Good school for UK riders and good safety tips for the rest of us

[Motofool]

http://www.bikesafe.co.uk/Advice-Centre/

http://www.fastbikesmag.com/files/20...9-BikeSafe.pdf

"Perversely, the training you receive as a
newbie doesn’t teach you how to be a good
rider, and is often actively pointing you in the
wrong direction. So not only do you get the
ticket that says that you’re good to go, you’ve
been pushed out into the most challenging
riding environment with a worrying lack of
skills to start your biking career.

You might have heard of ‘IPSGA’, probably
the least catchy acronym ever choked out,
which stands for Information, Position, Speed,
Gear and Acceleration. It’s the five-stage
process used and taught by most advanced
riders, and if used correctly it gifts you the all
the raw materials to improve your skills and
riding almost immediately.

If you get the I and P wrong, the rest of the
process can become a panicked set of
reactions - that adrenaline rush scenario -
instead of a planned set of actions. If you still
can’t work out why your mate is so smooth,
and able to lose you at will on your Sunday
blast – the chances are that his balls aren’t
bigger, but his ability to process information,
and set his road position are better than yours.

Amazingly it really could be that simple.
The majority of this comes from your
recognition of one element – Positioning. If
you’re in the right place on the road, it enables
you to gather more information, after which
setting your speed, gear, and getting back on
the gas will almost automatically fall into
place over just a couple of practice rides."

[Whiskey]

Passing it gives a discount on your insurance & depending on where you are it can be done for free. I put in for the Irish one before moving to the UK, plan on doing it over here it's a mile down the road from me & £10.

There is another decent training set up which is aimed at training bikers (& drivers) to pass the RoSPA advanced test. Most private instructors can charge quite a bit, this is free for members (membership price varies among associations, highest I've seen is £55, that includes a copy of roadcraft & a couple of other books & subsequent years are £20)
http://www.roadar.org.uk/

[Whiskey]

Originally Posted by Motofool

http://www.bikesafe.co.uk/Advice-Centre/

Just done this today, may as well give it a ride report...

From what I've heard of the advanced MSF it's something similar, but we get a road run too.

Early start, got to the training centre for 08:45, stood around for a few minutes talking to the others & admiring a few of the bikes (one of the instructors had his SP-1 with him).

Quick briefing on what we were going to be doing, split the group into 2, one group got the classroom stuff out of the way while my group were paired up with a police biker & given a basic route plan.

On the bikes we went for a bit of city riding.
It's extremely un-nerving seeing a police bike sitting in your mirror every time, especially when you're on a foreign registered bike. (That caused a bit of a ****-up at the start but I got over it)

On to a dual carriageway/A road where I'd been told to feel free to ignore speed limits, but the fog meant I was only doing about 50-60 with no real opportunity to go any faster & finally a spin on backroads where the fog/mist had left the roads damp & covered in leaves.

Having covered about 30 miles on the way out towards Shakespeare's hometown we pulled in for a quick talk, where I was reminded that I can disregard the speed limits on the A roads, that my positioning was good but "what was going on at that junction?" (the f-up I mentioned earlier)

Headed back through the same route in reverse, by this time the fog had cleared & I knew what to expect on the backroads, so I could wind it on a bit more, I was happily opening it up to 80 on the A road (Limit is 60, but I had been instructed to carry on regardless )

Back through the same junction that I'd screwed up on the outward leg, much better this time (no more nerves about having a cop on my tail, I wasn't being done for blatant speeding, so I could relax & go with it) & back into the police training centre.

Onto classroom work, where the Sgt. who does reconstructions & analysis of fatal accidents took over for a hazard perception class. It's a pretty serious topic & he covered the most usual ones he sees, Idiot cager pulls out into the path of a bike, a lemming (a suicidally stupid animal = pedestrian) walks out into traffic & gets a smack of a bus/cage (there's no jaywalking laws here, lemmings have the right of way once they step onto the road) with as twisted a sense of humour as I have (lemming gets a smack of a truck = more paperwork for him), backroad hazards & what warning signs mean in reality, & on to filtering tips & where's the best option

On the filtering he put up a diagram of a motorway with stopped traffic & asked for a show of hands on which line is best for filtering, 2 of us didn't raise a hand, one guy who never filters (out of a dozen of us) & me, he asked which line I'd take & was very happy with the answer the one with the widest gap (there is no right answer, but apparently that's the right answer)

After lunch it was on to the slow control, some of the instructors took their BMW R1200RTs for a run around the track, throwing them over to 45° lean angle at full lock & slaloming them around the course, before telling us to keep the bike upright & run the course (that brought out a very competitive side to most of us, I havn't done slow course work in a couple of years & couldn't go lock to lock as easily as I used to, that needs more practise)

[Motofool]

Excellent report, Morgan; thanks !

What happened in that turn covered with leaves?
Did you just skid?

Full lock is a scary turn just because we lose the ability to balance by steering normally.

For turning at full lock, the trick is to keep applying some rear brake.

After a bit of experimentation, you will find a certain combination of throttle and back brake (no clutch) that will bring the bars up to the lock.

If you start feeling the bike over-leaning, just release the brake and feel the bars come back to their neutral position.

The confidence comes from the certainty that the instant you feel uncomfortable, you will release a little of the rear brake and will recover into conventional steering mode again.

[Whiskey]

Originally Posted by Motofool

Excellent report, Morgan; thanks !

What happened in that turn covered with leaves?
Did you just skid?

Full lock is a scary turn just because we lose the ability to balance by steering normally.

For turning at full lock, the trick is to keep applying some rear brake.

After a bit of experimentation, you will find a certain combination of throttle and back brake (no clutch) that will bring the bars up to the lock.

If you start feeling the bike over-leaning, just release the brake and feel the bars come back to their neutral position.

The confidence comes from the certainty that the instant you feel uncomfortable, you will release a little of the rear brake and will recover into conventional steering mode again.

Nothing unusual happened at that part, I just had to watch my pace, & avoid the crap accumulated by the edge. The f-up was earlier during city riding where I was watching for instruction coming up to a crossroads, and barely completed my check before rolling through the junction.

I had most of the slow control down, but the slalom was tricky, miss one turn in point & you're sunk for the rest of it.
We were told to hold the revs steady, just over tick over (about 2.5k for the 250) use the rear brake & hold the clutch steady in the biting point.
The naked 650 seemed to do it very well.

[Motofool]

Link to original page on YouTube.