Bikesafe Course
With 35 years of riding experience under my belt and the firm opinion that you are never too old to learn, I decided to test my skills against those of a “professional motorcyclist”, in my case, Sergeant Graham Sayner of South Yorkshire Police motorcycle wing. Most UK Police forces now participate in the nationally coordinated Bike safe initiative and all offer different options from 1 hour one on one assessment to full day ride outs with two riders to an officer.Our day started at 8.00am with a 2 hour classroom based audio visual presentation introducing the principles outlined in the “Blue Book” or to give it its proper title “Motorcycle Roadcraft, The Police Riders Handbook to better Motorcycling”. I have had this bible of motorcycle riding for 12 months now so am familiar with its teachings, my recommendation is buy it and read it before you embark on a Bikesafe assessment ride. The DVD presentation incorporates continual question and answer sessions on hazard awareness, positioning and safety accompanied by animations of real life motorcycle accidents, don’t worry there’s no blood and guts, but you will still relate to the point. Our particular group was made up of 20 students, all male, with experience varying from my 35 years to passing the test 4 months ago.
After the classroom session we were paired up with our training officer who checked our eyesight, driving licence, mot, insurance and the general condition of the bikes and their tyres. Do not make the mistake of turning up with tyres down to the wear indicators, you will probably be sent home. After the checks we donned our Bikesafe Hi-vis vests and proceeded out onto the roads for a 6 hour ride out, which in our case, would take us over to Malton in North Yorkshire. Other groups headed off into Derbyshire. Each student would take the lead for 45 mins with the Police officer observing and assessing their riding with the second student bringing up the rear. At a suitable point we would stop to exchange the lead with a short debrief of the ride so far. As my riding partner and I are both experienced riders the main comments were regarding road positioning and our reluctance to over take traffic travelling just below the national speed limit. This changed once the officer explained that he expected us to “make progress” and overtake at all safe opportunities.
Lunch was included in our course fee, so a fry up and cuppa at The Big Chef in Crockey Hill on the A19 just south of the A64 was enjoyed by us and two other groups. We turned off the A166 just before Stamford Bridge and headed cross country to Malton via Buttercrambe on an absolutely cracking B road with loads of bends and few cars. My lead session took us via the now sanitised, bend free A164 to Howden and on through Thorne to Bawtry and back to Sheffield via Maltby, the M1 and M1.
Following our final debrief we were presented with a Bikasafe goody bag containing pen, keyring, T shirt, neck buff and DVD plus a certificate and post ride report sheet grading our ride. I achieved an overall score of “satisfactory” which was a little disappointing but with the officers written comments concluding with “. An overall competent, safe ride with good safety positioning – well done” That will do nicely.
Do I recommend this course? The answer is an emphatic YES. At £50 including lunch for a 6 hour ride with a Traffic Cop I thought it was well worth the money, these guys are seriously good riders, never out of position, always in the right gear, never having to brake hard or late, if only we all rode that well then bike accidents would be greatly reduced.
