G'Day Boys and girls been reading through the latest edition of the Police Motorcycle Rider's Handbook ....its now 3 times thicker than before. Wow talk about stating the obvious ...been highly entertaining reading bits out to the guys at work during tea break and lead to some interesting conversations. :biggrin: (we now have 5 riders out of 9) Still has some nugets of gold, extra info in some of the areas they missed out/skimmed last time. I liked the fact they approached riding in bad weather a little better but still the writer hasn't been out in high winds to try their advice which is a shame because the opposite is true. They suggest ride slow when in fact ride faster and hold bars lightly is the answer, which I proved on a daily basis on my commute to work, but hey they'll get there one day. I recommend getting it ....great read and always something to learn ISBN 978-0-11-708188-8
never done the rider training. did the driver training many years ago. yeh yeh yeh it sounds bleedin obvious dont it... you wont be such a smarty pants trying to implement it into your driving when under pressure or even while driving with no pressure. thats why police riders can catch muppets on sports bikes whilst riding neigh on half ton cruisers with general ease
Attitude test.. it's fact, not fiction then! That's why I never get let off with a flea in my ear :frown:
some of the sections are very OTT "Removing the bike from the centre stand" "Placing the bike on the centre stand" Using your brake light Use your brake light to indicate either slowing down or your intention to stop. sorry can't be bothered to type any more up just a few examples of obvious, like I said there is a whole lot of good stuff in amongst the hilariously elementary stuff.
but they didn't just write the book for your obvious enhanced knowledge, learning style and ability……..it does have to cater for a wide range of starting points..
I am a great fan of Roadcraft yet I believe that the latest motorcycle edition contains some serious errors, partly as a result of too much cutting and pasting from the car edition and sometimes because it is just plain wrong; this was from reading reviews of the latest edition on Amazon, examples were quoted to back up those claims. I also believe that the publishers have taken this onboard and are reviewing the text. If these claims are true then it needs to be sorted quickly because the previous edition of Roadcraft, although it was very dry in style, contained superb information. The sections on junctions and overtaking should be compulsory reading for any motorcyclist.
Or it could be that it's not an entertaining read. Which, if it contains all sorts of useful info is a pity. It's surely about education. If you want people to read it, then maybe it should be more approachable. But then policemen do often speak oddly "A male and a female have been found in the house". Most people manage to say "A man and a woman have been found in the house". Don't worry about it, the police forces the world over speak like this - certainly the French do - almost as if they are zoologists.
Andy, as I implied I haven't personally read the latest edition. I was looking at Amazon to recommend Roadcraft to someone, saw there was a new edition, read the reviews and was surprised by what I saw. http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0117081884/?tag=ducatiforum-21 Some examples Heavy use of the rear brake "...causes the rear wheel to rise..." And the diagrams often contradict the words. Page 183 states that when you turn left the best place to be is on the left and yet page 184 shows a rider turning into a `normal' left turning from the offside of their lane?? The text states that `swan necking' is misleading, but positioning to the offside of the lane to turn left isn't somehow? Confused you will be. However, there is a fairly serious obvious error in it under 'Grip' i.e. - 'grip increases by 50% at a 45 degree lean angle'. Grip is confused with load on the suspension (which actually increases by 41% at 45 degrees to be pedantic). I have cut and pasted these comments from the link as I do not have a copy of the new version.
