IAM course

[Random13]

https://www.iam.org.uk/riders/riders-courses

are above courses any good ?

has anyone joined them and what do you get ?

[Matt B]

Don't think you get any mechanical advice.

You posted in the workshop section....
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stinkwheel: He had an animated .gif of a cat performing fellatio. It's not socially acceptable. It can have real life adverse effects on other people.

[Random13]

sorry how do i move it?

[Matt B]

You can't. Don't sweat it.
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stinkwheel: He had an animated .gif of a cat performing fellatio. It's not socially acceptable. It can have real life adverse effects on other people.

[bamt]

I think they are worth doing - they help you to think about what you are actually doing on the bike; optimising your position, speed, gear usage etc. so that you are smoother, safer and (as a by-product) faster.

Your local group will probably do a free ride-out session with you, where you go out for an hour with an observer and see what it is all about. Mine ( https://tvam.org ) certainly do. That's the best way to see if it is for you or not.

[Random13]

so is it all boring etc or you actually learn something which you can also use on track days?

is it all about been safe or pushing to limit ?

[andyscooter]

The bloke who ran my ride aware course said not to

Reason being you ride smoother and safer therefore start to become complacent

This is when you will crash

Normally on these courses at least three out of 8 taking them are advanced riders
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gilera runner vxr200 (chavped)
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[bamt]

Depend what you call boring.

It's not at all track-day orientated (although my group do additional courses like advanced braking - which takes place on an RAF runway and includes locking up both your front and back wheels so you understand how far you can push things, or Look Lean and Roll for better cornering).

The main aim is to improve your road riding- e.g. how you position yourself for maximum visibility on bends, how to approach them so you can get through them faster and safer, improving your observation skills so that you get more time to react to changing road conditions. A good advanced rider makes everything look effortless and smooth, whilst still riding at a good pace.

[Random13]

thanks , I am right assuming you pay the membership for a year which is approximately £150 and then join local clubs and occasionally you may have to pay for the observer fuel cost which is £15ish ?

If you do track days or on runways , do you have to pay more ?

how do you book into the sessions and how often they are ?

many thanks

[bamt]

With my group, you pay the £150-ish (whatever it is now) which gives you IAM membership for a year, local group membership for a year and your test fees.

Going out with your observer is nominally free. For some groups you are expected to pay for fuel; with TVAM you don't. However it is accepted practice to buy the observer lunch and coffees whilst you are out.

The additional courses cost extra (typically about £30).

If you keep up membership after the first year it's about £35 for the IAM and whatever your local group costs are (TVAM is about £30). Obviously you don't have to do that.

The sessions with your observer are at times mutually convenient - you just make arrangements directly with your observer, and when ready for test that is normally available within a week or two (arranged at a time mutually convenient for you and the examiner - typically a Police biker).

Extra courses run two or three times a year with my group - and with my group you can book them on the website or at the monthly meetings. The monthly meetings also have ride-outs, there are group holidays etc.

[Random13]

many thanks , I have just seen this school close to me and sent the following questions to them

I wanted to find out how does IAM work ? I understand I have to pay an annual fee of £149.

Is there a limit on number of session I can book into ?

How often are they ? -looking at their website it is every 2 weeks

Are there further costs or payments to be made?


I believe you have an event this Saturday , if I register , would I be able to attend ?

[bamt]

It's best to get the answers from your local group as to how they work, but it's not a school as such; they are all volunteers doing it for the love of it. As above, the actual ongoing annual fee is likely to be more like £60-£70 if you stay with the group after you've done your test.

For the observed rides you do as many as you need, your allocated observer will tell you when you are ready to take the test but it is all at your pace and one to one.

With my group you just turned up to the monthly meeting, they have meet-and-greet people to make newcomers welcome, you get a briefing, an observed ride out, then you can either join up and pay the fees there, or go away and think about it. No pressure either way - and the free taster makes sure that you understand what you are getting into and what you get for your money. If yours does that, I'd encourage you to do it that way.

[Llama-Farmer]

[Random13]

so can I go everymonth .

I think my local school does the training in airfield so would have thought it would include cornering and braking

[G]

[bamt]

[andyscooter]

[Llama-Farmer]

[Amber Phoenix]

I've just signed up with the ELAM group. They did a free taster session, which was cool.

£150 / yr (was some discount codes floating about too). ELAM do a day on an airfield (low speed work, e-stops, slalom etc), 3 theory nights (spaced fortnightly) and 5 compulsory observed rides (choice of Sat or Sun fortnightly). Think there's option of more rides beyond that, then the test. Observers ask for an extra tenner per ride to cover their petrol - they're volunteers you see. They have a group intake every 3 months ish. You've just missed the Jan intake.
They also seem to organise lots of social rides, tracks days, holidays and other such stuff to get involved with if you want.

Day on the airfield was really good. No crazy mad skills and thrills, just doing the basics really well. Actually really useful and fun in practice.

Got first theory night tonight, so we'll see how that goes.

Early days, but they all seem a good bunch of mixed age, background and flavour of bikes - all friendly, full of good advice and offered plenty of encouragement. Actually really looking forward to it all.
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Beginner Biker Adventures Blog
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