IAM to drop requirment for progress

[thx1138]

Survival Skills facebook page post lunchtime today.

[raesewell]

I think riders should know how to "make progress" but not be forced to.
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Yamaha FJR 1300 Normanton West Yorkshire

[Rogerborg]

[chickenstrip]

Would someone please explain to me what the term "making progress" means in the context of riding a motorcycle? I thought even at 5mph, as long as you are indeed moving forwards, then you are making progress.
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Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!

[raesewell]

I passed my IAM test earlier this year, I now overtake when it suits me.
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Yamaha FJR 1300 Normanton West Yorkshire

[wr6133]

[raesewell]

No that's not what I meant I meant I dont feel pressure to make progress, overtake when I dont want to
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Yamaha FJR 1300 Normanton West Yorkshire

[G]

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[chickenstrip]

I take it that it comes from the same vocabulary as "spirited riding" (as both tend to be used in quotation marks)?

Which, as I understand it, means when I thrash the nuts off me bike with a big, looney grin on my face?

So "making progress" probably also hints at illegal speeds but whilst carving up the traffic?

So it must all be some kind of code. Will ze Germans defeat us if they crack our code?
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Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!

[Rogerborg]

[map]

[raesewell]

[esullivan]

I'm doing my RoSPA training now (this weekend I'm getting "cross checked" before the test) and advice seems to be changing recently. I'm told that the observer wants to see me hunt for an overtake (move to the overtake position), but we don't necessarily need to do any on test.

I took some training with Kevin at Survival Skills (quoted in the first post) and after doing RoSPA for a while, I agree with him even more. We're taught things that make sense for a cop on blues and twos and very little sense for commuting.

I'm continuing to pursue the RoSPA piece of paper, but my normal riding is different and will remain that way. Progress isn't my highest goal. Getting to my destination in one piece is.

EDIT: I don't want to give the wrong impression. IAM/RoSPA would of course agree that getting to your destination alive is the highest goal. It's just that some of the aspects of the Roadcraft book that they push narrow the safety margin a bit too much, in my opinion. Positioning yourself so that your elbow and shoulder are brushing the hedges may give you a nanosecond of extra view down the curve, but also reduce your margin of error considerably if there is an obstacle at the side of the road. Keeping a couple of feet away from the edge (or centre line) still gives you a good view around the turn without adding extra hazards. That's just an example -- there are lots of little bits to the teaching that, again, make sense on motorcycles from yesteryear (where it was important to maintain momentum) or when doing the ton responding to an emergency.

I'll do what they want on the test, but when I'm not being observed, I don't feel at all inadequate if I widen the safety margin at bit more at the expense of progress. Isn't there something wrong if I have to ride differently when not on test? I think there is.
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Current: '14 VFR800X Test passed 31/10/12.
Previous: '12 NC700S, '11 CBF 125, '04 SH 125.

[raesewell]

I passed the IAMs test earlier this year and am very glad I did it.
On occasion it pushed me out of my comfort zone and once or twice I was ready to pack it in. I am glad I didn't, it taught me a lot about myself and improved my riding and my hazard perception.
As with any test the examiner has to see you make certain manoeuvres you dont need to perform an overtake to pass your test but he wants to see you looking for the opportunity.
My observer didn't manage an overtake on his test but still passed.
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Yamaha FJR 1300 Normanton West Yorkshire

[Copycat73]

I did mine in `96 ... so what ..
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Whatever I post I have no citation and no intention of providing one..
caveat emptor

[raesewell]

[ScaredyCat]

[Llama-Farmer]

I thought that IAM have a massive emphasis on NEVER breaking the speed limit though. Not even by a few mph during an overtake to get past quicker (i.e. reduce the time on the other side of the road, ergo safer)


I don't think "making progress" should be continuously expected or encouraged, but I do think that it should be taught and assessed at an advanced level.

A significant number of bikers break the speed limit and overtake a lot. There is no denying that. And there is probably no way of stopping them doing that. But teaching how to make good, safe, effective progress will make it that bit safer.


You already can get minor faults on the bike test for failing to make progress. And rightly so I think. You need to show that you can SAFELY make good progress within the speed limit, where appropriate.

So I think it should be on IAM/RoSPA tests and training, but not necessarily encouraged for the sake of it.
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Current Bike: 1999 Honda CB600 FX Hornet
Next Bike: I want a CBR-RR. And I want an F800 GS-A. And a VFR 800. Can I have all 3?
Dream Bikes: Honda VFR750R RC30, Honda NSR500, Ducati 996 R

[Skudd]

These sort of courses can give you the confidence to make use of your machine at the appropriate time and not just go ballistic all over the place or wobble around in the gutter.

You need to look at them as just another tool in the chest of skills you acquire in order to get the most enjoyment out of your machine.
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Famous last words of Humpty Dumpty. " Stop pushing me "
Petty Anarchists look at "1984".............. The Visionary looks at "Animal Farm".

[Rogerborg]

[BillyJ]

I was with the IAM for a bit and stopped last month as I was marked down for not overtaking on a road that I was unfamiliar with and didn't feel like I could do it safely.

I might actually go back now.
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Had: '06 CBR125R + '01 GSF600 + '07 SPRINT ST 1050 + '80 CB250 RSA + '93 Ducati 900SS
Have: '13 GSXR-1000 + '01 CB500S
"The aryan confuser"

[esullivan]

[Rogerborg]

[raesewell]

On the indicating issue, IAM say that you only need to give information (indicating) if someone is there to receive it. No point in indicating on an empty road.
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Yamaha FJR 1300 Normanton West Yorkshire