IAM "Skill for Life" course...recommended?

[Grahamm]

[quote author=Grahamm link=topic=3634.msg30249#msg30249 date=1341365371]

What good is the "useful training" when a newbie biker can go to a biker's cafe (or a forum) and hear people slagging off the IAM (or RoSPA or anyone else) as a "sanctimonious etc etc" and think "well, I won't bother with that, then"?

A quick addendum.  NOTHING encapsulates the problems of the IAM better than the above quote.
[/quote]

You know what? I agree. People dismissing the IAM as "sanctimonious etc etc" does nobody any good.

[JZS 600]

There are some twats in it though but I found most very agreeable. Had some good trips as well, the Nurburgring standing out as a favourite even though it scared the sh!t out of me. Not the track, the other people on it from taxis to tour buses!

[richfzs]

but make up your own mind on the subject, don't go in there with certain expectations just because of something someone else has said.

As if anybody wouldn't make their own mind up

[quote author=steeeve66 link=topic=3634.msg30212#msg30212 date=1341336447]
I've just sent off for my IAM "skills for life" course with the Northumbria group,

I've done the same here in Kent - will let you know I get on...[/quote]

Best of luck! It's good to see some people keeping an open mind :thumbup :


Don't be too patronising now, will you...

Or is it just the image of the IAM that some people choose to portray?

Unfortunately Grahamm, it's you thats portraying the bad image... :\

[Grahamm]

but make up your own mind on the subject, don't go in there with certain expectations just because of something someone else has said.

As if anybody wouldn't make their own mind up

Sure, everybody takes the time to ascertain the facts and not rely on what they heard from a bloke down the pub or their favourite newspaper or what someone said on a forum...

[quote author=Grahamm link=topic=3634.msg30249#msg30249 date=1341365371]
Or is it just the image of the IAM that some people choose to portray?

Unfortunately Grahamm, it's you thats portraying the bad image... :\
[/quote]

Yes, of course, it's all my fault, I'm such a sanctimonious etc etc...

[richfzs]

If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, its probably a duck...

[Grahamm]

Y'know, I was talking to this bloke down the pub and he said he'd seen a bird that went cluck and didn't swim, but since I'd never seen a duck I believed him when he said that was what it was... :pokefun

[pitternator]

I dont get offended at all by people doing the IAm. I would encourage anyone to do it for the safety message. But its when the double standards come in , and this smug self assurance rears its head that I get annoyed.
From my own experiences Graham, do try to realise that no amount of training will make one immune to an accident, or  can make going fast safe. It never will be. My message to anyone is  get safe first, encourage that element of IAM training  , speed will come in time, if thats what you want .We also need to recognise just what do we mean by going " fast" ?..and at what point does one get satisfied they are riding " fast enough"...it will vary for all riders, but at least a speed limit sets some sort of reasonable standard ?
While speed limits can be frustrating and at times ludicrous, they actually do make sense most of the time.These days they still are my benchmark, ever more so with the fecking crap drivers we have in the UK , the road congestion, and ever worsening road surface.

[Grahamm]

But its when the double standards come in , and this smug self assurance rears its head that I get annoyed.
From my own experiences Graham, do try to realise that no amount of training will make one immune to an accident, or  can make going fast safe. It never will be.

And once again I entirely agree because I have never said such a thing and never would.

For example an Observer from my local IAM group recently got wiped out by a drunk driver and was lucky not to lose a leg despite all his experience and observational skills. Another Green Badge holder I know hit a patch of diesel on a roundabout a while back.

Nothing can make you 100% safe, but Advanced Training can add a few percentage points which is surely a good thing.

Unfortunately when people choose (out of ignorance or prejudice etc) to dismiss the IAM or any other such group with sweeping generalisations that are likely to put others off getting advanced training then they aren't helping anyone.

While speed limits can be frustrating and at times ludicrous, they actually do make sense most of the time.

And other times they don't. At the junction of the A32 and the A272 there's a biker's cafe called Loomies. The road there is currently National Limit, but because some idiots have the habit of leaving the cafe (or going past it) with their throttle against the stop and blasting down the road at ludicrous speed, Hampshire Council have decided to make a long section of that road 50mph limit.

Unfortunately, of course, this will have absolutely *NO* effect on said idiots who will ignore that limit as much as they ignored the previous on, it will just affect everyone else.

[Ian-man]

Hi, I did the IAM course with Durham Advanced Motorcyclists, they are pretty relaxed about it all. I am not sure about the Northumbria group, I am sure  they will be fine. However there is always the likelyhood of being a few jobsworths or police impersonators in any of these groups. I went to the Northumbria ROSPA group but found them a bit elitist and you had to wait a year for your test at the time.

