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1 Training that is relevant and practical
Let's start by explaining what these courses are not. We do not run progress-oriented "police pursuit" style courses requiring any rider to attain high
speeds. Nor do they require an "approved riding style" to pass a riding test, which may not suit you. Thus there is no need to look for "theoretical
perfection" in the IAM or RoSPA manner.
Rather, the aim is to achieve an all-round and highly practical improvement in your riding in the particular areas that suit the individual rider. Survival Skills
courses do not force you to pursue what may for you be a wholly inappropriate riding style just because it suits us.
"I've done Bikesafe & dabbled with the IAM, but the most practical & genuinely lifesaving training experience I've had was via 'Spin the
HippySapian'. Not exciting, quite tiring, and at the time I felt the geography of the training made his methods slightly redundant for a
London rider, but time proved that reservation to be totally wrong, the course was short and intense but implanted deep subliminal awareness.
"Post training the bugger's still in your head & a lot of his 'preachings' whilst seemingly irrelevant when first uttered, provided instant
solutions to many situations I hadn't even predicted at the time."
'Melons' on Visordown, June 2007
In particular, whilst safe use of speed can be developed for faster riders, if you are a slower rider needing to gain confidence or riding a smaller bike, you will not be pushed beyond your limits.
Survival Skills courses are, by deliberate intent, highly relevant to real-life riding. We take a pragmatic view of road users - everyone on the road,
including ourselves, makes mistakes. Therefore training looks at how we and other drivers make errors, how to avoid them, and how to get out of trouble when it does go wrong - we teach Survival Skills!
2 Qualified and Experienced Instructor
With Survival Skills you get a fully qualified instructor:
- With over three quarters of a million miles riding time
- with thousands of hours instructing experience
- who has attained a BTEC in advanced and improver training, and who has been positively assessed by the Driving Standard Agency at Direct
Access and CBT levels
- who works in rider training full time, teaching CBT, DAS and advanced training
- who has successfully trained hundreds of riders from 16 to 70, male and female, of all levels and abilities from complete beginners to TT
racers and British trials champions
- who has attended a course in Driver Education at Middlesex University
- who has trained and qualified as a member of the National Motorcycle Escort Group
- who passionately believes that better riding is not only safer but more fun
You can be sure that your instructor has the practical experience of having dealt with every situation you are likely to need advice on.
Survival Skills is an approved trainer and assessor
for Buckinghamshire County Council
and
National Motorcycle Escort Group Qualified
3 Structured but flexible Courses
Experience has shown that different riders need different training. Therefore each Survival Skills course aims to target the unique problems with structured training. Key areas of training include:
- hazard perception, systematic riding and risk management
- cornering skills
- machine handling including steering and braking
Courses are for everyone from the nervous first bike owner through "born again" bikers to the experienced rider. You can also find highly specialised
courses in areas like night riding, slow control, group riding and London traffic. Each course addresses different goals - you're not getting the same stuff rebadged.
However, each course is also designed to be flexible and appropriate to your needs. You're not constrained to one particular model of riding, so you're free to build on your skills the way you want to.
Training (except where stated or by your choice) is at a one-to-one ratio. Courses revolve around you and move on at your pace, not mine or anyone
else's, so you won't get bored or pushed too far, too fast.
With Survival Skills you get the focussed tuition you need.
4 Innovative Course Content
As an independent training school, Survival Skills has been able to draw on the best advanced riding techniques from many training organisations in a
number of different countries. Course content has been researched in depth, is exhaustively tested and subject to continual review and improvement.
Material is not drawn solely from the UK police manual "Motorcycle Roadcraft" as is the case with many schools. We have taken the best techniques from a
wide variety of sources, including but not restricted to:
the American Motorcycle Safety Foundation's "Experienced Rider Course"
Keith Code's "Twist of the Wrist" books on advanced machine control techniques
the Australian "Ride On" rider safety program
Driving Standards Agency publications
Other material researched comes from the IAM, magazine articles and books on riding and driving skills published in the UK and the US, personal
communications with a number of other highly qualified instructors in the UK, not to mention my own personal riding experiences where relevant.
