www.boxertrix.com

I've been giving serious thought to advance tuition. IAM is at the top of the list. I've been riding for more than 40 years, spent 2 years riding around London as a courier and did Bike Safe about 20 years. I still enjoy riding safely at pace, so I'm worried that doing such a course would try to knock this sort of behaviour out of me., and I'm not ready for that yet.
Has anyone done similar training, (other than emergency service training) and what are your thoughts. I would like as many opinions as possible.

I did the IAM training and thought it was very good.
In particular, how to anticipate situations, reading the vanishing point and positioning on the road. They certainly don't hang around and it is a good stepping stone to other advanced training.

Others here have used individual trainers with positive results.

My personal preference is for RoSPA as it's a higher standard again, my understanding is RoSPA Gold is the same as the police class 1 without the high speed pursuit training.

Plus it has to be redone every few (5?) years whereas the IAM test is a lifetime award which to me diminishes it a bit as lets face it there's a big difference between us now to 20 years ago etc.

But of course the important thing really is the knowledge and understanding that such training imparts.

You could always redo the BikeSafe, and as an extra the Enhanced Rider Scheme from the DSA is a well regarded assessment too.

For an alternative - try Rapid Training. These are police officers based in Thames Valley who have been running an advanced training company for a number of years.

They used to do track days but no longer do as I understand it due to various reasons. But, their road training is well renowned.
http://rapidtraining.co.uk/clients.html

Downside is no qualification or insurance discount.

slparry wrote:My personal preference is for RoSPA as it's a higher standard again, my understanding is RoSPA Gold is the same as the police class 1 without the high speed pursuit training.

Plus it has to be redone every few (5?) years whereas the IAM test is a lifetime award which to me diminishes it a bit as lets face it there's a big difference between us now to 20 years ago etc.

But of course the important thing really is the knowledge and understanding that such training imparts.

You could always redo the BikeSafe, and as an extra the Enhanced Rider Scheme from the DSA is a well regarded assessment too.

Concur with your thoughts there Steve i.e. IAM and RoSPA. When I was an advanced trainer I always advised my clients to go for the RoSPA test as it was, (IMHO), a far more thorough and detailed course/test. And it's a retest every three years which is far better than the once and forever that the IAM awards. Of course on your retest you can progress up or down as well depending on how you do on the day this I feel injects a tad more thought into what you do. Three levels of awards Bronze, Silver and Gold if you manage a gold then you would be an extremely competent rider.

However having said that any advanced training is good and far better spending your spondula on an advanced course than purchasing the latest pair of Sidi boots!

OP if you want any heads up/info etc send me a pm.

Bob

Another vote for Rapid Training. They are excellent riders and trainers. They are also 'real world' and will tailor the course to what you want to get out of it. I would say they are a higher standard than IAM/Rospa.

A problem I've found with IAM is that they're very patchy - you might be lucky and get someone who's a decent bloke but equally you might get someone who's mission seems to be to take as much fun out of motorcycling as possible!

Bikesafe is another option.

Any training is useful.

I Observe for IAM and it's great to see people's riding change as the course progresses. Have a mate who is a ROSPA examiner too and used to ride with him a lot.

You can change your riding to suit situations and the Police Roadcraft Handbook is very useful.

bobtail wrote:

slparry wrote:My personal preference is for RoSPA as it's a higher standard again, my understanding is RoSPA Gold is the same as the police class 1 without the high speed pursuit training.

Plus it has to be redone every few (5?) years whereas the IAM test is a lifetime award which to me diminishes it a bit as lets face it there's a big difference between us now to 20 years ago etc.

But of course the important thing really is the knowledge and understanding that such training imparts.

You could always redo the BikeSafe, and as an extra the Enhanced Rider Scheme from the DSA is a well regarded assessment too.

Concur with your thoughts there Steve i.e. IAM and RoSPA. When I was an advanced trainer I always advised my clients to go for the RoSPA test as it was, (IMHO), a far more thorough and detailed course/test. And it's a retest every three years which is far better than the once and forever that the IAM awards. Of course on your retest you can progress up or down as well depending on how you do on the day this I feel injects a tad more thought into what you do. Three levels of awards Bronze, Silver and Gold if you manage a gold then you would be an extremely competent rider.

