Pre-Learner Training Course

The first thing you need to do to get a motorcycle license in NSW is complete the pre-learner training course. Refer to the RTA site here for details and exemptions. If not exempt, you need to book your training via the phone or online via myTests. There are a number of different venue locations at which you can take the test, a list of which can be found here. You will get to pick the location and time/date during your booking. The training course costs $76 and goes for 3.5 hours a day for two days.

You will be sent specific instructions in your booking confirmation email as to what you'll need for the course. In summary, you need to wear sturdy shoes (leather workshops or sneakers will do), sturdy pants (think jeans and cargo pants), sturdy full-sleeve jacket (almost any full sleeve hood-type jacket will do) and identification (current car driver license, passport, etc). It's also recommended to bring wet-weather gear as the course will not be cancelled if it rains. The rest is provided for you by the facilitators (bike, gloves, helmet, helmet shower cap).

We did our training course in Clyde, which is basically just a concrete area smaller than a typical car-park underneath a bridge, so not exactly state-of-the-art motorbike circuits here. On the first day you are split into groups of 4 or 5. You start off with some basic theory (instructor just reading through RTA guides), then grab a helmet and some gloves and head out to meet your ride. The instructor proceeds to quickly go through the basics (clutch, changing gears, breaks, getting on and off) and then you pair up in twos.

You get on the bike with the engine still off, change gear to neutral, and your partner pushes you to the other end of the course while you try to maintain balance. You then repeat the exercise with the partner letting go half-way. Soon after that you learn to turn the bike on, change to first gear, and go in a straight line. Next instead of just going for 10 meters straight, you learn to travel around the course in circles. The first day concludes with you being able to change from first to second and back to first while going in a circle.

The second day is a bit more theory, a recap of what you did on the first day, and then some more advanced circuit driving. You never go past second gear in the training course, and you're never supposed to go over 20km an hour, so the second day is more about being able to change gears before/after corners smoothly, being in the correct entry/exit positions going around a bend, slowing down, checking your surroundings and giving way to others and that's about it. Course ends with the instructor asking the group some very basic questions, after which he signs a green slip with your name on it and you're done! You have 3 months to take the green slip to the RTA and do your Ls knowledge test before it expires and you need to do the course all over again.

A few more notes about the course. We were riding Honda CB250s down in Clyde and I think a number of training places use this model. Two other people in our group already had riding experience so it was a total breeze for them. I on the other hand found it a little more challenging. Namely, I found it hard maintaining enough speed in first when going around the bends although found the bike a lot smoother in second. I lost too much speed in one turn and actually dropped the bike, tearing my jeans a little and getting a scratch on my shin (guess the jeans weren't sturdy enough!). Managed to get back on and still passed the course though.

If you've never ridden a motorbike before, it helps if you at least can ride a push-bike and if you can drive, or at least have attempted to drive, a manual car. This will at least help you with balance a little (although a motorbike is much heavier than a push-bike and it's easier to keep up in some ways, but harder if you try to fight it), and knowing how to use a clutch to stall a vehicle comes in handy too.

Getting a Rider License in NSW

So after the initial "Fully sick bro! Let's do it!" back and forth macho chatter it was time to get down to business and find out what exactly we had to do to get a Rider's License. Luckily, the RTA pages are pretty straight-forward on this. The process is as follows:

1. Complete Pre-Learner training. This is also called the Motorcycle Rider Training Scheme. You need to do this before going in to sit for the Ls knowledge test! There are some exemptions however, so read the RTA site carefully (for example those outside the 'declared zones' or those who've had a provisional or full license in the past don't have to do it.). The course costs $76 to book and goes for two half-days. You can make the booking online via myTests. Make sure you get in early as the rider training centers are sometimes booked out for weeks or months in advance, especially in spring/summer.

2. Pass the Ls knowledge test. This is just like the car learner's test, although there are some motorcycle specific questions so make sure to go through the RTA question samples online. You can download everything you need from this page. The motorcycle questions PDF contains about 300 questions. The test will be comprised of 45 out of these 300 picked at random. So just go through the thing the night before and you should have no trouble (this is assuming you already know the road rules, otherwise if this is your first license in NSW, spend some time and learn things properly, you don't want to forget giving way to a semi-trailer on a bike). Again, you can book online via myTests. Cost is around $37 to book, and $21 for the license if you pass. If you already have a car driver's license, they'll just reprint your old license with an additional condition printed towards the bottom.

3. Buy a motorbike! Yup, that's it. Once you get your Ls license you can go out, buy a bike and take it on the road. Note however that NSW follows a LAM scheme (Learner Approved Motorcycle). This means that while you're on your Ls, you're restricted to motorcycles up to 660cc and which do not exceed a power to weight ratio of 150 kilowatts per tonne. The RTA maintains a list of approved bikes here, so make sure to check that out first.

4. Buy gear. You're going to need a lot of gear before going out on the roads though. The legal requirement is to wear an Australian approved helmet. But it's also strongly recommended to wear a pair of gloves, a riding jacket, riding pants (or very sturdy pants) and preferably riding shoes (or study ankle high leather shoes). This stuff will cost you money. Possibly more than you realize if you've never looked into it. Expect to pay around $1000 plus all up for good stuff.

5. Try not to fall. The rest of your motorbike journey will be mostly focusing on keeping the thing up, preferably with you on it.

We'll be posting some additional details on each of the above as we go along.