My bikesafe experience

[The Tot]

POST IS A BIT LONG SO MAKE SURE YOU REALLY ARE BORED!!! (or interested!)

I would highly recommend the Bikesafe rider improvement course at the Ace Cafe - I learned many valuable lessons just by riding out with the police - Their presentations and briefings were just absolute jokes but commanded a serious point. I'm gonna have to bore you with the details of the day, but it was a great hang-over remedy for the night before. Food at the ace was copious and very scrumtuous - dilluted the several pints + Jd's i downed.

On the hazards + perceptions presentation, our instructor; Jeff-with-pins-in-his-legs thought it was rather amusing to put in photshopped images Darth Vader in the middle of a serious Hazard, using the apparent sense of humour to convey the message Still, made us all laugh.

Then came the annecdotes of some of the cagers which cause us grief. There was a pleasant character who drove an arctic as his day to day job and i can honestly admit that i learnt as much from him as i did with the police (to be honest with you so did the police). Other than riding a colourful license because of his ZX-12R, he's told stories about how a ped tried to undertake his trailer on a left hand bend, only to feel a slight wobble in his load - boy was squashed - this new insight was taken in by the police. He also warned newbies about the draught caused prior to and following overtaking a lorry - But his most serious point was this.
He was overtaking a car that was swerving on the 2nd-3rd lane of the m40 - only to find out some woman was giving him a BJ!!!!! Flashed his lamp and up came a woman wiping her mouth!... that i thought was funny!!!!

Okay, now to the more serious stuff. They picked very nice routes to ride along, encompassing the elements of bends, blind entries, crests, nat speed limits, residentials, filtering, roundabouts. My riding today was mostly done on the A40 + Harefield - Ickenham - a route which i might do after college with my mate. The officer followed me on a HD 1200 sportster which had plenty-o-poke and covered my rear from any impatient riders. It also encouraged me to use my mirrors and lifesaver more as visual contact was the only method of communication. The debriefs after each ride were very thorough and every "fault" of my technique was discussed to some depth - this was taken in and on my afternoon run, the officer noticed a drastic improvement on my smoothness. Now, i kinda feel more confident - i can ride quick and smooth without being fast and not verging to becoming billy big balls.

So the conclusion is, if you REALLY do want a professional opinion on how you're riding is, then for 30 quid - you definately CANT go much wrong - i was fortunately blessed by having the instructor all to myself (no innuendos intended). It's the only days you can call the rozzer a wanker and get away with it, but then again theyd o have your home address , so make sure that if you're intending to cuss them (and the bikes they ride for that matter) - make sure to move house imminently. A great day for all + good weather! Can't recommend this enough. Like to extend my thanks and gratitude to the bikesafe team!!! Good job you're doing guys
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The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
Never argue with autism

[tgabber]

One question, during the course how different do you think your riding was from your 'normal' style given that a copper was following you?
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"It's all about dislocating expectation"
Kawasaki KMX125 -> Aprilia RS125 -> Kawasaki ZZR600

[Ste]

Will be looking at doing one when I get my license back, will have to wait until my 33bhp finished, purely because I would prefer to be able to do it on a larger bike than 33bhp as that will be more helpful and real world to learn on. No other reasons at all.

[The Tot]

My riding style was not to different to how i generally ride out with the BCF Herts guys, well obviously i didn't pull any ridiculous overtakes. He commented on general habits such as me craning my neck too much, when a simple wiggle of the bars could have improved visibility around corners and also the fact that i was going "slightly" too hot for certain corners when i had a slight arse off seat position. But other than that, i rode as if there wasn't any rozzers about, since most of the time he followed a close formation, usally 2-3m behind and very often in my blind spot!! Since he was on a harley, i just treated him as if i was out with the lads or a tandem. Had he been on a pan, maybe i psychologically, i would have adopted a slower style, but at the end of the day, i wanted to ride as quick as my confidence permitted, so i rode as i'd normally ride - and not to impress.
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The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
Never argue with autism

[PsychoHippy]

So in the NSL areas, were you expected to stick to the speed limit, or were you able to let it run a little (obviously not kicking the arse out of it!)?
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I spend all my money on bikes and beer, the rest I simply waste!

