View Full Version : Second observed ride today
...on my IAM thing. Much better than last time!! I was told off for riding through the 40s at 46 and the 30s at 38. I didn't know which was worse, riding through above the limit - or having to confess that I hadn't noticed :oops: Also a TVR overtook coming towards me, going very very fast - I saw it and braked but I held my position, forcing the TVR to pull in, cos that's what I was taught on the DAS. Karl (the observer) was shocked :shock:
I honestly can't recommend the course highly enough, it's so good, I've learned so much on road positioning and correct use of speed and gears in just two rides :D
EDIT - oops should have put this in Biking Issues, what a daft sod :oops:
I've been on an observed ride with a top police instructor. I thought I was an ok rider, obviously with faults, but who hasn't. Didn't expect the list he came out with at the end of the ride though :shock:
Good luck with the rest of the IAM thing :D
Anonymous
05-03-05, 11:22 PM
glad you had a good ride.
when i first started i was holding my position etc when not particularly safe to do so and they guy told me its not who's right and who's wrong its who's right and who's left.
makes sense reallly
I like that one... its whos right and whos left....
my cbt instructor always told me to ride along the lines of "but I was in the right" is no good if it becomes your epitaph or youre saying it from a hospital bed....
must do the IAM and bikesafe courses though... not that I think it makes much difference really (see Mr Toad vs the pedestrian days after the bikesafe course :roll: bloody london)
must do the IAM and bikesafe courses though and get a set of stabilisers... not that I think it makes much difference really (see Mr Toad vs the pedestrian days after the bikesafe course :roll: bloody london) :wink: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Asides from teaching improved road skills, do the IAM courses offer the incentives of savings thru agreeable insurance policies?? If so are they significant savings?
Anonymous
06-03-05, 11:07 AM
most insurance companies will give you at least 10% for completing the iam course :lol:
Cloggsy
06-03-05, 11:27 AM
most insurance companies will give you at least 10% for completing the iam course :lol:
But insurance companies don't 'give' you anything... They just overcharge you anyway :roll:
So therefore, 10% of nothing is nothing :roll:
Insurance - The only legal money laundering racket in the world :roll:
Spiderman
06-03-05, 02:59 PM
.......the guy told me its not who's right and who's wrong its who's right and who's left.
makes sense reallly
650newb's sig line: "War doesn't determine who's right, only who's left."
'Bertrand Russel
Very sensible man who can say the above
Professor
06-03-05, 07:41 PM
The main incentive of passing an IAM test has nothing to do with
insurance. The incentive is that you can join a blood delivery
service. My neighbour has done it and is on duty this week for the
first time. He now has a beautiful Honda Pan European standing in
his garage alongside his own GSX1400. The Pan European is a former
police :plod: bike with POLICE on the windscreen replaced
by BLOOD. It has flashing blue lights and a siren. WOW!
He frightened the s**t out of me the first time he rode along our
street. I thought I was about be arrested.
Feel myself like a kid who wants to become a fireman.
I run blood for SERV every other Friday covering Surrey and handing on to Kent and Sussex. Sadly I don't get a shiney marked bike I use my own but I do get to wear a natty paramedic HV vest with "EMERGENCY BLOOD" on the back.
Its a good crack actually, last duty I ran some blood from St Georges Hospital top the Kent border, right though SE London. A great buzz.
Professor
06-03-05, 10:26 PM
When my mother was ill last year, on several occasions I had to
deliver her blood samples for analysis. But without blue lights and
siren it ain't fun ... :( Wouldn't mind wearing an HV vest
with "EMERGENCY BLOOD" on the back, though.
timwilky
06-03-05, 10:53 PM
When my mother was ill last year, on several occasions I had to
deliver her blood samples for analysis. But without blue lights and
siren it ain't fun ... :( Wouldn't mind wearing an HV vest
with "EMERGENCY BLOOD" on the back, though.
As a coincidence, my mother was also ill last year, after 35 years as an ex smoker she exhibited early indications of lung cancer and end up having a node removed. I visited her a couple of times on the bike as she was 30 miles away but would have given up the bike not to have had to.
