Regular readers will remember the saga about the journey of Roger Fleming and yours truly to attain our Institute of Advanced Motorists advanced riding qualifications. The Police Roadcraft system of riding was developed by the UK Police, is used by many police forces world-wide and is arguably one of the most demanding training programmes around. Rog and I both passed after much effort and stress, going on to train as Observers (Instructors), adding further stress to our lives! After passing those tests a couple of years back, we recently became Senior Observers after yet another test and more stress.
Mentoring other riders through to the Advanced Test and Observer levels requires us to ride to a consistently high level, which helps to stop those standards sliding which is almost inevitable unless you regularly re-skill. However, riding well still requires effort and it has to be earned!
Last Tuesday, I took out an experienced rider for a refresher run, predominantly on country roads. Terry owns a BMW HP4 superbike, mainly for trackdays. He’s just bought a BMW 1200 GS for general riding and that’s what he used on this occasion.
Terry and his 1200GS - miles of smiles!
It was one of those magic days…… thoroughly enjoying each others’ company, warm and sunny, not much traffic and we were able to make (umm…to use a technical term) “good progress” on twisty country back roads. Riders everywhere will recognise the thrill from such a ride which feels like you’re on rails. That slightly detached feeling where your situational awareness is so heightened that control of your bike seems totally automatic and without effort – a feeling so good in fact that it’s almost impossible to describe to a non-rider.
Terry rode to a very high standard and we couldn't keep the smiles off our faces. A well-ridden GS on twisty, bumpy back roads is a potent weapon! Absolutely fizzing after the ride and I was so looking forward to getting out a couple of days later with another IAM member.
Up early on Thursday to meet with Lloyd in Auckland. Lloyd is very close to taking his Advanced Test and if he did well again on this ride, I would be putting him forward for the test. Lloyd rides a Yamaha TDM 900 with over 140,000 km on the clock and it still runs flawlessly.
Lloyd and his mighty TDM 900
This ride was to be a 100 km mix of busy motorway conditions (freeway), dense city traffic and open country roads to test Lloyd’s understanding and practical application of Police Roadcraft. He would also be giving a detailed commentary over the helmet comms to describe what he was observing and how this was impacting on his riding plan.
The ride was going superbly with Lloyd’s commentary and bike control demonstrating that he was relaxed, yet totally aware of his environment. This also put me in a relaxed state and when we took the wrong exit from a roundabout out in the countryside, I suggested that we simply turn round to get on the correct road.
Although it was a fairly narrow country road, Lloyd did an effortless U turn and I prepared to do likewise. It’s at this stage that Street Triple owners will start to smile and guess what’s coming next! The Triple is a lovely, agile bike but it has a frankly awful steering lock angle. Without paying proper attention to the road width after seeing Lloyd get round, I started a classic low speed feet-up turn. It was only too late in the manoeuvre and leaned right over that I realised another 6” of road width would have been awfully nice! Almost made it but almost ain’t good enough and had to lay the bike down in the road with me grovelling alongside it.
I would like to publicly apologise here and now to Lloyd for the torrent of bad language that he had to endure over the comms. The very sort of language that in my teens, would have had my mother reaching for a bar of soap. If Lloyd was laughing and lovely guy that he is, he had the good grace to do it through clenched teeth so that I couldn't hear him.
Mercifully, the right hand front indicator on its flexible stalk makes a very good crash protector and the damage was confined to a broken lens cover. The damage to my pride was, and still is, rather more substantial!
The moral of the story is no-one is exempt from a lapse in concentration and you have to be on your game 100% of the time when you ride a motorcycle. As far as I’m concerned, it was a timely lesson to never let my guard down and hopefully, it will stick because it was entirely my fault, even though the consequences weren't serious.
As a nice ending, a new indicator has already been despatched from the supplier and the damaged one is fully functioning thanks to some thin clear plastic from a tomato carton and the application of adhesive tape. Even more importantly, Lloyd turned in a near-flawless ride and should be taking his Advanced test in the very near future. As the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining!
