Page 86 - 2022-08-01 RiDE

RATED
RIDING EXPERIENCE RATED
IAM ROADSMART
MOTORCYCLE
SKILLS DAY
We try track-based advanced training
designed to make you a better road rider
Words Gareth Evans Pictures Adam Shorrock
HERE ARE ONLY two ways of
riding a motorbike on Thruxton
these days: on an IAM Skills Day,
T or taking part in a British
Superbikes race. I’d booked onto the
former, because I’m hardly a BSB-spec
rider. In fact, having only passed my test in
September 2019, I thought the road-
focused training on offer sounded ideal.
This is what the IAM offers on its Skills
Day, which teaches you about riding a bike
safely on the road, but without any of the
dangers or distractions, because they’re
held on racetracks. This means you’re free
to explore the limits of your bike’s
acceleration, braking and cornering
without worrying that someone’s going to
pull out of a junction and spanner you.
The day is structured around a syllabus
from the well-known book Motorcycle
Roadcraft: the Police Rider’s Handbook.
Specifically, the sessions were aligned to
the acronym IPSGA — Information,
Position, Speed, Gears and Acceleration — a
process known as the ‘Planned System of
Driving’ that the IAM teaches ‘to promote
THE LOCATION
They don’t do bike trackdays at
the infamous 2.4-mile Thruxton
circuit near Andover in
Hampshire, which makes the IAM
Skills Days a real treat. It’s the
fastest track in the UK
careful observation, early anticipation and
planning and systematic use of the
vehicle’s controls to achieve maximum
vehicle stability’
.
What to expect
The initial briefing set out the day’s
itinerary; we’d do a classroom session for
20 minutes, followed by the same amount
of time on the circuit practising what we’d
learned, and then completing the hour
with some downtime to think, absorb and
discuss. We were guaranteed we would all
go home with more skills than we arrived
with and were told the focus of the day
would be smoothness and precision.
ü Road speeds so
jeans and riding
sneakers just about
acceptable
THE GUIDE
Del spent 38 years in the
forces, with over 300
parachute jumps to his name,
before deciding to learn the art
of motorcycling and becoming
an instructor with the IAM