[katana]

Firstly this is NOT advanced riding it is only a supervised ride.

Bikesafe is an amazing iniative that we all should use if we have it in the area. The police bikers are human and really nice chaps. Paul Mostyn is definitely an advert that a true gentleman smokes a pipe.

When I did mine we bruised the speed limits and I jumped a red light and was told that I did the right move due to the weather conditions I could have skidded and I observed that there were no other dangers so going through the lights was the safest thing to do.

They are genuinly friendly people well worth it for the banter.

[nc30 chick]

I done a bike safe day at the ace back in july.. went with hubby and two of his mates.. had a great day out. they made it a fun course.. well worth the money.learnt a lot during the day. even hubby's mate (who wheelies everywhere) had a great time..they dont care if the bike has a race can,small plate.. you are there to ride safely.. great fun doing above speed limit with a police bike next to you.. they dont mind as long as you dont take the piss eg..50mph in a 30mph.. did do 85-90 in a 70 zone,, MY advise is every one do one as YOU will learn more

[jonboy]

[The Tot]

yeh - sorry, grammatical error - car driver was getting a BJ, otherwise the Pan Euro will have Wilma Wankmouth instead of a 1300 lump in it!!

Funny thing was that at Hanger Lane - some Fireblade rider was trying to give me some grief so the copper was just aboout to chase him on his HD - that would have been a nice sight!

Yeh, with regards to speed -i was caught a few times doing like 35-40 in a 30 on my first run, but toned it down on my second - either route is cool, but Harefield was fun because of the fact i've never ridden it before, so was quite a nice sight.

I found PC Paris to be an absolute joker and an ace character as well as Paul Mostyn! Both top notch geezers. Lucky i wasn't giving them too much lip or any of my lame jokes (i think they kinda know where i live )
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The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
Never argue with autism

[porf]

Hi,

I've just got back from a BikeSafe day at the South London venue (The Warren). Have to say it too was a good day.

My bike (GSXR 600) mainly gets used for commuting so it made a change to spend a day mostly on back roads in Kent.

With 3 people plus police rider in our group (normally 2 + police rider but they were down on riders today) we had 2 rides out, one long (split into 2 session ) and one shorter one. Each rider got around 15-20 minutes at the front in each of the 3 sessions spending the rest of the time following.

The routes picked varied and included town centre high streets but for the most part were on twisty (for me anyway!) country roads.

There's no radios used, they just have a debrief between sessions. The debriefs were usefull, mostly relating to road position in our groups case as well as pointing out that I was braking before corners when not really needed.

The classroom based stuff was handled well, they have acted on previous comments made to them and cut some sections such as the bit on security down to allow more road time.

The guys running this definately manage to come across as bikers rather than coppers. The attitude to speeding was along the lines of "if it's safe". I got no negative comments on an 80 mph overtake in the opposite lane on a NSL road, they are more concerned with getting other messages across than with demonising speed.

Highly recommended
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www.fugitives.co.uk

[Teaman]

Hi btw peeps.
I did a bikesafe course in July this year and its made me a better rider, I knew i was doing something wrong but couldnt quite put my finger on it. my mate couldnt help me as he cant turn corners anyway so i did the course, (3 days after buying a zzr 1200) after screaming around like mad men on the 60 mph parts(mainly myself playing catch up) getting dirty looks off motorists when passing them at up to 120 mph we got back to the cop shop and were commented and critisised on our riding.
Truly it isnt untill you have a coppa following you watching how you ride you realising how important some sort of advanced riding training is,
another reason to do a bike safe is that its not every day you break the speedlimit whilst being followed by a coppa.
Im tempted to do the IAM course but then i might end up buying a Gold Wing
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There is no point in ranting about someone stupid because there is nothing u can do about it. There is no cure for stupid.
Someone stupid does not realise they r stupid.stupidity is indistinguishable from malice U just have to accept that some people are thick as p1gsh1t and work around them.

[Ava_Banana]

Got my bike safe sorted for the 18th December!!

Hope I can grab a warm cup of coffee at the Ace before we start.......