You my friend are defiantly from up north..... going to the shop will see if ya mags there.. aint saying i'll buy it mind.
And not taking it personally, either. In my original comment, I said that the 100% referred to may concentration on the job in hand: not listening to music, thinking about what to have for dinner, or my job, or what was on TV last night. When I ride, I am thinking 100% about riding: getting the corner trajectory right, where traffic is likely to be be, road positioning etc - all that good stuff. It didn't say anything about ability. And I reckon that over 30 years on a bike counts for something, just as I think 30 years playing the guitar or cooking would count for something. I would say that 30 years of respect for open road speed limits would count for a lot less. I can't see how I would have learnt much about braking and cornering at those speeds. Maybe that's the difference with many motorcyclists over car drivers. The actual pastime is an interest, rather than a necessity, so like most things you are interested in, you strive to do them better. If I had police-type training would I benefit? Of course. There is always something new to learn. But would it fundamentally make me much more capable of handling the speeds I normally travel at (which to my mind are not excessive - I almost never see the redline on my bike in any gear)? I doubt it. It might make me more capable of handling the speeds of a police chase in heavy traffic, but I don't really need that capability as I'm not indulging in them. I do find that the police (or legal) attitude is that restrictions are in force to save us from ourselves, primarily. Amazingly, I have no wish to die or have a major accident and so far, I haven't had one. Luck? Possibly on occasion, but more likely most of the time I'm riding well within my limits. Many of the places I go are not places to fall off at. Do I want to go down a ravine or hit a large rock? Clearly not, but that doesn't mean that you have to pootle around those places in dread of awful consequences: that wouldn't make you a safe rider. I originally posted this thread because I am alarmed at how speeds at a fraction of what my bike is designed for are considered to be major crimes with very heavy penalties. I was interested to know if those speeds are commonplace in the biking community, and it appears they are. The conclusion I have come to is that I should either give up motorcycling (very sad and I can't really imagine it) or carry on much as before, doing my level best to stay out of hospital and away from the courts.
The issue we police and other training types are the attitude that unless you do what they did, you can't be as good or as safe or, most importantly, as bright
There is a certain arrogance from plod along the lines that if a civilian hasn't been through all of the courses that plod has that they can't achieve the same high standard (I am not talking about pursuit riding here). Maybe that belief is how they maintain their self confidence. Few riders are as good as they think they are, and I am sure that includes plod.
You clearly are the brighter one, So what other road riding training would you recommend then Bradders............and good luck trying to find one that isn't Police or road craft based, lasts as long, or is as intense, even working within speed limits as they all aspire to that level. this from someone who is prepared to pay £120 for a day to be told how to do the same dozen or so corners over and over again ....
i do find it all too regular that criticise a blokes wife they laugh, criticise what they drink they all laugh, criticise their driving/riding and the defences spring up