However having said that any advanced training is good and far better spending your spondula on an advanced course than purchasing the latest pair of Sidi boots!

OP if you want any heads up/info etc send me a pm.

Bob

A mate of mine, the guy who came to one of the Welsh weekends on his K1, passed his RoSPA Gold, and went on to take his instructors ticket. However, he's very self deprecating and says he's not that good a rider as he can't do the really fast stuff that several others of us do. I've tried to impress upon him that that's not an issue and that his qualification validates his abilities

However, that's a refreshing attitude as several of the IAM instructors on the Bikesafe course were so full of their own self import I thought they'd burst The RoSPA guys were much "nicer"

I'm very much in favour of advanced training and know I need to do something. I think I would agree with the re test method as I passed the Star Rider gold many moons ago and now feel it was a "pass and forget" course (although the course was extremely thorough with 6 x 2 in the classroom and 6 x 2 on the road with a 2 hour test) . Whilst doing the course you tried to apply all you have studied and I do still try to apply the vanishing point rules I would still like to do some form of regular training. Don't know much about my local IAM group but have met a few and think I will look for the RoSPA lot

Deleted.

Yes must admit that when i go to the IAM meetings and training days, sometimes it's a real cringe worthy experience. Some of the guys really do like to preach and look down their noses, but there are also some friendly and decent people there.

The fact they let me in shows they have some tolerance lol, but thanks to Andy (Stoney) and have found a way to help others and it's really gratifying.

Some groups allocate a different observer for every ride, which i think is a real challenge, with conflicting ideas and opinions. With our group if an associate isnt happy, they can get another Observer allocated for the duration.

The ROSPA guys do seem to have a more consistent approach

What has prompted me on, is three or four chance meeting with various riders from both ROSPA and IAM lately, plus a couple of serious accidents of mature life long riders I know. I'd like to believe that experience and age would make riding safer, but clearly there's a bit more to it than that.
A fellow that lives around the corner from me, (who I met for first time yesterday) is training to become a IAM observer. I've agreed to go along with him to their meeting tonight.
What I thought, is that I may do IAM first, as I would always benefit from lower insurance. Then use the experience to go on to ROSPA, if I continue enjoy doing the training.
For the last few years I've ridden alone as primarily, as I'd sooner ride on my own, than with mates that haven't worked out why they never got the call from the Honda or Ducati MotoGP teams. Doing this training may also be a good way of meeting riders that realise there's more to biking, than finishing a ride with a trip in an air ambulance.
After all I struggle to get my knee down to tie my shoe laces these days!

Hi,

I passed my advanced test with the IAM just over a year ago with my local group - http://ndamiam.wordpress.com/ and have nothing but good things to say about them, some of them even ride boxers
For me, it was about making my ride as safe as I could and if anything it has made me smoother and quicker in the right places. I spend most of my recreational riding time with my now friends from the group.
Having said that, one of the most valuable days riding I have had was with Andy Morrison at Rapid Training, it was worth every penny and every minute, just brilliant. Feedback as you ride with a cracking report emailed over a few days later. IMHO it is nothing but a good thing to constantly seek improvement in your ride and also have some well trained trainers let you know what you are doing right too.
Whichever direction you choose - enjoy it!

I was lucky to be teamed up with a really good bloke at IAM, and the head of our local group is also brilliant - a retired motorcycle copper - he has some great ideas and interesting opinions. But I have to admit that the guy I went for an assessment ride with before I joined was a bit formal.

The test examiner was a serving policeman (perhaps they always are), and much to my surprise, I really enjoyed the ride. He did say, if we had fun, and the ride was safe and legal, it would be half the battle. And we did have fun.

I'll have to give ROSPA a go too. I'm all for training & education rather than laws to improve the accident statistics.

Davey Bee.
What area are you from?
By chance you own a R12r afew months back did you?