Professor
06-03-05, 11:01 PM
When my mother was ill last year, on several occasions I had to
deliver her blood samples for analysis. But without blue lights and
siren it ain't fun ... :( Wouldn't mind wearing an HV vest
with "EMERGENCY BLOOD" on the back, though.
As a coincidence, my mother was also ill last year, after 35 years as an ex smoker she exhibited early indications of lung cancer and end up having a node removed. I visited her a couple of times on the bike as she was 30 miles away but would have given up the bike not to have had to.
It is always better not be in a situation when you have to make
hospital visits. But, on the positive side, it makes one appreciate
the advantages of biking. I don't know the situation in other
hospitals but at the Royal United Hospital in Bath parking is a huge
problem. Unless you come by bike: the motorcycle parking lot is
straight at the entrance and it is free.
The main incentive of passing an IAM test has nothing to do with insurance. The incentive is that you can join a blood delivery
service.
You learn something every day.
How do you apply for that then? Is it through your local hospital or something? Or is there a National Co-ordinating Thingy to contact?
After the operations I've had in the past I've wanted to give something back and have tried to give blood on a number of occasions. There have been problems every time, until they basically said that unless it's an emergency drive or something, it's best I don't give blood. :( It seems I don't have much to spare!
This could be the next best thing.
Professor
06-03-05, 11:16 PM
The main incentive of passing an IAM test has nothing to do with insurance. The incentive is that you can join a blood delivery
service.
You learn something every day.
How do you apply for that then? Is it through your local hospital or something? Or is there a National Co-ordinating Thingy to contact?
After the operations I've had in the past I've wanted to give something back and have tried to give blood on a number of occasions. There have been problems every time, until they basically said that unless it's an emergency drive or something, it's best I don't give blood. :( It seems I don't have much to spare!
This could be the next best thing.
Out of hours blood delivery is done by charities. I don't think
there is a central organisation. These charities are specific to
each area. In my area (South West) it is done by Freewheelers,
see http://www.motorcycle.org.uk/freewheelers/
The main incentive of passing an IAM test has nothing to do with insurance. The incentive is that you can join a blood delivery
service.
You learn something every day.
How do you apply for that then? Is it through your local hospital or something? Or is there a National Co-ordinating Thingy to contact?
After the operations I've had in the past I've wanted to give something back and have tried to give blood on a number of occasions. There have been problems every time, until they basically said that unless it's an emergency drive or something, it's best I don't give blood. :( It seems I don't have much to spare!
This could be the next best thing.
Its depends if there is a charity covering your area or not. Surrey Sussex & Kent are covered by SERV (Service by Emergency Riding Volunteers) I believe that Prof is in Avon & Somerset which has a charity called Bloodrunners. Its a case of finding if there's a similar scheme near you.
I am riding in Surrey at the moment but am working on a strategy to get Hampshire included in Servs area. I belive SERV have also been approched about covering Essex and Cambridgeshire and are trying to build a database of volunteers there to see if its viable to provide cover.
Jelster
06-03-05, 11:58 PM
The Bikesfe and IAM are 2 very different couses with 2 very different aims.
Bikesafe is designed to give you further education in your local environment, using typical local traffic and road conditions as a basis to give advice on how to handle typical situations.
IAM is a method of teaching advanced riding techniques through demonstration and 1-2-1 instruction, taking in a wide range of situations and it gives the IAM observers the opportunity to focus on particular areas where you need attention. It's very structured and may take as many rides as necessary to bring a "pupil" up to the required standard (Bikesafe is a single day event),
You get out of both what you put in, personally I am not too worried about passing the exam, its more about learning to ride safely and making progress at a suitable speed that is important to me.
I would recommend everybody do both as soon as possible.
.
Daz Wood
07-03-05, 07:51 PM
:) As a born again biker I was advised on this very Forum to get enrolled on a Bikesafe course. In view of the amount of deaths and injuries on Lincolnshire roads I thought this wouldn't be a problem. :lol:
Contacted the local council, as instructed on my Bikesafe leaflet only to discover that they haven't any plans to run the 2005 course for the forseeable future, hopefully during 2005!!
Until then I use the defensive method between snow showers, gritters and tractors. Can't wait for the caravans :lol:
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