Bikesafe/IAM/RoSPA

[Whealie]

I've got to do every course I can for research into an article I'm writing. Who has done what? How long did it take? Was it worth it? Did you get a discount on your insurance as a result?

[Simon]

i have me IAM car test and it was very good i thought. I started doing my bike training but didn't get round to finishing it. It cost £85 to do this with a registered IAM group. Most of the local groups in Northern Ireland do a £10 reduction on this and a further £10 off for under 26.

I recently did the Bikesafe and the Police officer thought that for me to do the IAM bike test would be a waste as i learnt most from the car test and then what he showed me for the bikesafe. Bikesafe is only an assement really with a bit of instruction, cause how much can you teach in a couple of hours, most of which is riding and without radio contact. The IAM course takes as long as you need.

I will try for discount next time i renew my insurance.

[piguglyshandydrinker]

I started an IAM bike course about 10 years ago, never completed it unfortunately as I could not make a regular Sunday morning meet due to work.
Good from what I remember.

A couple of year's ago comleted a "Handle it or Lose it" course run by the local Police and Council (Cleveland), it was the first one to be run and was nothing short of superb, best £80 I've spent probably.

After completing the course I was chatting to police rider who had been observing me, about taking a recognised course, roll on ROSPA or RoADA (as the local group call's itself), run in conjunction with (again) the local police force.

What a shambles, these guy's couldn't organise a pi@@up in a brewery, they made every excuse in the book to try to cover the howling cockups they made in handling my case and haven't rectified it to this day - or even acknowleged that I even paid my subscription fee.

Isn't that theft???

Phil

[Cie]

I did the Wilts Bikesafe course. It was an introduction to Roadcraft, ie the system that Police (and IAM) riders use. Having read the book about 10 times before the course I didn't get that much out of the lessons, purely because it's all in the book.

Having read the book before I'd been trying to use the techniques for months. So when it came to the rideout I didn't have to apply any new techniques because I'd been using them for ages. But the rideout served to confrim that I was doing everything I'd read, and I was given a lot of pointers as to where I could imporve.

It was definately worth it, and I would have paid if I'd had to.

IAM course is next

[Wee Jack]

Oh don't start me on this !! I'm an evangalist when it comes to advanced riding / driving. Yes, Yes, Yes, do it! it does save you money on insurance athough pretty marginal, but for me it made my riding experience a whole lot more satisfying. You become (in my case)- smoother , faster , safer, and more confident. I started with a Police Bikesafe course which was free, - brilliant , and as an introduction served to show me that although I had 25 years biking under my belt with no serious incidents , that was probably due more to luck than anything else. From the Bikesafe , I went on and did a MAC course ( remember when Honda were doing the course free with new bike sales. This was a two day one-on-one with the MAC instructor(ex Police instructor) wow what a mind blowing two days , and really got me hooked on the advanced way. From there I did a MAC Gold course (5 days, one - on - one) , this did cost , I think about £120 per day back in 2000. After the MAC gold I applied for and passed the RoSPA test at "Gold" level and from there on in it's a re-test every 3 years at the all up cost of £20 per year RoSPA membership.
If you put it in pure cash terms I'm not sure you would save the cost of good training in insurance discounts alone , you may save on "excess" payments if you are unfortunate enough, I'm assuming you won't bin the bike so readily after training !!!

[Wee Jack]

OH and I forgot to add!!! , since you did ask the question about insurance.
I'm not sure how this compares with other folks here, but currently my insurance is as follows ....
For my 2005 Transalp
Old git, 47 years young, with about 9+ years NCD, Fully comprehensive and protected NCD policy, 3 points (feckin Cumbria Speed Camera partnership !!! welcome to the Lake District my arse !!). All up for £96 with my RoSPA "gold" qualification taken into account when quoted.

[Cie]

Well, what a week I've just had.

The Thames Vale Advanced Motorcyclists provided the observers for a week long crammer IAM course in and around Hampshire.

These guys are nothing short of fantastic. They cover pretty much every aspect of riding, from the 70 year old on his 400cc scooter, through the 50 year old on his BMW GS, the 35 year old on his Pan to the 40 year old woman on her Fireblade. I've learned so much, about my knowledge of roadcraft, what the Africa Twin is capable of, what my head is able to remember, and how mentally tired you can get before performance takes a dive.

The IAM is all about "progress where safe to do so" That doesn't mean speeding, it means looking well ahead and flowing in through and around obstacles; be they vehicles, traffic controls, junctions etc.

This really should be on your list of things to do, the techniques they teach are nothing special, but they're life savers, and they will get you there a lot quicker and a lot safer.

[Slimie]

Sounds great, Cie. Please tell us all about it next time we see you.

I learned to ride through the BMF, umpteen Sundays and then a motorcycle test! It was a great way to learn to pass the test and very inexpensive.

The Met' Police Bikesafe was great, a fantastic way to learn to actually ride a bike in the real world and easily the best way to learn to ride safely. Plus the "observers" were a great bunch of guys who really cared that you came out of the day with something positive. I still use the methods that they taught me seven years ago today.

I know I'm repeating myself regarding Bikesfae, but for the money it's excellent.

-Simon

[Recycler]

2 RoSPA golds gets me about 5% discount (I think?) with Carole Nash.
Police advanced driving ticket gets me nowt - it's expired now anyway but my car & bike insurers at the time offered no discount - but were still the cheapest.

One bikesafe session was enjoyable & worthwhile but far too short.