RoSPA Awards

Crapbag

Hi folks,

I've been riding bikes for 9 years now as my sole method of transport. I have plenty of experience and a couple of scrapes. I have done an advanced driving day with Dave Lyons and learned lots. I was looking into doing something like the RoSPA advanced driving awards, not so much for the insurance but to improve and learn more about my driving. So my question is, has anyone done this award? How did they go about doing it? Any advice how to go about it? I searched this but could only find bits and pieces about it. thanks in advance

Idleater

I have done the RoSPA exam and got a Silver. My retest (this has to be done every 3 years) is due next year.

I fully recommend it - I did a 2 day course with MSA-Ireland and then did the exam, but you can just apply to RoSPA in England for an exam here. It costs something like £50 to do it.

Crapbag

Great. I have been considering this for a while now and am hoping to maybe do it during the summer. I would like to practice beforehand though. So as an expirience rider what did you find the toughest aspect? What the areas you believe should be practiced more? What did you find yourself fall down on to get a gold standard?

Idleater

Crapbag wrote: »

Great. I have been considering this for a while now and am hoping to maybe do it during the summer. I would like to practice beforehand though. So as an expirience rider what did you find the toughest aspect? What the areas you believe should be practiced more? What did you find yourself fall down on to get a gold standard?

Good questions. My first recommendation is to read Motorcycle Roadcraft - The Police Riders Handbook, as this is what is examined. A taught course (eg like the one I did from the MSA) is worthwhile if you want someone to give you feedback on your riding, as well as teaching you how to ride better on your weak aspects.
A second worthwhile part would be to go on rideouts with other RoSPA riders and riders that are interested in learning from eachother. There are loads of RoSPA local groups in the UK, but none here, and I have enquired a couple of times if there are any people around that are interested in forming such a group here.

As regards the test, the toughest part is the test - it is 90 minutes long and there is no way that you can bluff your riding for all of the 90 minutes. At some stage your true riding will shine through (as it should) and that is why it is difficult and why it is so rewarding to do it.

The thing to remember is that you set off on the test with a Gold rating, and you get marked down from there.

I was only 1.5 years riding when I did the test first, so I was a little inexperienced and not 100% comfortable on the bike positioning for some corners, but other than that the examiner said I was a very good rider. I am going to do a 1 day refresher course in the spring as preparation for my retest.

Where are you based as a matter of interest?

Crapbag

Im in Rathcoole, driving a Honda Deauville. Im interested in improving my roadcraft either on a course or with other riders. Just gotta find the time I guess. I do have a good bit of experience but bad habits are something which take a while to rid myself of.I find myself driving the Deauville like a smaller bike (i.e my old Bros). Id say I have good driver anticipation but my defensive driving in traffic is poor. Im a little aggressive with my positioning as I have learned through the years to defend my road position from Car drivers. Also I filter like a City driver too,which is again not a good idea. Although, again the Deauville forces me to be more patient and cautious

I did the Easy Rider training with Dave Lyons and found my road craft wasnt great on the back roads but it didnt take me long to tune into what Dave was looking for. After driving around Dublin for so long, I've found my driving has evolved more so then grown in a structured fashion. I got the Deauville for many reasons, one was to force myself to drive properly which it is doing to a certain extend. I enjoy it alot more than a smaller more agile bike because of its road presence.

So what bike were you riding for the test? Did it test you in all circumstances i.e country roads, city roads, wet weather etc?

Idleater

I actually did the test on a BROS, but drive a SV1000 now.

The Deuville is a great bike for doing the RoSPA on. My examiner had a Africa Twin, but there are quite a few "sensible" bikes like BMW's etc. I intend to do the retest on the SV, complete with idiot exhausts and LED indicators.

The ethos of the RoSPA test is to drive properly according to the conditions and adapting your behaviour to suit that of the bike. This comes from the police training to be able to drive _any_ bike safely.

There are plenty of people that will do practice tests, and refresher courses. I was talking to the Bike to Bike crowd that do the trackdays in Mondello, and they will do a day out too, to assess my driving.

I am also all too aware of the bad driving habits that come from having to commute in Dublin traffic and on the M50 etc. And having already done one RoSPA test in these conditions, I can tell you that safety is the prime concern, after which comes progress. Filtering is of course allowed, but it should be done with utmost care, and attention.

Anyhow, I ramble on. You can get some more input from myself and other bikers over on biker.ie and irishbikerforum.com.

L.

Crapbag

Well thanks for the Info mate. Ill definitely look into it