Temporary indicator repair on bike owned by an idiot
Hello Geoff, and welcome back to the blogosphere (temporary or not, nice to read from you). I guess most of us riders have been in that very spot at one point (little do we talk about it, though...). Low speed right turns (especially in gravel parking spots) are my weakness... At least nothing but riding instructor pride was hurt, so you'll get over it ;-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Sonja! Quite often, it's soon after we've bought a new steed but I've had the Triple for nearly 6 years now so should be used to it. Note to self: must concentrate!
DeleteHurt pride is fine - good to be able to laugh oneself!
At first I read 6' rather than 6"! That's more my style at the moment.....
ReplyDeleteHaha! If I'd been by myself, it would have been a 3 point turn or continue to an intersection. Overconfidence coupled with not sizing the situation up properly can easily lead to humiliation!
DeleteI agree with Sonja, it is always nice to see a post from you.
ReplyDeleteDoh! We've all dropped our bikes. But why does it always have to be with witnesses? The universe deems it so. At lease you could laugh about it (after getting the swearing out of the way that is).
Hi Brandy,
DeleteThank you for the kind words, it was good to have a few spare minutes for a change. I hadn't thought about it that way but you're absolutely right! It's the Universe's way of keeping our egos in check :-). Naked bikes are good. If it had been my Blackbird, it would have involved an expensive fairing panel repaint!
As a teacher I often make mistakes on purpose so my little students can catch me, it boosts their confidence ... (You could have used that as an excuse!) Glad nothing worse than a signal light was hurt ... if it weren't for our mistakes, we would never learn. I know I certainly have learned more from the rides when I've gone down than from the rides when nothing goes wrong.
ReplyDeleteHi Karen!
ReplyDeleteHahaha - I think my student would have been a teensy bit suspicious of my "little mistake" if I'd tried to wriggle out of it :-) . You're absolutely right about learning more from mistakes. Karma always seems to intervene when we need a lesson!
No biggie Geoff, I admit to my students that I drop my bike all the time, it's called "obeying the laws". I've even dropped it in front of two fellow instructors, rolling ass over tea kettle, then jumping up with my hands in the air to shout a triumphant "Ta-Da!". You still use obscenities simply because you haven't dropped your bike enough. ;)
ReplyDeleteHi Brad,
DeleteNo, it's not a biggie but we're all striving for excellence all the time and it's particularly annoying because I didn't take time to properly read the conditions! Haha - I just love that last sentence and you are absolutely on the money! As a matter of interest, the latest Street Triples have increased steering lock. Thanks for your public admission of dropping the bike - the sign of an excellent instructor without ego, haha!
Good to hear from you again Geoff although not the best thing to be reporting on. We all have little whoopsies every now and again. I haven't had one for a while so I must be due soon....gulp.
ReplyDeleteGidday Steve!
ReplyDeleteMy last one was around 6 years ago when I had a walking pace "off" on the Blackbird and suffered an internal leg bleed when it fell on me! Apart from feeling a complete prat, I got off lightly this time :-) . Safe riding mate!
A couple of years ago I was turning around in the driveway of a mobile home park. I stopped and discovered a pothole with my foot and went down. An elderly lady on a motorized scooter stopped and asked if I needed a hand with the bike...
ReplyDeleteFortunately, BMW has the cylinders to protect the plastic from damage. ;-)
Hahaha - that's just lovely! Judging by everyone's comments, it happens to us all sooner or later!
DeleteBMW's are well-served in that respect. A few years ago, a friend with an R1100RS had the front wheel wash out on a bend. He and the bike slid across the road and down a grass bank onto the beach. The only damage to the bike was scuffing to the plastic crash protector which wraps round the cylinder heads. A great advert for Beemers! He came out of it ok too, scuffing on his leathers, a strained thumb and a dent in his dignity.