Standard course for traffic yes. SV/CT guys start to do the unmarked tasks with 5/SRR guys, within the Met.
I’m sure as I scanned through this thread that there were some suggesting that they had nothing more to learn, ha, priceless
I certainly didn’t insinuate that. It’s like education, if the teacher is shit.. you learn fuck all. And if someone was truly that good at something, they probably wouldn’t be working as a teacher, let’s face it. that is the problem with a lot of these things. The level of talent in the pool is non existent. Same with the IaM. Just a bunch of bods who’ve read a book and passed a rigid outdated test and now think they’re the bollocks. Textbooks often don’t translate too well to the real world. It’s not teaching you to think for yourself and catering for the fact that real world doesn’t generally fall in to black or white type situations that can be dealt with by Reciting a book. Anyone who’s tried to employ modern uni grads will know this. Hopeless. I got a B in maths at school somehow due to my resourcefulness and I couldn’t even do my times table due to being a full bore spas. See the problem. A bit of paper means sweet FA!
One of the best bits of advice I ever had was from a bike cop at the TT, we were stood talking about the two black lines going off the road on a corner on the mountain “yes, that one has got a broken leg and arm, and the other one is in Nobles in a very bad way, might not live” he said, then he said “one thing I’ve always noticed at accidents I’ve attended is that pretty much without fail there’s a road sign about a hundred yards before the accident warning you of the hazard, just keep your eye on the road signs and react to them mate”, I thought well that’s a bit obvious, but realised later that in truth I often half ignored them, a couple of weeks later I’m approaching a bend on a country lane near home, the sign shows a tight bend with a lane joining it at the apex, thinking of the coppers words I slowed more than I usually would, a farm van came belting out of the lane into the corner without looking, if I’d been 20 feet further around the corner he’d have gone straight into me, thanks mr TT copper I owe you one!
Just remind me, when you are 'instructing' as you so often tell us at FE track days, what qualifications do you have to do this?
I went to Lego land when I was 6 There isn’t really any qualifications that anyone bothers with. Some have acu instructors cert, but hardly anyone does tbh. There’s only a handful in the whole country last time I checked. same with the car stuff. You can get ards for short circuit. Bars for rally, borda for off-road etc. But nobody really bothers as it isnt worth the paper it’s written on. Some ‘schools’ which aren’t schools anymore like people to have it. The joke of it is that many of these are just experience type places and you’d never touch them for race tuition. They mainly force it because they have a vested interest in it. But all the skilled coaches fucked off privately years ago as A certain circuit owner forced the wages down and started employing kids and basically anyone with two eyes and some limbs. I had it for years though. Piss easy to get. Just become associated with a school and they give them away on the back of a cereal box.
P.s. I think you might want to consider easing some of that pent up tension old boy. I thought Wednesday night was the universal midweek ‘get your end away’ night?!? Godspeed sugar
I accept that you may not have had the best experience with IAM RS affiliated club riders and observers in the past and many of those riders are still around but you are tarring me with the same brush having never met or ridden with me and I object to that. My riding was assessed by a serving traffic officer who thought I exceeded the standard for a pass and my ability to provide coaching in the IAM RS ARC was assessed against standards set by the IMI, by an independent assessor after months of rigorous observation and training from my club’s training team. I’m proud to be an accredited IAM RS Observer and I’m not hidebound by any rigid dogma, I advocate and apply a flexible system to my riding and feel I am a better rider for it. And for the record, I am not alone in my approach in my club, times change and things move forward, hopefully for the better. Andy
I appreciate it’s a sweeping statement mate and not at all aimed at you. I frequented a big kent outfit (no names mentioned) and honestly the riding standards where shite. I witnessed some hilarious incapabilities on group ride outs. They all talked a good ride but the vast majority really enjoyed talking about their badge superiority. Put them on the road though and they really weren’t up to much. Ranging from green badge holders or whatever they’re called up to chief observers. They all had big old chips on their shoulders and I’d wager exceptionally small gentleman sausages. I knew some of the ‘old school’ IaM guys who mostly had all left and where doing their own thing now as they couldn’t stand the politics and suffocating rules for rules sake atmosphere. It’s a shame as those old boys could actually ride. They rode their own journeys and thought for themselves. don’t get me started on police drivers . My old man did some driver training for them (met), skid pan type stuff, some high speed bits. On circuit bits and bobs. you’ll never shit yourself so much watching a bloke do 130 in to paddock and still be bsm shuffling the wheel
In my experience it's myth that being in the job, makes every Police rider some sort of riding god. A good friend of mine was in the Met for years, in cars and on bikes. And he said the hardest person to stop, was a quick rider that didn't have to observe the same rules. And when I was a teenager at tech college, 2 traffic cops came and gave us a talk, and said much the same.
I would say that riding by different rules, ie not giving a shit about anyone else , is a huge advantage, till the day that persons skill is outweighed by their antics. Then that same police person could be knocking on that arseholes parents with grim news.
That's not what I wrote or meant. If you're intent on worst scenarios, innocent bystanders have been injured or killed by Police drivers, is that news any easier to deliver? A police driver reversed from a side road into the path of a friend of mine to end a pursuit. As far as I know he kept his job, my friend lost his life.
It read like that’s what you meant. Not saying all cops are gods, as above I’ve ridden with a few (not loads) and half were certainly not that quick. But doing a job that means you have formal, measured training regularly and that you’re out using those skills every day will mean you are safer going faster. And isn’t that the discussion here? Not Shakey and Hislop or whoever in the old PB vids using all the road and not worrying about blind crests or grip: average joe riding a few thousand miles pa and cracklings on a bit and having safe (r) fun. Anyone who thinks they have nothing to learn are filling themselves. There’s a couple of guys I’ve ridden with on here who are rospa/iam whatever and some are super quick, others less so. Just because someone can follow a system, even if it’s the best system out there, doesn’t mean they can apply it to max effect.
I got taken out by a police car during a chase on my Lambretta. I got hurt. The pain was my responsibility. I had the chance to stop and pull over. I didnt and ended up flying over the bonnet. I get fed up with people not taking responsibility for the consequences of their own actions. All the stupid things Ive done were my fault. I was more upset about my tonic trousers getting torn up. That was proper mohair. Besides it was only a scabby TV175 that I knocked together from parts.
So in that pent up frustration style... I believe your qualifications add up to...er Fook all! Godspeed unqualified Sugar!
You can read into it whatever you like. Plod where I used to ride, had an unmarked Fireblade and ZX10R. If they were capable of catching crotch rockets on overweight tourers, they wouldn't have needed those, would they? I don't recall seeing them, but a friend of mine did. And he reckoned the riders lines through corners were laughable.
