Bikesafe

Did a Bikesafe day with West Mids Police today.

Very good in short. Excellent non-patronising classroom session in
the morning reviewing road-positioning, observation, use of speed, all
the usual stuff. Also included a short presentation from a bike
Paramedic on what to do when you're first on the scene.

Then a "spirited" ride all afternoon with a Janitor.

Highlights:

- Chasing a fully marked Janitor down country A roads at "eek"
speeds.
- Having people flash me to warn me about said Janitor in an effort
to get me to slow down.
- Filtering with prejudice through Birmingham due to the
"parting-of-the-waves" effect of aforementioned Janitor.
- Some wag squeezing Michael Hunt onto the attendance register.

Lowlights:

- I need a faster bike because mine doesn't keep up with a Pan
European.
- Getting fully marks on all categories of assessment apart from
observation where I dropped one mark.
- The paramedic's stories were almost enough to put you off riding
altogether.

All in all, a good waste of 50 quid and recommended.

 

<snip>

Interesting - I've booked one later this month. The only thing I've ever
done with the Police was volunteering to marshal a bicycle race (direct
traffic at junction, then piggyback at high speed past other marshals and
various Plod to get to next designated junction) and it was pretty good fun.
Best memory is banging down the coast road on the wrong side, past an
peleton of cyclists and several Plod cars, at three-figure speeds, safe in
the knowledge that our official instructions were only "keep it sensible,
lads". I'm looking forward to my next encounter. I've heard some good
things about Bikesafe, and since I've only had one assessment of my riding
since 1972, it can't harm to have another.

****. Dyfed-Powys are wanting £80.

 

Yes, Marcus McCormick was the chap running it.

 

Is the 2 days or one?

This was one, but apparently up till this year it was a 2 day thing.

 

Are they actually done by the police over there?

It appears that the Bikesafe courses down in my area of Kent are
organised by my local IAM via the police (IAM do the course for the
Police) due to there being only 9 motorcycle coppers here.

 

Ah - yes, 2 days for this one. Sounds as if the mornings will be
classroom-based with a short road session, and the afternoons almost all on
the road. I've paid them an extra £10 so I can take SWMBO along on one of
the days. I hoped she would get a bit of an insight from the classroom
stuff, see how sensible I could be on the road <cough> and how slightly
spirited riding wasn't necessarily frowned upon by the pleece, but after
your description I think I might leave her at home. She's a fairly
inexperienced pillion, and I wouldn't want to give her the laxative
treatment.

 

I'm pretty sure it is *run* by the Police, but it might be staffed by
professional instructors under their supervision. Not too sure. If it's
the IAM, I shall **** off at morning break, as BTDT. My IAM test was
assessed by a police class 1 guy, and he was a hoot. "As long as it's safe
and smooth, let's not hang around, shall we?"

 

Whenever I have an observer they say the same thing to me about speed
limits "30's, 40's and 50's - stick to them, in an NSL as long as it's
safe and smooth then I'm not looking at my speedo" but then when on a
motorway or whatever and I do 80 I end up losing them. Same with
doing 70 in an NSL.

 

Mine was all Police. And one Paramedic.

 

I was told that breaking any limit on an IAM test is instant failure. I
suppose they have to make that the official line, then when you get there they
can say what they want.

"Take the next left, into the strip club car park..."

 

Fair point, and probably true. When I commented that I was going to find it
hard to get a move on with a full-dress police bike up my chuff, he was more
specific. "I will expect you to observe the speed limits of the road in
general, but if you need to exceed the limit to perform a safe overtake, and
then drop back to a reasonable speed, I will regard that as sensible and
progressive riding." I took him at his word - I just made sure I did plenty
of overtakes to stay in the "sensible and progressive" zone. He was happy
with that. Certainly on my IAM car test, which I did the year before, I was
told that 1mph over the limit was a fail. Compared to the bike version, the
IAM car test was a piece of piss. Drive normally, if a little slowly =>
pass.