I have found the roadcraft that is taught at these groups to have served me well. Like anything else it needs time on the bike and practice. I find at the start of the year I need more concentration to do it right. You never get it right all the time and I ride like a twat sometimes too.

[steeeve66]

well... 2 months since i enrolled and... nothing except a rubbish little book about how to ride, none of which you can't find free on the interweb.

despite enrolling in June it looks like it'll be winter before i meet anyone - not happy.

terrible attitude as well.

[peejay]

Assuming you are still in the north Kent area as per your profile, why don't you email the regional coordinator,
geoff.prettyRGC@iam.org.uk and ask him how long one has to wait to be assigned an Observer.

[steeeve66]

Assuming you are still in the north Kent area as per your profile, why don't you email the regional coordinator,
geoff.prettyRGC@iam.org.uk and ask him how long one has to wait to be assigned an Observer.

Yup, done that (although it wasn't Geoff) and got 'attitude': "yes, sometimes it takes a few months to get going..."

oh really?

[redman]

Wow what a thread,  Thought I would give you my experience of IAM, Ive had my full licence for 4 months after i passed my test I realised I hadnt been trained to an acceptable standard to stay alive on the uk roads. I studied on the net and chose IAM as it appeared to be what I was looking for.  Phoned them up Sefton IAM group Merseyside and luckily an 8 week course commenced from saturday at Formby Fire Station.  I met and was trained by an excellent friendly bunch of people the majority were all class 1 police riders, Ron Haslm track instructors, BMW test riders/motorcycle journalists the skills knowledge and experience they had between them was over 700 years.  They started with the basics taught me the system improved my confidence and skills week by week and I have recently just passed my test, however I wasnt interested in taking a test or passing.  I just wanted to be better trained and thats what I am.  I am ten times the rider I was 8 weeks ago, I am always processing five steps ahead of every situation I ride safer smoother and faster and I would reccomend IAM to anybody who wants to improve there safety and riding skills. However as having a cert ed in teaching myself I know that the quality of your observers and their attitudes will reflect on what you will learn and take away with you........... :z

[JZS 600]

I'm going to give RoSPA a go in September, see what that's like. No harm in a bit of training I say if you pick up a couple of tips. I did the IAM training 14 years ago and I'm still applying it today to my commute to work and country road rides. Now the boy's started riding at 17, I'm pretty keen for him to get a bit of training too....

[redman]

+ 1 as above

[Skippernick]

Steve66 i feel for you not as bad but contacted my regional guy a week ago he said the observer would contact  me with in the week and nothing so far.
I think the IAM itself are quite professional its the local volunteers who are crap.

[pitternator]

You must remember that anyone can set up an IAM group as such if you have the qualification...and the standard of training will be that of the quality of the observers the group has. As such there will be variance in standards and attitudes.The IAM book serves to give some continuity , but if you can join a group with pro active and enthusiastic members , it is a real bonus.
I still reiterate my single point I have pushed throughout this thread ...dont think speed, think safe use of speed.If you cannot practice restraint of speed, you aint an advanced rider and you may well overcook it at some point.Ask any police rider how they judge a  safe speed !...its from years of training , which most of us will never achieve. Its why I also comment on this throwing out of the rulebook on a rideout. Skill levels may be too diverse to just simply follow the rider in front.( who could be far more skilled and confidant than yourself).
Another way of looking at it , is to ask yourself just why so many motorcyclists are KSI every year ....and no it aint just down to other drivers.

[steeeve66]

Steve66 i feel for you not as bad but contacted my regional guy a week ago he said the observer would contact  me with in the week and nothing so far.
I think the IAM itself are quite professional its the local volunteers who are crap.

i think the key word there is "volunteers". 139 quid might be a large sum to me but if the guys doing the instructing were charging full rates it would be an awful lot more - in retrospect i might have reminded myself of that before posting.

first meet hopefully before christmas(!) and i still have an open mind...

[Lazarus]

groups vary from place to place m8 - as already been said in previous posts.

can believe some of the aggro which I perceived in previous posts about the IAM - imho it works for me but I may have been lucky with the local group - good guys and good riders/teachers.

being part of the IAM doesnt mean that you need to ride like saints - it just gives you better observation and therefore more time to plan.

all these, of course, are my own opinions.

[MEM62]

I joined a local group and it improved my riding a lot.  Unfortunately, I was unable to reach test standard and therefore never took it.