The Motorbikerist Thread

[nuttinnew]

This popped up on my yt rcmnd (I don't know why) and may be of interest. As a non-biker I can safely say don't read the comments section

Edited to add a very helpful comment from tim;

6 year old video shows riding practices that the Police no longer teach - Offsiding to make a view - big no-no now.

[Barry]

A few of us have done a BikeSafe course with bike mounted Police, they are very well trained and disciplined for the main, you could go faster but it would mean taking risks and that doesn't tend to end well for two wheelers as you can imagine.

I know a couple of lads that race, now that's a challenging road ride I can tell you..

[NotoriousREV]

My first observed ride was in a torrential downpour. Like going 40mph in a 60 because we couldn’t see. I don’t think I’ve ever been more nervous on a bike. I relaxed after that and learned a lot from our instructor, who was an actual on-duty cop at the time.

A neighbour of mine passed his test at the back end of last year and when we first went out riding, his first comment was “why are you always moving around on the road?”. It’s crazy how many hoops they make you jump through to get your licence these days and they still don’t teach proper machine control techniques (counter steering etc) or proper road positioning. When I followed my neighbour to see how he was riding, he was making all the classic mistakes: turning in too early and from a position on the inside of the turn, thus making the turn tighter than it needed to be and risking running wide on the exit.

[Barry]

Yeah, there are an awful lot of riders out there that have no clue about road craft, it stands out a mile once you understand even the basics.

[tim]

It's always a pleasure to watch these guys ride, even more so to ride with them. Although that 6 year old video shows riding practices that the Police no longer teach - Offsiding to make a view - big no-no now.

Note how smooth they are with the throttle and changes of speed, and all the braking/deceleration is done well before the corners. Effortless progress even in crappy conditions. Noice.

I was out with a new RoSPA candidate this morning who was doing none of those things, in hail and torrential rain, on an MX bike with knobblies, no indicators and a KPH speedo he couldn't interpret...

[NotoriousREV]

Amazing.

I was going to point out the lack of braking generally in the video.

The guy I did my Bikesafe with was a trained outrider for VIPs (for Royal visits etc.) and he was talking about how they had to be fast and assertive but also look good and not draw attention to themselves. It was interesting stuff.

[Marv]

It’s crazy how many hoops they make you jump through to get your licence these days and they still don’t teach proper machine control techniques (counter steering etc) or proper road positioning. When I followed my neighbour to see how he was riding, he was making all the classic mistakes: turning in too early and from a position on the inside of the turn, thus making the turn tighter than it needed to be and risking running wide on the exit.

My DAS instructor was pretty good on teaching us techniques, getting us to put them into practice and giving us tips on how to improve next time.

That said, I still think of myself as a pretty rubbish rider tons of room for improvement.... But then occasionally follow a bike and observe how some other people ride and think maybe I'm not so bad!!

[Barry]

Worth getting on a BikeSafe day Marv, you'll always pick something up from these guys. One day I'll sign up for RoSPA/IAM..

I was at a bike sprint today, bloody great watching old classics racing and some modern superbikes showing how it's done. Some highlights:







I'll chuck some pics on Imgur when I can be arsed..

[nuttinnew]

... 6 year old video shows riding practices that the Police no longer teach -Offsiding to make a view - big no-no now.

Which bit is that, going into the oncoming lane to get a better view around a corner, or using the oncoming lane to consider an overtake?



"Effortless progress even in crappy conditions..." like a duck; calm to the eye, much going on underneath.
"...the lack of braking generally..."
"...fast (and assertive but also look good) and not draw attention to themselves."


They're my aims when driving - like everyone else on here - even if around these parts I'm mostly on the A2/M2/M20/M25/M26

[tim]

... 6 year old video shows riding practices that the Police no longer teach -Offsiding to make a view - big no-no now.

Which bit is that, going into the oncoming lane to get a better view around a corner, or using the oncoming lane to consider an overtake?

Going over the centre line to make a view around a bend - they used to teach it on the Police courses and it was common in the IAM and RoSPA groups years ago, but nobody advocates it now. The risk of surprising oncoming traffic and then subsequently having someone make a bad choice in front of you is too high.

Moving out to eyeball an overtake is fine (you aren't going to suddenly surprise anyone because you wouldn't be doing it into an unsighted corner and shouldn't be surprising oncoming traffic as you'd move out as you transition from follow to overtake-ready position.

Crossing the centre line to straighten out a series of bends, where the view already exists, is also encouraged.

[mik]

Good vid to show road positioning (comments above accepted) but in terms of "how fast can a police rider go?" The answer appears to be "no faster than John Q Citizen following behind in a saloon car. At least in these conditions.

My Rospa (car) training was with a recently retired Police Class 1 driver. Fascinating insights - the amount of info available just by looking at street light height & positioning for example. He encouraged bulk gear shifting and straight-lining clear bends too. He recommended milk-the-cow steering from a safety perspective (airbag going off with hands in front of it leads to high-speed watch/ring/face incidents) but didnt over sell it or ask me to try it after he saw i could steer properly.

[Marv]

Crossing the centre line to straighten out a series of bends, where the view already exists, is also encouraged.

But I like taking the bends, even if they can be straight-lined

[nuttinnew]

... 6 year old video shows riding practices that the Police no longer teach -Offsiding to make a view - big no-no now.

Which bit is that, going into the oncoming lane to get a better view around a corner, or using the oncoming lane to consider an overtake?

Going over the centre line to make a view around a bend - they used to teach it on the Police courses and it was common in the IAM and RoSPA groups years ago, but nobody advocates it now. The risk of surprising oncoming traffic and then subsequently having someone make a bad choice in front of you is too high.

Moving out to eyeball an overtake is fine (you aren't going to suddenly surprise anyone because you wouldn't be doing it into an unsighted corner and shouldn't be surprising oncoming traffic as you'd move out as you transition from follow to overtake-ready position.

Crossing the centre line to straighten out a series of bends, where the view already exists, is also encouraged.

Ta

[tim]

Crossing the centre line to straighten out a series of bends, where the view already exists, is also encouraged.

But I like taking the bends, even if they can be straight-lined

Same!

[nuttinnew]

in terms of "how fast can a police rider go?" The answer appears to be "no faster than John Q Citizen following behind in a saloon car. At least in these conditions.

You know how the internet works, and sure enough...;

[tim]

FFS these people make my stabbing hand itch. Police have an exemption in the course of their duty - it doesn't have to be an emergency!

[NotoriousREV]

FFS these people make my stabbing hand itch. Police have an exemption in the course of their duty - it doesn't have to be an emergency!

And an emergency isn't defined by whether the blue lights are on or not.

[tim]

Fantastic evening in the company of Jamie Whitttam and John McGuinnes last night - they are one pair of funny fvckers. John does not mince his words, especially about women (I'd never heard the phrase split-arse before last night!).

Watching one of his lap-record standing-start laps with the man himself narrating it - mind blown.

My g/f "went to the loo" and actually went and bought a copy of his book found John and asked him to sign it, so there's further evidence I didn't need that she's a keeper.

[JLv3.0]

Oh bravo that girl




Hang on - is the book now yours, or her's, or do you share the book?

[NotoriousREV]

I'd never heard the phrase split-arse before last night!

Definitely a common phrase here in the north-west of England.