Motorcycle Training | IPSGA: What the British Motorcycle Police know that you don't 

I know its a bit overdue and you may have changed this, but I found when explaining IPSGA in the way you explained Information overlaying the other elements if you just take a second to include a quick mention that Acceleration is change of speed so includes slowing down either by braking or engine braking or even making the decision to stay at the same speed. Its obvious to an experienced Rider/Motorist but when new to it people often wonder about braking but daren't ask. I found it then cropped up again later in the one to one sessions. Enjoying the videos. Its one thing to ride safe its another to put the message across in an engaging way without information overload. I like your format.

Do bikesafe with the police

@@anthonyjarvis522 yes did that 6 years ago and it cost £45 and included lunch in a Italian chain restaurant!

Yes, great book. For anyone who wants a copy you can get it here: www.MCrider.com/roadcraft Available in print and in a Digital Edition, I have both. :)

It is a good (if dry) book ....but nothing beats real world training

Thanks Mark

nice short and sweet

They do but never ride with them folded. They will bump you and cause problems.

Yes, they do.

We all need reminders, easy to become complacent.

I couldn't agree more, especially when coming up to exits

I only change lane after I checked twice, and I make sure I have ample torque in store (not difficult with KTM 1290 S). Unless absolutely needed, I keep my lane, and try to be in my bubble. For a motorcycle, cars, trucks, and other motorcycles are always bad company.

@Bunnyshooter 223 Unfortunately whilst the police have been trained and in all it takes up to 8 complete weeks[ over 400 hours] to pass all the tests to be an Advanced Rider. An ex race pro doesn't need to have any such skills and know nothing about road safety as they train on a track on how to be a racing rider. The two are completely different. Like chalk from cheese. The training that the police give, or for that matter any other registered training body for Advanced Riding are only allowed to instruct/train.assess and advise etc. on Advanced Riding. One can only take the Advanced courses after one has passed the Standard driving test and only regd.ADIs [ Authorised Driving Instructors] are permitted to be payed to train a novice up to the required pass standard for the DVSA test. Instruction in race track training are nothing like that form or to the standard of training for the roads and as such the instructors ore not required to be registered or authorised with regards to any form of road safety training as they basically only train on the track ..

I've just passed my IAM test ✌️

Only one like ... I guess we are the only two that wouldn't put our lives at risk like that.

Larry Stark I think your 100% right, in all you say, we must always remember every time we throw our leg over a motorcycle That everyone else is out to kill us, IPSGA states that we must always plan,( so your always constantly planning) and that covers the Jeep and 18 wheeler on the left, well said Sir,

No doubt. That rider stole the trucker's escape route by undertaking and was hanging out in the 18-wheelers "no-zone".

most truck drivers have split mirrors ,vision is better than old ....nb I drive HGV in London ,plus once we notice a poor positioned vec keep note of it till you know where its gone cheers TJ

Great observation; that line certainly isn't taught in Roadcraft :-)

Engine braking is ok but remember slowing is what brakes were made for. The problem with engine braking is that without the flashing of a brake lights those tailgating you have not noticed that you are or have slowed down until its too late and that's perhaps why in the USA you suffer some 9% of rear end collisions. whereas in the UK its as low as 2 % only.

Acceleration part of IPSGA can be more accurately described as "throttle sense" i.e, both acceleration and deceleration

Spot on, yes it does. I helped as an IAM observer in cars for many years it is actually relevant for any vehicle and there is a Roadcraft car manual as well. It is often overlooked when stating IPSGA that A covers increasing or decreasing speed. Another second in the explanation clarifies things enormously.

Sorry but deceleration is back to the speed phase. Remember you may have to start the process over again if the situation changes

Roadcraft Nottingham 100% correct, as IPSGA is constantly changing and so is “the riding plan” well said Sir 😃👍

Might be a camera effect. Things look narrower in those action cams.

@Oddjob6120 Unfortunately Oddjobs they do take corners or bends in a different way in the USA and that why I made mention of it as he cut the corner and went over close to the apex and the centre line. As you say that happens in the UK but would only happen in the UK if the coast was seen to be clear prior to the bend and Roadcraft only make mention of it once and in one paragraph. Straightlining as such is no longer in the most recent Police manual and is no longer instructed on by some training organisations as its considered to be too dangerous. Coming back to bends,the vast majority of advice is on paralleling the bend and then at the end perhaps with an open road appearing and a non dangerous situation one might straighten it up whilst lifting the bike upright. The American way of taking bends and one which appears go be all the time is in their MSF Handbook and called the progressive way. Here in the UK we basically train by paralleling and use of the vanishing point, something they don't appear to do over there. That's why I mentioned his positioning , because it's more normal and acceptable to take bends in the progressive way. It's obvious from all the training videos and private ones that I have seen over the years from the USA. This is perhaps why they lose it on bends and perhaps that's because unlike ourselves they train to straighten out all bends in the same way whether safe to do so or not and then when committed to cutting the bend that decision is made well before the bend and any consequences that follows. Would you cut a nearside bend especially when its a blind one. No. I don't think so but that's what they are trained to do particularly when track training. Start as normal taking the outside line and cut in to the apex, the point nearest to the kerb or verge. That unfortunately and dramatically reduces any forward vision and is not the safest way of taking blind bends out in the country roads..If there are no visual obstructions then by all means take the wider and progressive line but one must also make sure that one can stop in the distance seen to be clear and that should slow us all down a little especially knowing just how difficult it is to brake whilst leaning over. In many instances it impossible or too late.

