Warning: Huge Wall of Text
So it was a sunny Saturday arvo when I rocked up to the training day. There were heaps of bikes outside ranging from 50cc scooters, scorpios, hyobags (which by the way was having major issues on the day) , an FZR, VTR250's, and even a GS 500 F. As I walked into the room there were people of different ages ranging from high school kids to those in their 50's, males and females.
First I'd like to mention the quality of the instructor (who's name escapes me I'm terrible at names) He was really confident and seriously knew his shit. He was also really good at making everyone feel comfortable both around himself, others, and with their bikes. Also he managed to keep the theory area of the course interesting with a few laughs and some practical demonstrations.
So first thing we did was theory. The instructor (I think his name was Paul? I'm just going to refer to him from now on as Paul if that's not his name sorry mate xD) talked a lot about confidence on your bike and how to achieve confidence on the road. Many of the people at the course hadn't ridden for very long or were not comfortable on their bikes, and it seemed from a few comments from others that their lack of confidence has caused them to have a few accidents. We talked a lot about perception on the road and how to watch for other drivers and create space to keep yourself safe, and watched a video demonstrating on how to do this.
We also went through some basic stuff like checking tyre pressures, lubing your chain, fastening your helmet correctly. I was rolling my eyes at this sort of shit as I just wanted to get out of the classroom and ride! Although these things were basic, it's much needed knowledge as I know I certainly did not lube my chain often (once a month or even two) my helmet was relatively loose, and also I only just started to check my tyre pressures weekly. I'm sure that many bikers that have been riding for a long time hardly ever do this shit!
As I suffer from short patience syndrome I was wriggling in my seat to go for a ride, and finally he said that we would go outside and do the following things, slow speed control and emergency braking. At this point I was going, oh my god I know these guys aren't very experienced but I was hoping to get something out of this course other than re-doing the basic handling test exercises. So I rolled my eyes and rode out into the carpark with the others.
I found the slow speed riding quite easy as I have quite good control of my bike and am confident, however the others did not and some time riding at a slow pace really helped their confidence. Paul demonstrated techniques on how to ride slowly, and showed us how to take off only using the clutch! We went in and out of cones at a slow pace, and he let the other riders get more confident with their bikes. We did this for about what I thought was about 20 minutes too long, however you could really see the other riders becoming more confident.
Now heres the real Kicker. Paul set out sets of two cones and demonstrated to us him doing circles around them with his foot scraping along the ground. I was like well fuck me this is going to be more boring than the slow riding. With my eyes rolling in my head I went out and started doing slow circles around the cones, it was actually pretty fucking challenging. I went round pretty shoddilly the first time, with the bike staying quite high off the ground. I went round again, and got slower, with my clutch control getting better I could go lower. i went round one more time, with the same result, and Paul told me I had to keep my head up.
Well fuck me, each time I went around the cones I was waiting in the line itching to go back around and get lower to the ground. It was challenging and with each time I could feel my clutch control getting much better, keeping the revs up while using the clutch to stop me from just not reaching that tipping point. This was the most fun I'd had in fucking yonks. Never did I think going around in circles around cones was so fun. Eventually I had my foot scraping on the ground going around the circles really well. I was stoked and when the course was over I quickly jetted back out to have more goes before he put the cones in his van!
Secondly was the emergency braking. Paul gave some great tips on how to maximize your braking. First we used only our back brake to stop asap without skidding, and then just our front without locking up. Then we used both at once, to an awesome effect. I swear that I cut my usual emerency distance in half.
Although we only did two simple things that day it really did teach me a lot. Now every chance I get to do a u turn in a narrow road or go around in circles for some reason I make sure I do it in fashionable style! Also my emergency braking is much better, and I've learned some important maintenance knowledge, and great techniques to keep myself safe on the road.
Even if you are almost on your full I highly recommend taking this course. Even if your like me and think your waaaay past the basics think again, you'll learn a lot by attending the course and will have a blast! The only next course is for higher CC of bike, I think they need to add in an intermediate level course, instead of just beginner and expert.
I also Highly reccommend this to any beginner, you will get a lot more confidence on your bike, and learn a lot of new stuff that will definitely help you to become a better rider.
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