Motorcycle defensive driving?

[enzo]

hiyo! just a question, i sat my restricted bike license today and passed woop!
iam wanting to do a defensive driving course to cut the timeframe down on my restricted license to 3 months, as iam over 25.
i spoke to 1 of the driver training agents today (the agent didnt seem overly confident in knowing what they were talking about) and they told me their certificate will cost me $155 and it is 9 hours to complete.
8 hours in class theory stuff
1 hour in car driving/hazard detection???
is this what i should be doing to cut my waiting time down?
thanks in advance for any help offered

[JMemonic]

Apparently a standard defensive driving course is fine, but why the rush, 3 months aint a long time.

[The Singing Chef]

So do we drive bikes now?

[Gone Burger]

they told me their certificate will cost me $155 and it is 9 hours to complete.
8 hours in class theory stuff
1 hour in car driving/hazard detection???
is this what i should be doing to cut my waiting time down?
thanks in advance for any help offered

Correct. Just did mine last year for the very same reason. Didn't want to wait those extra 3 months before I could upgrade.

The course is boring as hell, and pretty much teaches you to suck eggs. 8 hours classroom (usually over 2 weeks, 2 nights a week) and then the practical assessment.

It will cut your time down to only 3 months on restricted.

BUT HEADS UP...

For the practical element, if you have a car license and a car do the pratical in this. IT STILL APPLIES TO YOUR BIKE LICENSE. The reason being is that most places will charge you an additional fee to be able to sit it on on your bike, and get a different assessor in. Arse I know, but I just saved the extra fee and did mine in my car. Bingo, restricted for only 3 months

[DrunkenMistake]

Luckyyy If I sit my Defensive Driving now I still have to wait another 6 months ...
Im working on getting my cage Restricted first anyway,
As if you do the DD and you only have your bike restricted or car restricted, you can not do it again for another license if you get that license afterwards if that makes sense

[enzo]

Correct. Just did mine last year for the very same reason. Didn't want to wait those extra 3 months before I could upgrade.

The course is boring as hell, and pretty much teaches you to suck eggs. 8 hours classroom (usually over 2 weeks, 2 nights a week) and then the practical assessment.

It will cut your time down to only 3 months on restricted.

BUT HEADS UP...

For the practical element, if you have a car license and a car do the pratical in this. IT STILL APPLIES TO YOUR BIKE LICENSE. The reason being is that most places will charge you an additional fee to be able to sit it on on your bike, and get a different assessor in. Arse I know, but I just saved the extra fee and did mine in my car. Bingo, restricted for only 3 months

cheers much

[C.Linnell]

I did my practical component on my bike, with the guy following me. Basically he just ran me through what a car would need to do for a full license (which is really similar, if not identical to your motorbike full license).

I did the AA defensive driving course at 55 Meadowood Drive, Unsworth Heights, on the North Shore, and there was no extra charge for using my motorbike.

Incidentally, I found ways to make the course fun - there were pretty girls there on diversions for dangerous driving, and there's an opportunity to make a safety poster showing what you learned. I had a few beers before I drew mine, then presented it at the course (nice and sober). Caused quite a bit of laughter.

[Gone Burger]

there was no extra charge for using my motorbike

Awesome to hear. Can;t understand why there would be but from the 4 places I called down here there was going to be. After all, what on earth is the point doing it in a car when you are working towards your bike license? Crazy kids

[C.Linnell]

Awesome to hear. Can;t understand why there would be but from the 4 places I called down here there was going to be. After all, what on earth is the point doing it in a car when you are working towards your bike license? Crazy kids

Yeah that's strange. It might be because the instructor has to use his/her own car if you bring your bike...

[KiwiNinja]

I did an AA defensive driving course at Quay Street to reduce the time down to 3 months. It's a complete and utter waste of fucken time if your doing it for any other reason...it doesn't teach you anything about defensive riding on a bike. I sat next to a young chick who was there on a court order (she did a U-Turn in front of someone) and all she did was text her mates the entire time while I gritted my teeth.

The practical involved driving (a car) across the harbor bridge and back...took about 3 minutes.

When you get your full license the first thing you should do is book a course at a track to learn how to ride properly. I did California Superbike School and since I have done all four levels...best money I ever spent. Looking at your location check out the courses they run at Manfield.

Good luck with the riding mate!

[C.Linnell]

I did an AA defensive driving course at Quay Street to reduce the time down to 3 months. It's a complete and utter waste of fucken time if your doing it for any other reason...

When the guy flashed the photos of rural roads and said "name the hazards", I'd be like, "3 blind side streets, gravel on the corner, shade at the bottom of the hill due to trees".

The guy would argue that the shade wasn't a hazard, and so I'd have to argue that while the ground looked dry, the sky was overcast, so the road under the shade was possibly wet and cold, and probably had lots of slippy leaves under it too since the picture was clearly taken in autumn.

I felt like a snob, but he did ask.

The course really isn't aimed at us, but you'll find out pretty quick how much better you are at spotting hazards than car drivers.

[enzo]

I did an AA defensive driving course at Quay Street to reduce the time down to 3 months. It's a complete and utter waste of fucken time if your doing it for any other reason...it doesn't teach you anything about defensive riding on a bike. I sat next to a young chick who was there on a court order (she did a U-Turn in front of someone) and all she did was text her mates the entire time while I gritted my teeth.

The practical involved driving (a car) across the harbor bridge and back...took about 3 minutes.

When you get your full license the first thing you should do is book a course at a track to learn how to ride properly. I did California Superbike School and sinhave done all four levels...best money I ever spent. Looking at your location check out the courses they run at Manfield.

Good luck with the riding mate!

primo! definately keen to get some track time/rider training. cheers dude

[slofox]

enzo, this is the kind of thing that would work - pity you are so far away. This guy is tops - I did an advanced rider course with him. Excellent stuff.

http://www.roaduser.co.nz/

[KiwiNinja]

primo! definately keen to get some track time/rider training. cheers dude

Check out these guys mate. Could be an option...I'm sure there are others.

http://www.prorider.co.nz/

Have no idea what the course is like...maybe someone can chime in and let us know.

[Old Steve]

I think the AA DD course is the only approved DD course which gives you a 6R reduction. I took my Andrew Templeton (RideSafe ?) certificate in when I passed my 6R and they said it didn't mean a thing. I though the RideSafe course was fantastic, gave me hugely increased confidence particularly at slow speeds.

Just riding a bike has made me more defensive than I ever was in a car. The extra 3 months on your 6R would be the best defensive training there is. I sometimes vocalise the hazards when driving my car alone and I can't speak fast enough to say all the potential hazards I see.