@Oddjob6120 I support your assertions but a lot of the problems derive from the top of the training tree.That a bad practise of adopting the racing or as they say the progressive line has been published. By the MSF similar to our DVSA publication or the Police manual. So it cannot be the fault of the rider if they are doing as they have been instructed. They know not what they do!!!!!! So many riders cannot be wrong if its there in black and white..[ Oh yes they can.....] Even with I.P.S.G.A unfortunately here in the UK we have not got to stopping all the incidents whilst taking bends. Even some Advanced riders still come to grief on bends as do many more that have not as yet received any form of reasonable training. Add to that those that have learned all their skills on a track day or an American video and will now be practising trial braking and by that alone we can multiply the risk to many many more riders. The stats will continue to show that we are being basically ineffectual at stopping this carnage. There are many things wrong of which one is basic training and no doubt with all the track training and videos that they make over the pond and errors in the training manuals including the Police training manual's it's all a part of a collective problem. Until we get it right this carnage will continue on our all of our roads. Thank goodness there are now a couple of good "You Tube" sites that are positive and helpful to all that watch them.

Oddjob6120 I thought that it is illegal to cross solid lines in the U.K.? And on the continent to overtake, even if there is space to squeeze through. In the U.K. I believe you may overtake but must not cross the solid lines.

Oddjob6120 Many thanks for the clarification, I’ve always been a bit vague on the finer points. Aware that advanced motorcyclists making “progress” cut corners when safe to do so and legal, I tend not to as I generally have all the time in the world.

Just seen your reply. i was going to ask if overtaking both sides is legal. Scary

Have you been on the M25 lately mate? Really?

I suspect that an experienced and knowledgeable rider like Mcrider probably had all that in hand, what do you think?

@@simonhughes-king sure he had ... Im just reminding

That would or should not happen in the UK [ but it still does by riders taking what is in the USA called the performance type strategy of outside /inside/ outside.] and then when committed to a faster approach many seem to lose control well before they have gotten to the bend. So even before the bend they have lost it and sometimes it's too late to do anything about it] In the UK the position very close to the middle lines is now no longer promoted or instructed as its considered too close and dangerous and its against the law to have any part of the bike be that the rider, the handlebars the mirrors or panniers or any part to be over the vertical of those lines. It's called stradling in the UK and means that one is far too close to those lines and on a blind bend something could be cutting the corner coming the other way and that could take you out. In the UK we do not teach the 'performance way' that is apparently not initially instructed by MSF but seem to be the default style of bend taking and instructed on track days and many more show offs and has become the most popular way of taking bends in the USA. and apparently the most popular way of coming to grief.

There are over-riding rules, I suppose. The first is, always travel at a speed which allows you stop on your own side of the road in the distance you can see to be clear. Position affects that, and, obviously you determine that from your forward observations, so position is very important, as it can enable you to gather more information to assess the speed for the conditions and road. As far as Gear goes, you should always be in the correct gear for the speed you are going, either accelerating or decelerating. There’s been a lot of discussion about this. Some favour block changes down on deceleration to a hazard, others (like me) prefer to match the gear to the instantaneous speed and use engine braking rather more than the discs and pads. Finally Acceleration (sense - that’s the terminology used these days) links back to speed, and the information you have about hazards already seen, escape routes and potential hazards - as in you need to be in a responsive gear and rev range such that you have bot acceleration and deceleration available in the right hand without brakes. Seems complicated, but it becomes second nature given enough practice.

@Oddjob6120 Also using the lane of least resistance helps cover ground quickly and effectively. I was Police Advance trained, but then I had to ride covertly as part of my job. As you will appreciate, there is a huge difference between riding overtly and covertly, but the core principles of Roadcraft still apply. Kept me safe doing what I did for 18 years.

I know a lot of uk instructors and not met a single one with these qualms. Making safe progress is one of the most important things whilst riding.

I have been trail braking from the first time I rode a bike. It's something I did naturally (and not fallen off yet because of it). I did do an IAM assessment, and was criticised for "breaking through the corner". If it worked for me, i wasnt going to stop doing it after 35 years. By the way, I am UK based and am trained to the Police Advanced level, and a little beyond that.

There's absolutely no need for trail braking on public roads if you're planning ahead correctly. I'm doing an upload on my channel soon so keep an eye out for it.

Thanks for the comment...I knew someone would question this. :) This is a road that I am very familiar with and you can't tell in the video but you can in reality that you can see through the corner before getting there. The camera is lower than my eye line so you can see over and through the shrubs to see if the corner is clear before actually entering the corner.

Thanks, I wasn't aware that it was used to train for cars too but that makes sense.