July 1, 2015 - Beginner Biker Adventures

IAM Skill For Life Test Passed – Yippee!

I’ve finally done it, I’ve passed my IAM Skill For Life Course, I’m now officially an ‘advanced rider’.

I started the course back in January, when I signed up with the East London Advanced Motorcyclists (ELAM) group. The course is based upon the Motorcycle roadcraft police rider’s handbook, but is presented through a slightly more digestible ‘How to be a better rider’ book (included with the course). The ELAM group begin the course in a fairly structured manner; starting with a machine control day on an airfield to practice slow manoeuvres, emergency stops and slalom. This is followed by 5 observed ride outs roughly every fortnight, each concentrating on particular areas, e.g. overtaking, bends, motorways, town riding etc. There were also 3 theory night sessions around these rides which covered the ‘system’ – an underlying principle to apply to your riding, various best practices and many legal points.

That time of year again, MOT due. You know the bike should be fine, you know you’ve serviced it well and checked it over thoroughly yourself. But still, there’s that little niggle of doubt over whether it will fail the MOT on something. Thankfully my trusty Fazer passed without a hitch with no advisories at all. Sorted.

Checking out past MOT passes, it seems I’ve put on 7200 miles in the last 12 months. Not too shabby at all really. A little more than previous years, but I have been doing a lot more riding for my IAM course.

On a side note, a thumbs up to London Scooters for turning the MOT round super quick in my lunch break. They’re just around the corner from my workplace, so super handy for me.

Edit: I took my wife’s CBF500 to London Scooters in May 2016 and received less than satisfactory customer service. Please see this video here.