BIkesafe & Wiltshire
Discussion
Did the Bikesafe course with Wiltshire last week. WHat a great bunch of guys. It was nice to spend tijme both chatting to, and riding with wiltshire. Was very interesting to get the point of view of some of the officers on issues such as speed / Scamera's etc .
The guy running the course for Wiltshire CC was also a top guy. Was going to post this in the Bike forum, but the attitude of the police who gave their rest day to help run the course was 100%. Top Blokes. its good to see Wiltshire take a proactive approach to not only bikers, but sensible speed.
The guy running the course for Wiltshire CC was also a top guy. Was going to post this in the Bike forum, but the attitude of the police who gave their rest day to help run the course was 100%. Top Blokes. its good to see Wiltshire take a proactive approach to not only bikers, but sensible speed.
I did their course last October and it was a 100% positive experience. The copper's attitude to my fruity can was 'I haven't seen that; bikes are loud anyway!', and we kept to all restricted limits but did 85/90 in the nationals. I learned some things and had an enjoyable ride - highly recommended.
copied from a post in bike banter....
Held in Devizes, price = free! There's only one day left this year though.
You get there in the morning, tea & buscuits laid on. Then sit down with the police who explain the basics of good riding technique. More tea and biscuts are produced. The group is then split into two and half go off with a police rider, usually 2 people to each copper. The other half of the group get a talk from wiltshire road safety people who give a load of statistics to back up what you learn on the road. At lunch there is tea and cakes. After lunch the groups swap over. After more tea and cakes there is a debrief.
Police Talk:
No shock tactics, no lecture - brilliant! They are there to pass on the basics of the police road craft training. Mostly talking about vanishing points, road position etc. Some good discussions about what is legal and what isn't re tinted visors, exhausts etc good banter and jokes.
Rideout:
2 people to each policeman, 45 miles. one student takes the lead, then you pull over after a while to get a critique of your riding. Students swap over. the feedback was brilliant, a massive eye opener. Before i wasn't using the whole road, just plodding along in the middle of the lane. Police man was going right to the verge and right up to the white line to get the best view and his riding was so smooth. Bit worrying with a masssive pan european and flourescent yellow and blue thing in the mirrors though!! :roll:
Road Safety Presentation:
We did a questionnaire to assess our risk taking, got the results and learned a lot about the statistics for fatalities, saw a few videos. Lots of discussion about attitudes etc. Interesting information about what the goverment and road partnerships are doing for us... ALSO (shock) they weren't keen on the "safety" cameras either... The presenter was very involving and excited about his subject and everyone was enthralled.
We've been told that if we want another ride with the police we can ring up and they'll arrange it for one day when they're running another bikesafe event.
I found it to be really worthwhile, and i can't reccomend it enough.
Held in Devizes, price = free! There's only one day left this year though.
You get there in the morning, tea & buscuits laid on. Then sit down with the police who explain the basics of good riding technique. More tea and biscuts are produced. The group is then split into two and half go off with a police rider, usually 2 people to each copper. The other half of the group get a talk from wiltshire road safety people who give a load of statistics to back up what you learn on the road. At lunch there is tea and cakes. After lunch the groups swap over. After more tea and cakes there is a debrief.
Police Talk:
No shock tactics, no lecture - brilliant! They are there to pass on the basics of the police road craft training. Mostly talking about vanishing points, road position etc. Some good discussions about what is legal and what isn't re tinted visors, exhausts etc good banter and jokes.
Rideout:
2 people to each policeman, 45 miles. one student takes the lead, then you pull over after a while to get a critique of your riding. Students swap over. the feedback was brilliant, a massive eye opener. Before i wasn't using the whole road, just plodding along in the middle of the lane. Police man was going right to the verge and right up to the white line to get the best view and his riding was so smooth. Bit worrying with a masssive pan european and flourescent yellow and blue thing in the mirrors though!! :roll:
Road Safety Presentation:
We did a questionnaire to assess our risk taking, got the results and learned a lot about the statistics for fatalities, saw a few videos. Lots of discussion about attitudes etc. Interesting information about what the goverment and road partnerships are doing for us... ALSO (shock) they weren't keen on the "safety" cameras either... The presenter was very involving and excited about his subject and everyone was enthralled.
We've been told that if we want another ride with the police we can ring up and they'll arrange it for one day when they're running another bikesafe event.
I found it to be really worthwhile, and i can't reccomend it enough.
Nice to meat you too timmartin. It was a top day out.
Im going to sign up for some Advanced lessons and do my IAM next year too. Good spread of bikes.. even if the Harley and the one Pan kept to 10mph below all the speed limits on their rideout!!!.. My mate who is a very careful rider (on the other black Africa Twin with the yellow headlights wanted to go faster, as did the police instructor apparently!)
Im going to sign up for some Advanced lessons and do my IAM next year too. Good spread of bikes.. even if the Harley and the one Pan kept to 10mph below all the speed limits on their rideout!!!.. My mate who is a very careful rider (on the other black Africa Twin with the yellow headlights wanted to go faster, as did the police instructor apparently!)
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