The lesson itself

What exactly are you going to learn during those 25 lessons you have to attend? Well, the first thing you’ll ever do there are 8’s… What do I mean by 8’s? Well, check out the picture below and you’ll understand quickly.

Exactly, for the first few lessons (well… depending on how quick you’ll learn), you won’t be driving in circles but in 8’s. You can see the 8 shaped yellow track on the floor… This exercise basically teaches you how to maneuver your bike, how to tilt it the right way to turn left or right, how to position yourself properly and how to make the best use of the clutch. To perform this exercise, you normally won’t need to touch the throttle at all… The “teacher” will send you to the next exercise when you will demonstrate you can easily do those 8’s without coming out of the yellow track. As I had some experience driving, it took me about 3 lessons to train for the real thing that will be part of the final exam.




The “real thing” as I called it earlier, is basically the same exercise as the first one, except that you’ll have to make those 8’s in a slope… There’s no more 8 shaped track this time, only yellow boundaries all around the practice area and the “parking box” that’s located about half way up on the left side (it’s hard to see it in the picture). The sequence goes something like:
1. Position your bike at the lower left corner and wait for the signal to go
2. Go up the slope and stop in the “parking box” without touching the yellow edges
3. Do a “hill start” and make 3 8’s while going up and down the slope
4. At the end of the 3rd 8, drive back inside the “parking box” and stop
5. Do another “hill start”, then a U turn to drive your bike down the slope and out the practice area.
6. Stop your bike outside the parking area, on the lower right corner.

I know it sounds a little bit complicated; maybe the following sequence will help you understand.





Here are the dos and don’ts of this exercise:
1. Never cross the yellow boundaries
2. When stopped, always put your LEFT (and left only) foot on the ground
3. Always keep your RIGHT foot on the brakes
4. Never set your foot down when driving

Enjoy learning it and learn to enjoy it because you’ll be doing this for the next 20 or so lessons. “20 LESSONS!!?!?! I THOUGHT WE ONLY HAD 25??!?!”… Yes, I know, but that’s how it goes here in Macau, you don’t actually learn how to ride your bike on the road in the traffic. You’ll only get to go out of the practice range the last couple of sessions and for something like 10 minutes each time. It’s quite short but they’ll only show you ONE route only and that’ll be the one you will have to take during your exam… As it’s a pretty short one too, your road trips will be at minimal. Take a look at the following map to get some idea about the exam route.


View Macau Exam Route in a larger map

And that’s basically it… Of course, if you’ve never driven a motorcycle before, I believe you will also spend some time learning about the bike itself, like what the uses of different switches are or how to shift gears.

Things worth noting:
1. The pictures were taken in a pretty quiet day. It can get really crowded and you may have to wait for around 20 minutes before being able to practice on the slope, limiting you to 2 to 3 tries per lesson.
2. There is no water dispenser, drinks vending machine or convenience store nearby.
3. It can get pretty sunny, wear long sleeves if you easily get sunburns.
4. When you book your time for a lesson, you’re only booking the motorbike. It does not include someone to coach you for the whole lesson and it does not insure you will have space to practice.