Good news, bad news

Bad My IAM observer today came out with this to describe my
riding style: "You're not a motorcyclist, you're a road user who
reacts to others"

Good B6 passed it's MOT

Good My Flip Flap arrived

All in all not such a good day.

 

That's completely fucked up.

 

Wtf is a Flip Flap? Fwiw, I parsed that as 'piss flap', which caused a
moment of confusion.
--
Dave
GS850x2 XS650 SE6a

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

 

Might I venture to say that the observer is a ****? **** him.

What's that then?

I wouldn't worry.

 

In communiqué <>, Grimly

Obviously it should be akin to a Cat Flap but for a Flip.
A quick google suggests it might be a solar powered plant which is
supposed to be a 'stress relieving toy'[1]

[1] Nothing to do with massage it appears BTW.
--

+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest Yamaha WR250Z |
| Gilera GFR Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+

 

I am sure he meant "Your riding style is that of a motorist that reacts
to others", and perhaps " . . not (yet) that of an advanced
motorcyclist".

He said that to make you think, and to help you define a new riding
style. My experience with the IAM observers is that those who let you
trundle along without any comments like that will never help you improve
your riding style. Stick with that observer, listen to him and practice.

My initial attitude to IAM and their observers was that these guys are
of the "old and safe" school. But it changed.

 

My previous two observers have given postive reinforcement and
constructive criticism as well as telling me if I've done something
that concerned them. My assigned one appears to think that I've got a
lot to get out of observed runs with him, and I'm certain that I will.
However, if I was in his position I'd probably say his comment in a
different way.

On my shortlist of best things to have on your desk at work.

<http://www.audiocubes.com/images/f_tomy_flipflap.jpg>

£5 + £1 P&P from GadgetShop.com (Or £10 + Free P&P from Play.com)

There are some videos on Google Video/YouTube of them doing their
thang. Mine's been sitting in not-so-light places around the home all
day today and is quietly away to itself so it'll be good in an office
environment. It's bigger than I expected.

I went out shopping to try and make myself feel better and five hours
later, after toddling around Canterbury, Ashford and Folkestone I
didn't find anything worth buying apart from £15 of petrol for the
car.

 

You mean he thinks you are up for paying him lots of money?

AHA there's the answer

 

The IAM seems to let the local groups run as a charity, with the
Observers getting paid nothing for their work. Infact, our group says
that we need to give our observer £10 cash to cover their expenses per
day they're with us. As the runs last several hours, and I end up
having to fill up the Bandit again at the end, I'm pretty confident
that the observers actually make a loss on not just their own petrol
and general use of their tyres/brakes etc, but also their time. All
of my observers have even picked up the bill for drinks in the
'de-brief' at the end of sessions.

Being an Observer doesn't appear to be a great money-spinner so I
think they deserve credit for wanting to help others who want to
receive it. I'd not say that any of them were 'do-gooders' either.

 

What a rip-off! Our observers only charge a fiver, you're being done ;-)

David