The course development material was subject to scrutiny and appraisal during the submission of my BTEC.
Survival Skills Training Courses have a breadth and depth unmatched anywhere else to make your riding safer and more enjoyable.
5 Short sessions, sensible mileage and 1 to 1 training
Experience running intensive training courses (and attending them myself) at both basic and advanced level has shown that on long days riders get fatigued
. As the day goes on, theory no longer sink in, riding deteriorates and newly found skills and confidence are lost.
Keeping most training to a 1 to 1 ratio allows training days to be short because we don't have to assess and correct two riders for each and every
topic. The short sessions recommended for Survival Skills courses cover the important ground whilst you are still fresh, in short, "punchy" sessions. We
ride on carefully selected and easily accessed local roads that offer ample opportunity to put the ideas discussed into practice. The interactive structure
of training makes for frequent halts for discussion, so that a typical day covers around 75 to 85 miles.
In particular you are not expected to cover big mileages during training. Eight hour-long days and 150-200 mile rides might sound good in principle,
especially if you are counting miles per ££, but both the time on the bike and the mileage ridden is far too long for most riders.
The later start/earlier finish times allow you finish up back at home at a reasonable hour too - we remember you have to get to us and get home
again too. We try to ensure that you don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to start early, ride all day, finish late and STILL have to face the journey home.
Survival Skills sessions are kept short for two important reasons - your attention span and your safety!
6 A careful blend of "best practice" and technology
Before you choose a course, we will discuss your needs by email or telephone. Having outlined and picked the course best suited, you will be sent by email
a thorough briefing for the course, as well as a lesson plan to give you an outline of how you will spend your time, and a brief summary of the main
teaching points of the day(s). Some courses make use of home study "distance learning" to cover some of the theory before you arrive for practical training.
On arrival over a cup of tea, we'll once again discuss your needs and ensure you fully understand, and are happy with, the plan for the day.
Courses are structured and employ fully researched and proven teaching techniques. Using the "learning loop" of explanation, demonstration, practice
and correction, you are set clearly understandable and achievable goals at all times. Where appropriate, video clips and other training aids will be used to illustrate the points being made.
On the road, Survival Skills courses use professional quality Motorola bike to bike radios, allowing real-time coaching and correction, as well as a
commentary ride by the instructor, something many trainees find a real eye opener. Weather permitting, on-bike video footage will allow you to see
yourself riding, allowing for easier-to-understand debriefs and fault correction. A CDROM of the videos is normally available after your course is completed.
All regular training routes are risk assessed, minimising the dangers of unexpected hazards. If you fail to read a sharp bend, the radio link allows for
a verbal warning. A variety of routes provide for different training scenarios. Simpler routes can be chosen for newer and less confident riders, but as
ability improves, more technically difficult roads offer a challenge to competent riders.
One day courses will be summed up with a verbal and short written assessment. Two day courses will sum up with a verbal debrief and longer written assessment.
After all courses, support is available in the form of the Survival Skills "Course Notes" CD-ROM as well as full "after sales service" in the form of unlimited help and advice via e-mail.
7 Value for Money, and above all, FUN!
OK, I know we said SIX reasons, but quite simply, Survival Skills courses are also top value for money and they are hugely enjoyable. Survival Skills
emphasise safety but that doesn't make for dull riding. You have the option of training on great roads in Kent or Oxfordshire, or can opt for one of our trips
to France. You can even join in a great weekend with other riders at our locations in Wales, Yorkshire and Devon.
Motorcycling is enjoyable, but even more fun if we don't scare ourselves every time we ride. Whatever your abilities, if you want to learn how to deal
with country roads or city traffic in an enjoyable but ultimately safe manner, these are the courses for you.
Riders have travelled from as far afield as Cumbria, Wales, Teeside, Hull, Cornwall, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire and the West Midlands, as well as the
more local counties of Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, Oxford, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, and London, from France and even Canada and
Senegal (YES, Senegal in Africa) to take a Survival Skills course
Quite simply YOU, the trainee, come first at Survival Skills!
So why settle for less? Book a Survival Skills course now for the very best in independent advanced training.
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