New from South Africa

[DucRED]

Hi All,

I`m from South Africa with a mission. There are very flimsy to non-existent regulation of Rider Trainers in South Africa. There are no resources or standards to be measured against. Every tom-dick-n-harry can become a rider trainer. You just go and redo your learners license and do the rider test as for everyone else and you`re an instructor

I`ve realised that this is not good enough for me and is in the process of having my skills tested in the UK and take corrective action where needed.

So the main reason for me on this for me is to "meet" proficient rider instructors to help me along the correct way.

I`ve done the American Ride-Like-A-Pro Course, In Cleveland Georgia USA, which is basically a 4 hour energy sapping slow riding course inside a figure 8, slow weaving, riding inside a circle and coming out straight, riding in a double figure 8 configuration. This was done with a rented Honda ST 1300 only 1 hour after I rented it.

In South Africa I did a basic course which was really only learning friction control, starting and stopping, u-turns and weaving through cones with the provide bike which was a 125cc.

The other course was and "Advanced" course which really was the same as the basic course but with my own bike and some track time as well.

As the UK also rides on the same side of the road (or is it the other way round that we ride on the same side as the UK) qualifications from the UK is looked upon more favourably than those from the USA. Though I fail to see why really.

I`m a Ducati Guy and ride about 20 000km per year.

Hopefully the above is more than enough about myself for now

[ScoobyChris]

Welcome to the forum!

Have you decided which courses interest you in the UK and are you looking at courses to improve your riding or to improve your instructing (or both? )?

Chris

[DucRED]

Welcome to the forum!

Have you decided which courses interest you in the UK and are you looking at courses to improve your riding or to improve your instructing (or both? )?

Chris

Thank you for the welcome.

I`m interested in both with my ultimate aim that of becoming a certified Instructor.

The different organisations baffle me though. Like IAM & RoSPA end then ERS. Which to pursue and which not?

Although this maybe should be in the Advanced Rider part of the forum I`ve arranged Advanced Training and Evaluation by Nigel Bowers who holds the BTech from RoSPA. The training etc will be on 6th & 7th June in Cardiff.

Hendrik

[ScoobyChris]

My understanding (which may well be incorrect!) is that ERS is the equivalent to Pass Plus for car drivers and is pitched at new, inexperienced riders who have just passed their basic test looking for for building up a bit more experience under the watchful eye of an instructor. IAM/RoSPA are quite a step up and based around the Police Driver/Riding Training manual Roadcraft. It's mainly pitched at experienced riders, with RoSPA also offering the "Diploma" which is an instructing qualification.

Not sure if he still does rider training, but Clive Jones (ex head of South Wales Police driving school) is a very well regarded coach and not too far from Cardiff either -> http://www.hpc.org.uk/index.php?option= ... &Itemid=64

Chris

[Horse]

I`m from South Africa with a mission. There are very flimsy to non-existent regulation of Rider Trainers in South Africa. There are no resources or standards to be measured against. Every tom-dick-n-harry can become a rider trainer. You just go and redo your learners license and do the rider test as for everyone else and you`re an instructor

I`ve realised that this is not good enough for me and is in the process of having my skills tested in the UK and take corrective action where needed.

So the main reason for me on this for me is to "meet" proficient rider instructors to help me along the correct way.

There are three 'strands' to consider:

1. Machine skills; on-road high-standard proficiency (ie what we in the UK call 'advanced'), all the 'making it happen' aspects, whether novice or experienced

2. Hazard perception; rather than making things happen the way you want, this is about identifying risk and keeping risks under control

3. Passing the message on; being a good rider doesn't mean being a good instructor, work to improve that too.

Whoever you meet, address all three aspects.


This may help with '2':

http://www.trl.co.uk/online_store/repor ... clists.htm