Advanced riding is not just about being able to ride quickly. Specialist coaching in slow riding machine control skills will enhance your ability to cope with almost any situation that requires you to ride slowly, such as filtering through traffic or manoeuvring around stationary vehicles.
As part of your Introduction to Advanced Motorcycling (ITAM) the club offers all associates the opportunity to participate in a short course which will help prepare them for taking, and passing, the Advanced Motorcycle Test. All associates taking part in the ITAM are automatically booked onto the course which usually takes place on the Saturday following the classroom session, or the following Saturday depending on Observer availability, at Furley Park Primary Academy in Ashford. There will not be any requirement for an observed ride following the session unless previously arranged with the associate's allocated Observer. The course is free to associates and members. For course dates please refer to the Events Calendar.
Courses are held at: -
Furley Park Primary Academy,
Reed Crescent,
Kingsnorth,
Ashford TN23 3PA
See Map
The course is primarily intended for Associates preparing for their Advanced Test and will be given priority when allocating the available spaces on the course. Full members preparing for the Members Riding Assessment (MA) should also consider updating their skills and will also be afford and opportunity to take part if space is available but it should be noted that all Observers should be able to provide an MA candidate with the opportunity to practice and be coached in the necessary techniques.
Any member may apply to take (or even re-take) the course if they feel a little rusty. Places on most courses are limited once Associates and MA candidates have been taken into consideration but members should not be put off from applying and will be allocated a place on a first come, first served basis.
Background to the Course
In early 2005 one of our Observers came to the conclusion that he did not have the necessary skills for teaching slow-speed machine control and was, therefore, unable to pass these skills on to his associates. It was also becoming clear from Examiner feedback that test candidates were not acquiting themselves very well when it came to the slow speed manoeuvering portion of the test. In collaboration with another member, himself a qualified CBT instructor, he acquired the requisite skills and between them decided that it might be beneficial to the club to provide a course specifically aimed at those riders who had never done a CBT, who had lost the skills or lost their confidence in applying their skills.
By the end of 2005 a couple of experimental courses had been conducted, a curriculum set up and perfected and plans made for the courses to start with the new riding season in 2006. The first course took place in March of that year at a small private car park belonging to Saga at their Ramsgate site. Many Associates and members availed themselves of the opportunity during that first year and feedback from the Examiners showed that the courses were having the desired effect with fewer test failures due to poor slow riding skills.
In 2008 the course relocated to the Folkestone College campus in Folkestone. In 2021 it reloacted again to Furley Park Primary Academy in Kingsnorth and continues to provide coaching and encouragement to associates and full members of the club in what some see as one of the dark arts of the skilled motorcyclist.
A request to attend a Slow Riding Control Skill Course should be made to the
Candidates preparing for the Members Assessment should state this in their request - they will also be afforded priority after associate members. Full members wishing to refresh their skills should be aware that their application may be deferred if a course becomes oversubscribed by priority candidates. Please be advised that non-members are not permitted to attend.