Hi Y'all, Just a quick bit of info you might like to hear about. After being pulled twice in 2 weeks for speeding, the bike cop (nice guy actually) recommended I do a Bike Safe course with Surrey Police. Its £50 including lunch and Police riding books and gubbins. It wasnt an enforceable as a punishment, as both times they couldn't record my speed (thank God as both times it was well into banning territory). As my bike is an absolute necessity for me (commute 100 miles a day into central london), I thought it might be a sensible idea to try to control my speed on the roads and save the fast stuff for trackdays. Also, after a few fast road rides this summer, all i feel after is guilt and panic about being caught and loosing my license, so i'm almost not bothering to do ride-outs anymore as its not worth the risk. So, I turned up on Sunday with a buddy of mine not sure what to expect. My first concern was my blade has a small plate, race exhaust with no baffle, I had a blacked out visor and generally I looked like the kinda bloke the cops would love to bust. After a quick cuppa and meeting other 11 or so participants, we headed in to the briefing room. All the coppers were really nice blokes! They are bikers, who happen to be cops and the focus is about advice, not enforcements and bollockings. The first thing we did was to go round the room, introduce ourselves (bit like an AA meeting!) and say how long we have been riding and what we want to achieve from the day. NOTE: What you say here is important as this is how you are selected to go with a particular plod, who the Sergent feels would be best at ironing out your individual faults. We then ran through the basic guidelines for advanced road riding. This was mainly about road positioning and WHY you should be there and the dangers or benefits. We watched various scenarios and debated what the riders did wrong or right, but again, it was communicated with a positive and constructive attitude. We were then paired up and introduced to our plods. Luckily, I had one all to myself as the numbers were odd. I found this a very good thing as it was like having my own personal police escort! We went out to the bikes and NOTHING was said about my plate, can, visor etc. Their attitude is that they would rather try to educate than bust balls. I was told that the day is about making me a better (safer) rider and that not to worry too much about the speed limits on de-restricted roads, but posted limits should be recognized with a little more respect. They understand that we ride bikes to get us to our destination quickly, and they are trying to teach us to do that - but safely. I was even asked if the could put photo's of the bike on the site! - I bet the don't feature the plate though From there on the rest of the day was a road ride. We would stop here and there and go through any mistakes and good points. It was all very relaxed, but it did take some getting used to having a full-on marked, police bike behind you! As the day progress, I could definitely feel the benefits. Mainly because what the teach gives you other things to think about rather than going as fast as possible and trying to get your knee down. You can actually gain enjoyment from following the guidelines and 'riding better'. Now, don't get me wrong - this is not a quite pootle in the country. It is a very fast road ride, and those guys can really fly on the big beemers. Now, again, this goes back to what you said at the beginning, as if you are not that fast, you will be with a slower copper. But do not try and punch above your weight as you will get embarrassed. Throughout the day my overtaking got mach better and it must have looked amazing to the poor car drivers when a Repsol fireblade blasted past closely followed by a marked Police bike! It was fast, flowing, control and awareness. He didnt even mind when knee sliders grind on asphalt - in-fact one time he encouraged it! :becky: So long as the rider is in control and respectful its all good. Lunch at Box Hill and more riding in the afternoon down some fantastic routes. So my summary of Bike Safe is to go and do it. Even if you learn 1 thing, that's surely worth it. I really enjoyed it, which i must admit - I thought in no-way would be the case. Its basically a great ride with your mates but you have a copper on your team. here is a link to the site and its a very easy and simple sign up process. You can view upcoming dates and register all online: http://www.bikesafe.co.uk/ Enjoy
Fast bikes done a review of bikesafe and said much the same as you have. they said they learnt a lot and felt a lot faster throu bends etc whilst staying safe on the road.. Defiantly worth a look
"Defiantly" Is that a freudian slip there Dan? I read the Fast Bike article and thought it really encouraging too. I'm going to defiantly look at it as well.
Bugger. Devon & Cornwall don't do one and it doesn't look like Somerset and Avon do either. Dorset must be the closest.
Your experience sounds very similar to mine with the Met, zeepony. I'd recommend anyone to go on a BikeSafe course, as for the money it's definitely great value for theory and practical tutoring of RoadCraft. One thing you refer to is the fact that they're not there to enforce minor infringements such as plates, visors, etc (as long as your bike is roadworthy, of course), nor speed limits. My 2-man/1-copper group did 80+ in 50mph zones, 90+ in 60's and over a ton on a 70mph dual carriageway! (Worth noting that even though we were doing excessive speeds in the eyes of the law, the road conditions did allow for it.) The point of the course isn't to teach you the Highway Code (as you should hopefully be fully conversant with that by now!) but how to handle everyday road and traffic conditions at the speeds you're likely to be reaching if you're out on your own. They're not advocating riding at those speeds but want to make sure that if you do take it into your own hands to do so then you've at least got the skills and awareness to keep yourself alive. Quite a refreshing way of getting the message across, I thought, and it's definitely very strange speeding down a road with a full-spec police BMW in your mirrors constantly!! It's also handy knowing the special phrase to use when you get pulled for speeding by a traffic cop in future..!
