O'Neill Motorcycle Training, reviewed by someone who just passed

Why he picked a school at all

He already rode in Spain. What he did not have was an Irish licence, a bike in Ireland, or any experience of roundabouts going clockwise. The thing he kept saying was that he did not want to pick up bad habits on the left and then have to unlearn them. He wanted someone standing next to him who had done this a thousand times.

In Ireland every learner motorcyclist has to complete IBT before riding on the road, so that was the first decision made for him. The second was who to do it with. He asked around, looked at a few schools, and went with O'Neill Motorcycle Training mostly because they answered quickly and were clear about what would happen and when.

The IBT

IBT is the Road Safety Authority's compulsory course, split into modules that move from slow control in a yard to proper road riding. He did his with John's team and the word he used for it, twice, was professional. Nobody rushed him or skipped a module, and there was a lot of patience with the questions that only make sense if you learned to ride somewhere else. Which way to look first at a junction. Where to sit in the lane. Why the roundabout feels backwards for the first week.

He did not own a bike here. The school provided one for the whole course, which saved him buying something before he even knew what he wanted. We mention it because not every school does this, and when they do, the state of the bikes tells you a lot about the school.

The bikes, and the gear he did not have

This was the part he would not stop talking about. He has sat on training bikes from other schools, in Spain and here, and the gap in quality was big. The O'Neill bikes were clean, properly maintained and fitted with crash protection, the kind of bars and sliders that mean a learner who drops the bike at walking pace gets up embarrassed rather than hurt. For someone whose main worry was safety, that mattered more than anything on the website.

He turned up with a helmet and not much else. No jacket, no back protector. They lent him everything he needed without making a thing of it. That is the sort of thing you only appreciate when you have been quoted for a full set of gear before your first lesson somewhere else.

Booking around a job

He works full time, so the course had to fit around work. He says they were flexible about days and times in a way he had not expected, and that rescheduling once was a phone call, not a problem. It is a small thing, and small things are usually why you recommend a place to a friend.

Pre-test: riding the actual routes

This is where the school's experience with the Dublin test centres showed. The pre-test sessions were run on the roads the examiners use, so the junctions, the roundabouts and the awkward right turns in the test were roads he had already ridden with an instructor talking in his ear. On test day there were no surprises. He described it as the most prepared he has ever been for an exam, which from a man who has sat a few of them is a decent compliment.

The instructors' English was clear and easy to follow, which sounds like a low bar until you are a non-native speaker trying to process instructions through an intercom at 50 km/h. He never had to ask anyone to repeat themselves.

What he would tell another learner

• If you learned to ride abroad, say so on the first day. The instructors adjusted what they taught him once they knew what he already had and what was new.
• Do the pre-test sessions, and do them on the routes for your test centre. That is what turned a nervous rider into a calm one.
• Ask what gear and what bike are included before you buy anything. In his case the answer was all of it.

Where they are and how to get in touch

O'Neill Motorcycle Training is based in Ratoath, Co. Meath, and trains riders across Meath and Dublin, including the Dublin test centre routes. You can read about their IBT course and pre-test lessons, or go straight to oneillmotorcycletraining.ie and get in touch with John.

Questions people ask about IBT

What is IBT?

Initial Basic Training is the compulsory course set by the Road Safety Authority that every learner motorcyclist in Ireland must complete with an approved trainer before riding on public roads. It covers bike control, road riding and safety, in modules.

Do I need my own motorcycle for IBT?

Not with O'Neill Motorcycle Training. Our colleague had no bike in Ireland and did the full course and his pre-test on one of theirs. Check with any school before booking, because it varies.

Does a school in Meath cover Dublin tests?

Yes in this case. O'Neill Motorcycle Training is based in Ratoath and runs pre-test sessions on the routes used by the Dublin test centres, which is exactly what our colleague needed.