How to Pass an Advanced Bike Test - Cornering Part 1: Intro & Positioning 

Best advice I ever had was “Look where you want to go” avoiding target fixation. Given to me on the track, but also a skill that works particularly well on countryside roads. Obviously position speed gear and braking must be used in tandem,but it transformed my riding😊

Such an informative set of videos Reg..absolutely top notch. Can’t believe you haven’t hit at least 500k views for each one (for the motorcycle ones for me). Great work.

Love your commentary and riding. Happy to stumble upon and even happier to stay. Shiny side up!

Really nice informative vids! Had a full motorcycle license for about half a year now and these sorts of videos from an examiner who knows their shit are super helpful :) there is so much to learn!

At 7.15 Reg talks about and makes a good point of maximising vision round a left hand bend or as he puts it corner and that means that one should not position oneself out too far towards the middle or centre of the road, closer to the mid line. We were instructed to be well over just that a few years ago. However that position of being closer to and practically on the mid line has been discontinued in Roadcraft and the furthest out that we now go into the road is now position number 3 which is about the offside tyre track of a car. In many instances its safer to remain in position 2 in the mid line or sump position and lose just a little of our forward vision. By losing that slight vision it will make us safer if we just lose couple of mph. Any closer to the mid line whilst approaching a left hand bend may put you in danger of being hit by another vehicle being driven towards you and on their right hand bend and by them cutting their bend and being partly over and onto your side of the road. A danger that one should never be placed into in the first place.

Really good video - I haven’t been a biker since 1987 but I still enjoyed this a lot. I wish more people would do the advanced training sessions with IAM or RoSPA, they give so much and transform travelling on our roads - particularly ones such as that in this video. I’ve been lucky enough to train with a police instructor (and also be examined by the same instructor via Bolton & District) and it was just a joy. Tough having to do written exams for sure and sticking with it but the insights the training gives are hard to get elsewhere. I’ve also done performance Academy training with CAT to learn more about a car at speed and that was tough. I did this before going for my initial IAM with B&D, I thought I knew everything there was to know but I went out with Hugh (who is sadly know longer with us) for the first session and he tore me to shreds, he humbled me to the core. Please, if you haven’t done Advanced training for public road driving - just sign up, you will get far more than you give.

I appreciate you sharing your skill and knowledge. Thank you.

Great series of videos, learning so much which backs up the instruction from my current IAM observer. Thanks for the effort you are going to to produce great content.

These are fantastic Video’s, they are really enhancing my IAM observed rides, thanks for putting the time & effort into such great content

I absolutely love your videos!! I am an IAM student so these are invaluable to me. The high camera angle is really good to see the bike positioning. Thank you!!

Great advice thanks 🙏🏻

Thank you!

Another great video, I passed with a gold this week and feel watching these videos helped iron out a few things. 👍🏼🏍

Great video btw

One other important point about cornering is the Camber of the road, and the impact that has both positively on Left Hand bends, and negatively (in general) on Right hand bends, there are a few very nasty off camber bends here in Norfolk

Interesting video Reg. It clearly highlights the dilemma of understanding/explaining the difference between off-siding and straightening. Having said you shouldn't go offside for IAM/ROSPA the footage shows you doing just that (as I would in those particular situations, as it was more like straightening). What the IAM are trying to stop, and we've all seen them, riders jumping offside way too late on approach to a left bend to GAIN a view. The trouble is that view gained could be full of a vehicle heading towards you at speed. Out on the sort of roads you are on in the video, the excellent view allows much more scope for positioning to MAINTAIN the view you have. Will be interested to see the rest of this mini series.

Thanks

At about 6.30 Reg speaks of a difference in positioning between the police rider and the civilian advanced courses. They are all from the same book issued by the police, the only difference being is simple, Under normal road policing conditions where the police officer is riding under normal road conditions and therefore has no need to make faster progress he will us the same line that civilians do. However in an emergency situation where speed is of an essence he will use his extra training [ something we don't have or need ] ] at he will use that training at every opportunity to make as fast a progress as he considers to be necessary and thus he will ride over the lines on the wrong side of the road, or overtake vehicles whilst riding round say a left hand bend and possibly into the face of oncoming traffic or even overtake or as some would have it, filtering on the wrong side of the road into oncoming vehicles. Somethings that only he can do and that we as civilians should not even attempt or consider doing but some do.. He uses these learned skills only where he can do and with a relative degree of safety. He decides on what is safe or not with a overlying condition that he has to arrive at the scene of an emergency and not lose it on the way there. So police or emergency service riding and driving is or can be a lot faster than we would ever need to go and therefore we need not use or indeed know about those practises or procedures that he has learnt specifically for his work and only to be used when are where required. He does not have to shoot round every country road at the maximum speeds that we see some advanced instructors doing all the time and thus feeling required to overtake anything and everything in his way. In an emergency situation then yes but ordinarily no he will use his judgement at all times. When to be faster and when to amble as it is so called. Remember he a has a duty and responsibility to police those roads for the period of his duty and if he is continually under stress to make faster progress for 8 hours of the day it will be wearing, dangerous and of little value if he succumbs to temptations. He takes his time slowing to normal traffic speeds and observes most of everything that he can and will only react into a higher gear, in most senses of the word, when and were it is necessary. .

The golden rule number 1 is what Reg says about Safety. Never ever sacrifice safety for the sake of any other consideration,. So if you want to travel faster and that can get in the way of your safety and also the safety of other road users then don't do it or then you have problem. Personally I have travelled that road numerous times, that is all uphill by the way so lower gears would have been used. and I have been maybe 2 carriageway only. I do find that the more often one moves over the line, even just slightly the more often it becomes part and parcel of ones normal ride and as a result some riders feel that they are freely able to do it time and time again. That is until apathy and complacency comes into being and its then that it becomes dangerous not only to ones self but to all other road users round you. Plus I would never consider those positioning at any time whilst the road is wet. For one, ones speed must come down accordingly and one must remember that the central lines are painted white and slippery when wet and sometimes higher than the normal roads surface and that on wet roads water accumulates at least on one side, if not all the way round of such painted lines and this makes moving over them and onto a different camber, an adverse one, also makes that positioning a more dangerous consideration .

great video as usual, have you got any plans to do a motorway or filtering style video ? ive learnt loads from this series leading upto my test

Just subscribe, great video

Positioning for Safety, then Stability then View 🙂

SLAP What's the P stand for ?

can you cover some questions asked on the I.AM test.

You mentioned SLAP during the video but didn’t say what the P is?

Slow In ... Out with a Grin !

More Paint More Restraint

2:30 "You've got to be able to stop..in the distance you can see to be clear". Should that not be "in at least half the distance you can see to be clear"? Else an approaching vehicle "on wrong side of the road" in a corner who is boxed into the overtaking position by other oncoming cars or by understeer and trying to stop in the distance they could originally see to be clear may crash into us! It seems reasonable to expect encounter these lunatics on rare occasion