The Mod 1 Figure of Eight: Step-by-Step Technique

#What the manoeuvre looks like

Two cones placed about 6 metres apart in a straight line. You ride a continuous figure of eight around them, weaving in front of one and behind the other, for two full laps. There is no time limit. There is no speed minimum. Your job is simply to ride the pattern smoothly without putting a foot down or knocking a cone.

The two-lap requirement matters. Some candidates pull off a clean first lap, relax, and immediately scuff a foot on the second turn. Treat the manoeuvre as ending only when the examiner signals you back to the start line.

#The right speed

Around 10 km/h is the sweet spot. Too slow and the bike will not balance through the curve. Too fast and you cannot tighten the line enough to stay close to the cones. The way to maintain that 10 km/h on a heavy bike is constant clutch slip, with revs at 1500 to 2000 rpm and your right hand steady on the throttle.

The rear brake is your stabiliser. Light pressure on the rear brake throughout the manoeuvre keeps the bike planted, stops the rear wheel from chattering, and lets you control speed without changing the throttle. Most experienced instructors will tell you the rear brake is on for the entire figure of eight.

#Head position is everything

The biggest single mistake is looking at the cone you are passing instead of where you are going next. Your bike follows your eyes. If you stare at the cone, the bike will drift towards it.

The drill is to lock your eyes on the next exit point as soon as you commit to the curve. As you round the first cone, your eyes should already be on the second cone. As you round the second, your eyes should be back on the first. You are constantly looking ahead, never down.

#Body position

You lean the bike, not the body. On a slow-speed turn, counterweighting (keeping your torso upright while letting the bike lean under you) helps the bike turn tighter. This is the opposite of what you do at speed on the road.

Knees in, elbows relaxed, hands light on the bars. Tense arms make the bike fight you. A relaxed grip lets the bars find the natural turning angle for the speed.

#Foot rules and what counts as a fail

Both feet must stay on the pegs throughout the manoeuvre. A single foot scuff on the floor is a serious fault, which on its own is not necessarily a fail, but combined with anything else it is. A full foot down to recover balance is an immediate fail.

Knocking a cone is a fail. Riding outside the painted area is a fail. Stalling the engine is a fail. The threshold is tight, which is why technique matters so much more than speed.

#A practical drill sequence

Build figure of eight competence in this order over a few sessions:

• Walk the layout on foot, tracing the line you want to ride
• Ride the layout at jogging pace with both hands on the bars and the rear brake on
• Add full clutch slip and increase to a steady 10 km/h
• Practise the head turn explicitly, looking at the next cone before each turn
• Run two-lap repeats until you can do five clean laps in a row
• Add a mock test pressure: have a friend stand and watch as the examiner would

#Bike differences

A Honda CB650 (a typical A licence test bike) feels noticeably heavier than a 125 in the figure of eight. The rule of thumb is that bigger bikes need slightly more clutch slip and slightly more lean. If you have only practised on a 125 and your test bike is a 650, give yourself at least one full session on the larger machine before booking the test.

For more on test bike requirements and what schools provide, the choosing a test bike guide covers the differences between A1, A2 and A.

#Common faults and how to fix them

Three faults dominate. Wobble at low speed, almost always caused by tense arms and looking down. Cone clipping, almost always caused by late head turns. Foot scuff on the second lap, almost always caused by relaxing too early. Each has a specific fix.

Wobble: relax the grip, increase rear brake pressure, look further ahead. Clipping: head turn earlier and more aggressively. Foot scuff: treat the second lap with the same focus as the first. The full Mod 1 fail reasons guide sits alongside this for the wider context.