In Germany, you have to go through a whole driving course and two tests (one theoretical and one practical) before you get a license and can get yourself a motorbike.

Well, you could probably get a motorcycle at any point before that, but that would make no sense whatsoever since you wouldn’t be allowed to ride it.

So, we go through the motions, which is usually for the better.

Usually, theory and practice are done side by side. Since I don’t even have a regular driver’s license, I have to do most of the general driving theory on top of the special motorcycle theory. That means you get to sit in a class with other people who want to learn to drive a car and listen to an instructor explaining driving rules and regulations in Germany.

I had to go through 12 modules of general driving theory and 6 modules of motorcyle-specific theory. We had several instructors, depending on their schedules. One of them was really entertaining, teaching us a lot of things beyond the grey theory.

Of course, as a cyclist, I have been aware of many traffic rules and regulations already, but there was a lot to learn beyond the general knowledge I already had.

Additionally, we have a learning up that contains all the theoretical questions and scenarios that we need to know for the official theoretical test. The app includes over 1,000 questions, which we had to learn, though the final test would only contain 40 general and 5 specific questions.

I’m a total geek and I really enjoyed learning everything. The catalogue of questions was sometimes a bit much to go through, but I’m glad to have gone through it all.

It also made me more aware as a cyclist, even though I have always been riding defensively. But it is better to know the rules and adhere to them than just winging it.

I passed my theory test without any mistakes, which did make me a little proud of myself.