just a quick question

[baz-R]

i was thinking the other day after talking to a guy on a new 600 sports bike .(who had pritty poor road postioning and lack of group riding care) who i met trough another group of friends about taking advanced rider training eg. bike safe,rospa,iam (not pointing out his skills).
who was on the old "iv been riding for years" so i asked how long he had passed his test "about a month ago"" ive had dirt bikes and 50s 125s! " and so on then i went on how i been on a advanced thing and how it has made a big improvement on my riding skills and made me want to go on and do some more as i have been riding bikes on&off road and had full licence for 6 years.
but he was having none of it
so whats the over all opinon on the advanced thing?

[markandmindy]

Do it mate, you won't regret it. Particularly withour roads etc. it's a good idea to take any extra training you can, whether it be IAM, RoSPA, Bikesafe or just a few days with a Bike School. No training is wasted.

[baskie]

hmm he seems like a bit of a dick. lol. but nah anythig to improve ur awareness and riding ability. even if u htink u know it all, u should still go and do some training cus there might be atleast 1 thing u might learn. and even if its 1 thing u learn it will be worth it.

[Toypop]

Plenty of threads on various forums about people binning their bikes on these courses which kind of makes me wonder...

I've been riding on the road for 12 years and am still here for the time being (touch wood).

I wouldn't consider going on these courses to be honest as I have my own ideas of what I want to do to stay safe. I totally disagreed with the amount of life savers I had to do on my CBT and test and I still disagree with it today and prefer to focus more on what is happening in front of me with regular mirror checks so I know who or what is around me.

A lot of the stuff I did on my car and bike test was utter b*llocks in my opinion so I chucked it out and feel I am safer for it now. This kind of makes me sceptical of advanced training.

I always remember a friend of mine passed his advanced driving test and soon after reversed his motor into a lamp post. Says it all...

For the record I don't wheelie, have never had my knee down and don't group ride. Three activities that I don't feel are compatible with safe road riding. Perhaps if I indulged in them I might seek further training.

[jason]

Well if you have just started out or have only been riding a few years then you should soak up every bit of training available (even the crappy police PR excersise Bikesafe thing might be worth a go in this circumstance)

But I see where your coming from Toypop if you been riding for over ten years especially if that includes day in day out commuting on bikes then whilst Im sure the courses might be interesting I doubt you will learn anything more than your years of keeping your bike upright have already taught you.


there is a degree of pretentiousness about these advanced rider courses that to me leaves a bitter taste in the mouth so I wouldnt do one and put little weight on them.

Those guys at bike clubs with BMW's and IAM memberships might think that a course or two raises their game above the average rider but the chances of them ever becoming as good and as safe and as aware a rider in traffic as some guy who has done couriering in london for years on his knakered old bike are about zero.

there is no substitute for experaince - I believe you never stop learning whilst your riding a bike.

[clunk]

Any training is worth having, and only a few simple pointers can make a big difference in someone's riding.

I agree with a lot of what's been said, experience counts for a lot and if you've survived over 10 years without any problems you must be doing something right.

I recently did an IAM observed ride at their open day and the copper who watched me said I was 90% there to pass the IAM test. So I thought I would do it. I've had a couple of observed rides and only been picked up on a couple of points so far, so all I need to do is to learn to ride in the style required to pass the test. Most of it is common sense and just involves riding sensibly, within the law, and having the correct road position to give you the greatest view ahead.
Some of this I may not use in normal riding, but I think its given me a good basis to make me a safer rider.

I've seen many bikers on the road who would benefit from extra training, but will they realise it before it's too late ?

[baz-R]

well i have done some and im gona do some more i enjoyed what i did and it made a big differince so im going to do some more
i was just intersted on what people thort as i have never had such a negitive opinion from some one.
and the amount of time he had a bike licence i thort it would be of help!