I may be mad but I've been persuaded by a mate to look at doing the Advanced Motorcyclist thing. I have an assessment ride with a RoSPA instructor on Sunday ... Not sure what to expect but I guess it will be fun
Oo-er Dave! They'll have you being all sensible like. No doubt there'll be some interesting stuff so will await your updates with (sort of) interest. Always think there's stuff to learn, then you can pick and choose what you want to take on board. :wink:
Well the instructor works for Somerset Road Safety and he gets to ride an 1198 supplied by the Fire Brigade for his job!
I did about an hours ride out South through Taunton to Chard and back. I found myself holding my speed back a bit - partly because I was on some unfamiliar roads, partly because I'd forgotten to put my ear plugs in so the bike sounded noisier, and partly because I had this hi-viz jacketed assessor behind me. Still, I was a bit surprised when his main comment was that I could've gone faster! Other than that he made a few points about which foot I put down when at a standstill (the 'Hendon shuffle'!) and that was it. He said my overtaking was 'progressive and safe' and reckoned I could go for a Gold pass ... so all-in-all I was well pleased He has offered to take me on as a student so I now need to find the time to do it and get out there for training rides and meet others from the RoSPA group. Good stuff!
I'm sure he was doing a bit of a sales pitch on me - probably clocked me as someone who would go for the 'faster' angle rather than 'safer' ... but we'll see how it pans out when I start the training. I'll let you know how it goes.
Good luck with it. I did the IAM course in 2005 and still put the principles into practice. Best wishes. Pete
