Advanced Training S-SW

Dunno whether you've seen this on another thread but some very kind forum members who are also advanced rider trainers are offering to take other forum members out for observation rides/training sessions.

Nobody's mentioned charging for this but we can at least cover their expenses.

Think they may be happy to do it in different areas but first off let's hear from anyone interested in the South/South-West so we can guage interest.

If any of your guys offering the training (BOB, Sabre, Rockdocktor) could give us an idea of what a session would involve just to whet people's appitites, that would be great.:thumbup

I'm in guys, just make sure we get plenty of notice for the dates as I book my calendar about 6 weeks in advance and need to give 4 weeks notice for holiday dates. :thumbup

I live in Kent but am not adverse to travelling around the south and have no issues in contributing towards costs for the instructors. :biggrin

i am i been on the push bike with me young lad
T5:eatcorn

This is something I've often thought about but never got round to. Would certainly be interested.

Kevp said:

Most IAM affiliated clubs do the training (observing) for free & at your own leisure. They pay for their own fuel & costs etc. However to join a club you pay the full IAM test fee plus the clubs annual membership.

There is no time limit to undertake the test. If you decide not to you can get your test fee back.

Being an IAM rider has saved me on the insurance & helped my standing on a current claim. So worth it in my opinion. The biggest bonus is riding with "sound" fellow bikers on trips & track days etc. which are plentiful.

Definitely worth taking up the option if you can.

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That is obviously at the discretion of the organising branch then.I was a member of NWAM for a year and had some good rides with them,mainly it has to be said on group ride outs rather than observed rides.

I managed to learn quite a bit,firstly that I'm nowhere near as good a rider as I thought I was,and secondly you NEVER stop learning.

Due to the date I joined and not wanting to do some rides in the freezing cold and p***ing rain I overran the 12 month membership and they wanted me to pay the entire lot again rather than just my associate fees.

I can recommend the concept though :thumbup generally a sound bunch of guys ( although it does help if you are allocated an observer you get on with well)

Mine was anal about things like .. never start your bike till you're on it and ready to pull away,.... always get off the bike and push it backwards into the parking space.... all just because the Police riders do! I don't think he had many toys as a kid.

I spoke to the head BikeSafe examiner ( who was the senior Police instructor) and he said ' what a load of ****,I don't give a monkey's how you do those things I just want you to ride safely and enjoy it'

I did an observed ride with him one day,that man was a riding god. He may have just been ' making progress' but I was working like on a trackday just to keep him in sight. Humbling experience really.

Thinking about this again I may well rejoin and take it to test level this time,thanks for planting the seed.

i'm defo up for some quality advanced riding, i was thinking of throwing some cash at 'Rapid Training' as i've heard they are very good, i guess it's not that expensive for what you learn but i'm very skint at the moment.
I did my car IAM many years back, have been out a couple of times with bike IAM and spent a day on a supposed advanced riding course but it all seemed a bit sedate and i've not learned a great deal.
I'm happy to stick to 30, 40 zones but i want to safely have some fun when the road opens up. i'm defo NOT that great a rider, especially after a few years off in the recent past, but the IAM i've ridden with have been a bit slow. I love the idea of the 'making progress' rides that are rapid, that's how i want to be; fast but safe.
i've read the books and i'm working at it but i could really do with some help but it's got to be fun.
may be this is just the ticket
keep us posted.

yep i've heard their track days are good but they get booked up quick, i've done 10 track days with various companies, loved 'em, really helped with road riding as well and lets you get use to thrashing your bike. i think next spring i'll pay for their rider course and the some track training after. if you want to go faster it's the rider skill that makes the difference.

Kevp said:

Iang. Due to work commitments (from both myself & the observer), and other time consuming hobbies (well 1 really, my car). It took almost 2 years for me to do my test, so I am unsure why you where only given 12 months. It is a fun leisure thing after all.

aPeMunky. Most of the track days I do are Rapid Training dates. Good safe, fun guys.

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Kev, it's a strange situation I agree. There seemed to be two separate 'factions' to the group from my single years experience. Both rode safely but one said 'you MUST do it like this!' where as others said ' we'll keep it safe above all, but remember it should be fun'

On the group rideouts it was great,I personally wouldn't have wanted to go any faster. It was just soooo well...smooth,never had so much fun 'making progress'

Just unfortunate the observer I got although local was a bit anal about things,he didn't seem to like the way the IAM worked and was training with ROSPA so he could get proper scores as it were for his riding. I think his missus was doing the same,nice couple but not the type of people I wanted to ride with.

Well, I'm with Sabre on this - it must be a fun ride.

What I do on my ride outs are pretty similar too, I don't have any radios so I rely on my memory. We would set off and just ride at the speed you normally ride at. (No point in advising you on 60 mph techniques when you don't normally ride at that). I only look for trends. By trends I mean I do not comment on every corner and manouvre you made, you might have made a slight error on one approach but if it's an isolated example then and there was no danger then leave it.

After a while I'll stop you to give feedback. I ALWAYS try to make that positive! If your riding has been utter crap with dangerous manouvres and there really wasn't anything good about it I might just say, "nice leathers".
Like Sabre I will do a demo ride to demo the points I may have made.
This could go on all day or just one hour - it's up to you, (I don't mean my demo rides). Usually, I try to give no more than 2 points to work on at the end of the session. Of course, at the coffee breaks we can discuss every aspect if you wish but not everyone can take it all on board in one session.

Unless the IAM have arranged the assessed ride I do not 'push' joining the organisation. As can be seen from some of the comments above, different areas have different approaches and yes, pipe and slippers do spring to mind in some cases.

So, to reiterate, the ride out can be for as long as you want.
It will start with you showing us how you normally ride, stops to give feedback, (usually, no more than one point at a time) then carry on with you working on the point given. Short ride by us to demonstrate a point.
The aim is to have a fun ride at the same time.

Finally, given the time of the year, I will offer to turn up at your convenience. Just pm me (or phone) and I'll try to arrange something. It can be just one of you or a small group. I can make mid week too. So, who's going to be first then? :devious