 

No, but I went for indicated, on the basis that if you find yourself arguing
with the examiner over the exact speed you were doing, he's probably pissed
off enough to fail you.

Running commentary hasn't been required for many years now, although I did
it because I found it amusing, and because I could. His only criticism at
the end was that I had failed to toot my horn when passing a bus in a
lay-by, to warn any passengers who might emerge from behind. The bus was in
fact parked up with no passengers anywhere near, but like I said, there's no
need to argue.

 

Bad form, but better than starting a new thread. Did the Bikesafe this
weekend. Well worth it. Comments pretty much as above, particularly with
regard to the Plod riders. The guy who took my group out was fucking good.
Classroom based stuff was interesting and worth listening to - pretty much
what the IAM teach, but less stuffy. Good bits: my hazard perception and
positioning are good, and I "make good progress". Bad: the torquey Bandit
has made me lazy with gearchanges, and I don't use the rear brake enough.
It would be 2 days well spent for someone who had passed the test relatively
recently (none of it is exactly rocket science) or like me, a returnee who
needs his skills refreshing and a proper assessment.

Also - they showed two TV adverts from Ireland, one on using seat belts, one
on drink-driving. Utterly shocking and brutal, and apparently banned from
the UK because they are too hard-hitting. It seems we are too sensitive to
bear thinking about killing children. They should be required viewing for
every learner driver. </rant>

 

Oh, what ones?

Seatbelt; The crowded car and too much distraction inside?

Pisshead; The one with the bloke's burd getting squashed outside the
school (or was that just a speed one), and perhaps the drunken ****
somersaulting over the garden fence?

That one shown in the UK with the ragdoll kid slowly reviving as she is
apparently hit at slower speeds, is quite striking, so it seems there
isn't actually a taboo on showing kids as victims.
--
Dave
GS850x2 XS650 SE6a

Teach a man to fish and he and his pikey mates will have the
river cleaned out in a day.

 

I imagine that Learner Drivers stick to the speed limit most of the
time, especially if they're with their instructor. It's those who
have passed their test who go around speeding. And nomatter how many
adverts one sees about SPEED KILLS and DRUNK PEOPLE SHOULDN'T DRIVE
they're still going to do it. Take Mr. Chief Anti-Drink-Drive Plod
who recently was found to be drunk in charge.

 

I doubt they /would/ tell you if you were riding the ZX. But the back
brake does make a big difference on heavy things with softer suspension
than yer average sports bike, so it may well have been a valid comment,
although I've not ridden a B12 so can't say for certain.

--
Krusty
www.MuddyStuff.co.uk
Off-Road Classifieds

'02 MV Senna '03 Tigtona 955i '96 Tiger '79 Fantic Hiro 250

 

The only time I ever used the rear brake on my Bandit was downhill on
possibly slippery (leaf-covered) roads. At all other times the front
was sufficiently powerful as to render the back unnecessary.

 

Fair point. In practice, I use the front brake cos I'm a lazy bastard
and it's easier to grab that to scrub a bit off than to move my foot.
But I can see that dynamically it is not the best solution for normal
riding. I'm not a racer, and I rarely brake hard enough to unload the
rear to the extent that the rear brake becomes redundant. So the use
of the rear (varying between 90/10 and 50/50) seems to work for my
kind of riding. Since I was a willing volunteer at the event, telling
the copper to piss off may not have been a very constructive thing to
do, however.

 

I suggest you get friendly with the rear brake on the Tiger. Hitting it
before the front makes things a whole lot more comfortable.

--
Krusty
www.MuddyStuff.co.uk
Off-Road Classifieds

'02 MV Senna '03 Tigtona 955i '96 Tiger '79 Fantic Hiro 250

 

I worked that out already - using the front alone, especially to a
dead stop makes things too bouncy.

BTW, none of the reviews I read mentioned that they wheelie really
easily off the throttle in 1st - is this normal, or am I a ham-fisted
****?