Hi every one .
My girlfriend went on the Bike safe course this weekend so here is an up date about it .

Having done an advanced course quite a few years ago I was quite keen for her to go to get a bit more experience . We were told at the NEC show that the police were more concerned about safety than being petty about race pipes small plates etc which I found encouraging .

She found the course could be good if you have no one else to give you this sort of advice but most of what she was told she already knew about through riding with other experienced riders.
She was told repeatedly that her exhaust was too loud and could be causing her to change up in gear to early? and asked in a very condescending way who had made her choice of bike as if she has no mind of her own !

Her bike has been chosen for these reasons and modified to suit her needs
1. low seat height ( both feet flat on the ground )
2. 33bhp kit fitted + high revving engine meaning that especially round town this bike is not going to get her into any trouble she can rev it fairly hard and it takes quite a lot to get it moving.
3.nice wide bars / mirrors for good round town riding .

Modifications (non cosmetic)
Centre stand removed (weight saving)
Braided hoses ( better brakes)
Xenon HID headlight bulbs (improved beam)
valve indicators ( easy tyre pressure check)
full titanium exhaust system ( big weight saving)

I can only say if if you think you may get something from this sort of course then do it because it cant do any harm .

From my point of view I am pleased she did it and that she came away with the confidence to know that the instructor was petty to the point of heavily criticising everyone in an unconstructive way being fairly negative & not really offering advice on how they could improve their riding . The fact that she recognises this proves that she is thinking about her riding and assessing the risks !

For a little balance, I did The Edge day out a couple of years ago. It was brilliant. It's not training, and it's not called training, it's just a day out being observed with comments on your riding, but even then it's not forced upon you.

I learnt a lot about how to think yourself fast, and a lot about coppers attitudes, in general, to riding quickly. This is not the same as riding fast! To illustrate the point, find some nice roads (I'm talking really about single track country back roads here) and see if, on a spirited ride, you can keep your average speed over the NSL. If you're on the right roads, you probably can't. And that boys and girls, is where the most fun is to be had. Particularly on a 400!

Anyway, as above, go and do it, it's a good day out. The highlight was that they put me in the "quicker" group, and so on my CB-1 I was riding with two big BMWs, two ZZR1100s and something else that was also pretty big. Great fun revving the nuts off it to keep in the group. And very odd having a copper behind me, whilst doing 90 on straight bits and "fast" everywhere. Great fun day out.

I did the Sussex bike safe day a couple of years ago with my girlfriend. It seems as though when we did it it was more like the edge course that morti did. The morning session was spent in the classroom nd having a generally very open discussion regarding loud pipes, small number plates and various other mods that can be frowned upon. The afternoon was a great ride out through various back roads and at various speeds learning how to look and think faster and more efficiently all with excellent constructive criticism. Really it was more of an introduction to the advanced training.
I would recommend it to all riders but if you have a group of friends who are all advanced standard riders I imagine you would be learning a hell of a lot from them that was just as relevant if not more so. Also i've heard bikesafe can vary hugely depending on Police force. For example the West Midlands force used to have a two day residential course that if completed gave you a percentage discount on your insurance. This is of course reflected on the price of the training and it would probably be more economical and more advantageous to do the IAM course.