ADUK Archive

In what ways does motorcycle RoSPA Gold and car RoSPA Gold differ?

This doesn't directly answer your question as I've done IAM Car and Bike and currently doing RoSPa bike, so I don't know the differences between RosPA Gold car and bike.

Between the two IAM tests though, on the bike, positioning is emphasised more, as well as acceleration sense, there is a lot more engine braking on a motorbike (especially a twin) compared to a car. I also found while training for the IAM bike test, references to roadcraft and the system were used much more than for the car.

christopherwk wrote:This doesn't directly answer your question as I've done IAM Car and Bike and currently doing RoSPa bike, so I don't know the differences between RosPA Gold car and bike.

Between the two IAM tests though, on the bike, positioning is emphasised more, as well as acceleration sense, there is a lot more engine braking on a motorbike (especially a twin) compared to a car. I also found while training for the IAM bike test, references to roadcraft and the system were used much more than for the car.

Many thanks Chris. All the best for the Test

My limited experience of rider training compared to car is:-
- No commentary requirement
- Examiner is following you and so can't easily assess how closely you are keeping to speed limits (as shown on your speedo) or how far ahead you're looking and how you're prioritising hazards
- BGOL isn't a concern as the bikes have sequential gear boxes
- Some examiners have a relaxed attitude to overtake speeds, provided the speed before and after the overtake is legal

I'm not sure whether this is in agreement with other's experiences?

Chris

ScoobyChris wrote:My limited experience of rider training compared to car is:-
- No commentary requirement
- Examiner is following you and so can't easily assess how closely you are keeping to speed limits (as shown on your speedo) or how far ahead you're looking and how you're prioritising hazards
- BGOL isn't a concern as the bikes have sequential gear boxes
- Some examiners have a relaxed attitude to overtake speeds, provided the speed before and after the overtake is legal

I'm not sure whether this is in agreement with other's experiences?

Chris

As an examiner for both I would pretty much agree with the above except
The examiner will certainly be able to see how well you are complying with speed limits, easier than in a car at times. Depending how you position and when often is a good indicator of where you are looking.
Slowing on the gears is always frowned upon, on the bike or in the car.

ScoobyChris wrote:My limited experience of rider training compared to car is:-
- No commentary requirement

That's true, but during the ride, you will still need to remember how you are dealing with hazards.

If you do something that the examiner is not sure about, for example, riding in a certain position (because of said hazard), the examiner will pick up on it, and ask about it during the debrief, and it's up to you to justify it (and remember what the hazard was).

I haven't really explained that very well! If, say, you were travelling down a "Gareth Road" road and going round a right hand bend, then a left, you could be in the left-hand tyre track, giving a good view round the right bend, but for the left hand bend, you decide to stay in the left-hand tyre track and keeping your speed low, rather than moving position to the right-hand tyre track for the view around the bend.

The examiner may ask why you didn't move to the right tyre track, as you could have better vision for the left-hander and you could say, it would have been safer to stay in my position and slowing down otherwise switching to the right-hand tyre track means going over the grass/mud/gravel in the middle of the road, increasing the chance of loosing grip. The reason is then justified, and the examiner will probably accept. If you haven't got a good enough reason, then it could count against you.

Therefore during the exam/training, it's probably best to do a commentary to yourself as you go along anyway, so at the end when the examiner asks you questions about your ride, you're more likely to remember what you were doing, where you were doing it and why.

ScoobyChris wrote: - Examiner is following you and so can't easily assess how closely you are keeping to speed limits (as shown on your speedo)

From experience of training and examining, it's not a problem.

First I look early on in the ride to see how a rider maintains speed in a limit, any variation should be consistent, and how that compares to my speedo.

The when I see a certain speed displayed, is the rider moving away ie riding at a higher speed than they've previously 'calibrated' for me?

christopherwk wrote:Therefore during the exam/training, it's probably best to do a commentary to yourself as you go along anyway, so at the end when the examiner asks you questions about your ride, you're more likely to remember what you were doing, where you were doing it and why.

That's interesting, Chris. As someone who's done tests in both, did you find the bike or the car test the more difficult?

Chris

The bike test I did first, and it was a lot more difficult than the car test. I had only been riding for 1 year previously. I think it took me almost one and a half years of training to get through, with about 20-25 observed rides! (these aren't 1 hour observed runs though (as with car). Being on the bike is more of a social activity, therefore the observed rides are often much longer than an hour, and depending on how keen the observer is (and yourself), it may take the rest of the day! Sometimes a full member and/or trainee observer, comes along who follows the observer and/or there maybe another associate).

We didn't use radios (as in the test), so we had to stop at intervals along the ride, for the observer to give guidance and advice, and initially, explaining the system is harder, rather than having someone sitting next to you in a car going through the stages and what you should be doing as you're driving along. As a result, you are also expected to use your mirrors (which you should be doing anyway), to follow the observer's/examiner's indications, as you will not know the route - obviously easier in the car, the examiner/observer will just tell you (although missing one or two indications doesn't automatically mean a fail, but miss all of them and the examiner will question your rear observation, that is, if you don't manage to loose the examiner on your test! )

Like Chris, I found RoSPA Gold much harder on the bike than in the car. I guess this is because there's more to riding than driving, plus you can create far more overtaking opportunities on the bike.

Personally, I was just as chuffed with RoSPA Gold on the bike as I was with HPC in the car.

I'd be interested to hear bike observers/instructors experiences, because I imagine it's miles more challenging to do this on the bike than in the car. What's it take to coach advanced riding?