inland.
The proposed motorcycle test endorsement site, located near the boat launch parking lot at the Port of Ilwaco, is set to open in the coming days, pending final state approval.
Local sparks test range
The motivation behind the new motorcycle testing range started with Varley, an Ocean Park resident and motorcycle rider who voiced concern and frustration about the dangerous cross-county commute coastal riders often have to make in winter months to fulfill state-required motorcycle riding and testing endorsements.
“Riders from rural Southwest Washington are forced to drive 2-3 hours in many cases, just to get to a certified testing facility,” Varley said. “That might not be a big issue in the dryer months, but in the winter and wetter months it’s much more of a burden, let alone dangerous, to navigate the limited routes from the coast to reach the sites.
“For example, if one had to travel to the site at the Clark County Fairgrounds, where it might be sunny, they could very well encounter rain, snow, ice or any other type of weather if they traveled OR30 or WA4, not to mention WA12 toward Olympia. [Out of] my frustration that the state puts these requirements out there but doesn’t make it easy or convenient to satisfy those requirements for people that aren’t living on the I-5 corridor or in their big cities, I set out to see what it would take to set up a local testing site.”
In January, Varley had a “perfect” spot in mind, a back parking lot by the Port of Ilwaco boat launch that is vacant much of the year.
“It’s very seldom full, except during prime salmon season, so I thought it could be used for something beneficial to others,” he said.
In February, after gauging interest on Facebook about a local motorcycle test site for Ilwaco, Varley connected with Khembar Yund, owner of Vancouver-based SW Motorcycle Safety Training and Testing, and Ilwaco Port Manager Tina Hayes, both of whom embraced the idea from the start.
In March, the site was painted in compliance with state requirements for the motorcycle endorsement and test site.
“Long story short, it looks like we are only days away from being able to finalize the site,” Varley said. “It appears final certification from the state to open a new testing and training site here is very close. Khembar will need a couple certified testers that he can train, to help things keep running here. Testing will be offered for both 2-wheel and 3-wheel endorsements. The lot will be used for the skills test obviously, and Tina has offered a conference room in her port office for the written tests.”
Varley praised the cooperation between Hayes and Yund for bringing the endorsement site into fruition.
“I’m not aware of one obstacle either one of them ran into while discussing the possibilities and agreements to work together,” he said. “It actually materialized much quicker than I could have imagined. Initial contacts were made after the first of the year, and here we are with an established site with official test courses painted.”
In time, Varley hopes the site in Ilwaco will eventually host motorcycle safety training courses.
“My hope is that things progress so well for this site that Khembar will eventually be able to include his safety training courses here,” he said. “I honestly believe riders from areas other than Southwest Washington will travel to use this site to get their endorsements, especially during dry months, just because of the location and ambiance of the beach and even a chance to ride on the beach.”
Motorcycle safety
Riding a motorcycle is regarded as one of the most dangerous ways to travel, accounting for 212 deaths per billion passenger miles, compared to just 7.8 in a conventional passenger car, according to Ian Savage at Northwestern University’s Department of Economics. Ferry boat (3.17) followed by commuter rail/Amtrak (.43), urban mass transit (.24), bus (.11) and airplane (.07) rounded out the statistically safest means to travel, according to the study.
“A motorcyclist who traveled 15 miles every day for a year, had an astonishing 1-in-860 chance of dying. The rate per passenger mile was 29 times that for automobiles and light trucks,” Savage wrote.
Washington state has more than 220,000 licensed motorcycle riders, making up roughly 3% of registered vehicles but accounting for about 15% of the traffic fatalities, including a record high of 137 in 2023. The most deadly period of the year, called the ‘90 Dangerous Days,’ occurs between June and August, accounting for over 30% of all traffic deaths, with half of all motorcycle fatalities occurring in these summer months.
