Any recommendations which course in North London?

[NLC]

Reading the various posts it seems Rospa,IAM,ERS depends on where you live. Met Police has something called Bikesafe for £45 and you get to ride with the coppers for a day. Anyone have any experience with any of these? I'm in North London on the border of Herts. Can anyone recommend a group for my area. I called my ROSPA group in Herts and they said they only drive Rovers. New big bike rider and just want to learn some skills and don't really care about the certificate for my wall. In my opinion if you take one thing away that could be of help in the future these things are always good. After driving a 250cc Vespa for 4 years in London I'm probably too far gone anyways .

 

[alistairl]

If you don't want a badge then try a "professional" instructor who (if you pick the right one) will be able to offer you what you need rather than working towards the requirements of a test.

You get what you pay for, one guy who is good (but not in North London) is Kevin Williams - http://www.survivalskills.co.uk/

And the Rapid Training bunch are quite good from what I hear.

Personally I went for the badge collecting route - got a green one and a red one so far

 

[tommymoto]

Hi Cookie,

I would recommend joining my group. They are based in herts and are a freindly bunch.

As for doing bike safe, I did it last year and it was well worthy it. But you can do the same for free in October if you can get to Welwyn for a few hours.

Follow this link to have a look at this group.

www.hbam.org.uk

PM me if you need any more info

Tom

 

[ONYERBIKE]

I've read alot of good reports about Rapid Training in the bike mags etc....just up the road in Aylesbury..........and boy is the A41 fast and smooth ......north of the M25 that is!

 

[bowser]

I am sure that if anyone had been so inclined it would have been about 115mph smooth I reccon, today that is, bout 09 am ish, weather was lovley.

 

[darkhorse]

Just done a skils for life package with these guys http://www.middlesexam.org.uk/
Thought it was going to be all pipe and slippers, but the guys just like riding bikes as much as the rest of us.

 

[NLC]

Doing the Herts Bikesafe program in Hertford this weekend. You get a discount of £50 which brings the cost down to £89 which I think is a great deal.

 

[Tom]

I would recommend www.mikewaite.co.uk

Make a weekend off it down Somerset way. You will see the improvement on your ride home.

 

[advancedbiker]

Courses avaialble in the Cotswolds

I do a number of courses for London based riders in the Cotswolds. I usually meet up at Gaydon

 

[Littledumptruck]

Bikesafe and any other one day course can help remove individual faults, but to truly learn advanced riding takes time and miles which only happens with an Iam or Rospa group, by going out over a number of weekends for however long it takes. Some guys pick things up quicker and may only take a few sessions to get the hang of it, but a good group won't limit the number of times you go out with an observer.
There are a few Iam groups around the north of London, check them all out and pick the one that suits you best, they will all have their differences.
There are probably Rospa groups as well, but my own experience of them is very poor, tried 6 groups that are around me and the only one that came back to me was a complete twat.

 

[STUBBS]

get up the ace cafe and speak to the bike safe coppers

 

[NLC]

Thanks - I did the Bikesafe program in Herts which was good. Got to ride solo with a police observer and he gave me a couple of good tips. I also had a chance to do the low speed skills session with the IAM group in Herts and that was good fun as well. Ended up joining the IAM group as well and look forward to the sessions.

 

[Stujw70]

Which group did you join?

HBAM?

 

[NLC]

Yes that is the one I joined. Herts CC contributed £50 towards my membership. That what I call council tax value for money... And I don't even live in Herts!

 

[Stujw70]

Yep i did the same course earlier in the year, which was good value for money

Took my test last week and passed

 

[tommymoto]

Yep i did the same course earlier in the year, which was good value for money

Took my test last week and passed

Well done on the test pass!

who was your observer?

 

[Stujw70]

Well done on the test pass!

who was your observer?

Hi Tommy

Steve Bruty who has since departed the group from what i understand