Last Monday (15th) was the date of my rescheduled Bikesafe course at the Ace Cafe. Journey there wasn’t too pleasant, my journey around the North Circ included solid filtering from Palmers Green to the Ace, not the nicest start to the day ! :crazy:
Got to the Ace to see a selection of bikes who arrived for the Bikesafe, a couple of SV650’s, Fazer, Ninja, couple of BMW 1200’s to name a few, with a range of ages of attendees. The coppers were on a couple of BMW police bikes, one was on a new Fazer 1000 (and fookn lovely it was too :smooooth: ) and the other was riding a super moto !
After tea/coffee we sat round and briefly introduced ourselves, then one of the guys running it (sorry I’m carp with names) introduced the team, including their bikes and riding history (they are all serious bikers outside of work). He then went on to emphasise the fact that they were there as bikers not coppers, and weren’t there to pull anyone up on loud cans or small plates – so I wasted 15 mins the previous night swapping my plates over :rolleyes: ! Never mind…
The presentations covered such things as filtering, overtaking, bike control and road positioning. The way they were presented, with liberal doses of humour, did keep the attention levels up.
After this the riders were paired up with a rider of similar experience and allocated an ‘observer’ who was one of the coppers. Myself and another fella were paired up with Keith Johnson being the observer. The pre-lunch ride took us out along the A40 to some country roads. I was in front first, with Keith in the middle and the other fella behind. We went along a variety of road conditions, with a fair bit of country road twisties. After a while we pulled up, and Keith said my riding was good but needed to be a bit more progressive – and to try and forget there was a police bike in my rear mirror ! I suppose that was subconsciously holding me back… he also explained to us the importance of planning as far ahead as possible resulting in a much smoother ride. It was then the other fella’s turn to go up the front, we did the same circuit then it was back to the Ace for the (included) lunch.
After lunch it was back along the A40 then onto more country / national speed limit roads. Apparently I was being more progressive this time, even though it did feel slightly uncomfortable going over the speed limit with a copper on your tail. Most of the afternoon was spent riding and concentrating on positioning on approach to junctions, bends, road conditions. One of the points we raised were how far we could lean our bikes into corners safely (my GS500 and the other fella’s SV650) and Keith’s response was “You will give up before the bike does”. He then went on to demonstrate what you could do on the big bulky lump of a police bike, and shot out of sight around an S bend at speed. Point taken. :w00t:
After the afternoon’s riding it was back to the Ace for tea and biscuits. Everyone was buzzing and seemed really pleased with how the day had gone. Then followed one more set of presentations regarding accidents, which was a very sombre affair, but I think it made people think, and kept them in check so they weren’t too cocky after their day’s riding.
The day finished with everyone getting a report sheet, a pack containing keyrings, earplugs, pamphlets and a few other bits and pieces, and the chance to buy some literature that was mentioned during the day. Then it was back to filtering my way back along the North Circ. :doze:
So, this is a day I’d recommend to anyone – everyone there seemed to get a lot out of the day, even the people who had been riding for years. Good fun, and I guarantee you will learn something new. 30 quid very well spent in my book.
Thanks to Keith and all the Bikesafe team for an interesting and very enjoyable day 
