Hitchcocks Forum

Hi,

Decided with getting my lovely new EFI and with winter coming, I'd take a day off for a days refresher training.

Guy who did the training was a very nice chap indeed - *very* good rider as well - but showed me I have a LOT of bad habits, some of them minor - covering the front brake, although I'm a good boy and never touch it in first - and really rather bad ones - life savers at right hand junctions in **completely** the wrong place.

It's improved the mechanical side of my riding but has knocked my confidence a little as well - I'm thinking too much.

I'm going to have another couple of sessions and I do know they'll do me good - and to be completely clear, they ARE bad habits I have, and not flaky instructor - but I was wondering if anyone has beeen through the same sort of confidence knock, or if I'm just over-thinking it too much?

Thanks

Steve

Haven't done it on the bike, but had advanced driver session a few years back in a car and wasn't very impressed. It all seemed to methodical to me, and wasn't something I followed up.

hi steve how can you do a lifesaver in the wrong place ?its the last look over the the left hand shoulder before doing the manoeuver,unless its altered,anyway a bit of refreshing training can,t be a bad thing good on yer .

Best thing to do once you pull on your helmet is regard everybody else as your enemy and treat them as such. If you look intimidated some car drivers notice this and will attempt to intimidate you more. Proved many times, put a jacket on with a patch on the back and car drivers give you a wide berth, without, they can treat you with contempt and attempt to push and shove you

It's worth remembering that different motoring organisations will require different driving / riding techniques so what your instructor said was "wrong" may be perfectly correct to an instructor or examiner for a different organisation. Skills and methods required for the DSA, Rospa, the IAM and others are all slightly different. When I was doing my driver instructor training (will a level 6 trainer/examiner)he was constantly explaining how different roads would be expected to be driven by examiners of the various organisations. By "covering the front brake" I assume you mean having a couple of fingers on the brake at all times? That is exactly what I was taught to do by the plods and it was something the IAM examiner was looking for when I passed my IAM test many years ago. Is it now frowned upon and by whom? I have to say too that training as a driving instructor made me realise just how awful a driver I was, and like everyone else, I thought I was a good driver. In actual fact, and like I suspect most drivers would, I had to be re-taught almost from the beginning because my techniques and aquired bad habits were so bad.

Steve, I think I would take the same confidence hit, and also be thinking too much. But if you've just been taught a load of new stuff, you're bound to be thinking about it until it becomes second nature, which it will. And given the comments of others, I would say that if you are "told" to do something that you think is wrong, then nod and smile and decide not to do it when you've finished the training.

I haven't done any advanced training apart from the police Bikesafe course, which was brilliant. From what I've heard, some IAM instructors (I suspect it's a small minority) like to be too prescriptive. I think you have to be systematic about your riding, but if the rules become too rigid you're not in a position to be flexible when you need to.

Hi,

Thanks for the comments so far.

Some of the issues I had were, like I say, fairly minor - personally I don't think that, for example, covering the front brake while in first is a major issue - worst case I can see is that I would end up dumping the bike while going slowly - embarrasing, but not lethal.

Some of the other issues WERE bigger though - say turning right into a side road. I was ABSOLUTELY convinced that I was doing a lifesaver, moving my head back and then moving the wheel - I would have been prepared to put money on it - but the instructor filmed me do it five times in a row, and every single time, the front wheel was moving with my head, and was into the right hand lane before I'd actually seen that the area was safe for the turn.

What I obviously need to do is a lifesaver either a 1-count or a 2 count before my wheel crosses the line, but forcing myself to think about it, and break the habit, meant that I started dropping out of my rythem and just flustering.

I've got no illusions of ever wanting to go fast, but I'd prefer not to be wiped out. Looking at some of my habits, there has been a good dose of luck in me not getting clipped, which isn't really how I want it to be.

It's been about a month now Steve, have you got any more thoughts or experiences?

I have just read this thread for the first time. Wow.Steve, how long have you been riding? How often do you ride? You need more confidence I think. Where are you located? I ask because perhaps some on here could ride with you to help buil confidence. If you are near Leicestershire I would be only too pleased to help.

Hey Norm - 'Everytime you put your helmet on you treat everyone else as your enemy' - well I'm not coming for a ride out with you! (tee hee!) On the subject of training, I trained with BSM to be a car driving instructor and one of the 'catch phrases' which has stuck with me is that with training you move from Unconciously imcompetant, to conciously incompetant, to conciously competant, to unconciously competant. Hope I got the spelling right!. Tony.