Who needs advanced motorcycle training? Getting an ear-bashing from some flat cap wearing ancient fossil, droning on about the motorcycle they have had for 30 years …Nah, not for me.
And if that is what you think advanced motorcycle training is all about, I would suggest you are woefully misinformed. I’m sure these people exist, but the vast majority of advanced motorcycle instructors, guides, mentors, observers, illuminators of darkness – call them what you will – that I’ve met are the same as you and me. They love motorcycles and the art of riding them.
It has been three years since I last benefitted from having my riding analysed and some feedback on how to be smoother, sharper and thereby faster which is why I’m in Wales, along with my colleague Carle, for a weekend with Jewell Bike Training.
Advanced Motorcycle Training
Whereas there is an element of how we ride included in advanced motorcycle training, roadcraft and how we interact with the motorcycle to have it deliver our intentions are by far the more significant elements
Yet, listening to “that guy” at the tea stop, he insists that there is nothing to learn from advanced motorcycle training and no one can tell him how to ride a motorcycle.
If only someone had told Rossi – the GOAT himself – that. Rossi could have avoided using spotters analysing his technique. Rossi changing his style across the years was obviously a total waste of time. After all, what would Rossi know?
And to correct another misconception, “that guy” usually vomits about why roadcraft is crap; roadcraft is the black magic voodoo of reading the situation unfolding in front of you. It gives you prior warning of people doing stupid things, and it tells you what is likely to be happening around the bend, even when you can’t see around it.
The more voodoo that you do, the smoother your ride.
Even on a section of road that you ride every day, something will be different. Roadcraft deepens the experiences we have to apply to circumstances as they unfold. We can learn a lot from simply riding, but Advanced Motorcycle Training helps us build a deeper pool of knowledge faster.
Double Espresso
Over a double espresso for Neil and tea for me, we get down to the subject of the day, and Neil asks if there are specific items we would like to look at, or should we let the day develop and see what happens?
For me, there are two areas. The first is a general assessment of my riding as I must have picked up some bad habits. The second is exiting corners. Sometimes, it all hooks up, and there is no delay. Other times, I’m losing time. The exit feels like it comes in two parts, with a gap in the middle. It is more pronounced on right-hand bends than left, but it is there.
For Carle, it is more voodoo. He wants to work on maintaining his speed. To read even further along the road and look at maximising road positioning earlier to maintain the speed with a wider margin of safety.
Day One
Following the first 30 miles of Carle and I doing what we normally do while Neil watched our antics, we stopped for a quick exchange of thoughts before getting into the detail.
Thankfully, it seems that the preceding three years has not turned me into a homicidal maniac, but there are a few gently probing comments from Neil that lets me know he has already spotted something.
My problem with exiting bends begins with my entry. I need to go deeper into the corner before turning in and come further to the left on righthand bends to open the corner out.
Add these two together results in me having to wait to get onto the throttle, which is why I’m getting that feeling of two halves to a corner.
For Carle, the feedback is steering. On open sections, his riding flows, but the commitment to corners is lazy. When the riding becomes more challenging, he becomes more decisive. His goal is to maintain the clinical steering inputs, even when the roads are wide and the curves long and smooth.
Day Two
After the improvements yesterday’s riding brought, we are itching to get on with day two, and we talk about “pushing” the inside bar harder than we are. We are looking to increase the speed at which the bike rolls into the corner, and from that comes the ability to command more lean angle in a shorter amount of time.
When I add this to going deeper into right-hand corners, increasing the speed I get the bike tipped in, lets me carry more momentum through the corner with greater ease.
Meanwhile, Carle, who has relied on 30 years of evading capture (his words) rather than formal training, is at his ease with Neil Jewell’s instructional style. What Carle didn’t want was someone trying to change how he rode a motorcycle, yet he appreciated that how he rode could always be improved.
Having found that balance, the pair of them are working on voodoo roadcraft and how to read further and further along the road. Listening to the running commentary that Neil is delivering from the back of the group indicates that neither of us are looking far enough ahead. Neil is talking about clues that we haven’t picked up on yet, and he is 30 meters behind us.
What did I learn?
There is a layer of rust that builds on motorcycling skills. Even if you ride all year round, you can’t ride with the same intensity in winter as you might in the summer months. Without a target that keeps you striving to be better, eventually, the level at which you ride fades, even if it is slightly.
Little by little, that layer of rust grows on that advanced motorcycle training you took, and that is where I found myself. I was still competent, still tuned in and able to cut through the traffic, but not firing on all cylinders cleanly and in need of a tune-up.
After the weekend with Jewell Motorbike Training, I’ve shaken a lot of that rust off. A better line going into the corner carries more momentum through the corner, making – as the video above shows – the overtake on the way out the corner much easier.
And for an added bonus Neil sent me the clip with him having to use horsepower up the hill. To be fair, I didn’t leave him much room to follow me through.
I was aware of everything that Neil mentioned; it is just that over time I’d stopped striving for that level of riding. Initially, 98% was good enough, then 96% … 90% …. 85% …
Sitting in the bar on Sunday evening, Carle and I are both knackered. It has been an intense and totally absorbing weekend. The tiredness comes from running hard all weekend, but it is a good tired. The feeling that comes from a job well done.
Roll on Spain, Portugal and the rest of summer. We are ready for you.
Clarity
We paid, with our own cash money, for our training with Jewell Bike Training and it was worth every penny.
3 responses
Had a very similar experience last week. Two days one to one training with a class one retired police rider. Just couldn’t put the experience to print so eloquently but found, to my surprise, that a layer of rust had indeed built up. Definitely something I will repeat and A couple of days in Wales with Neil could be on the cards next year.
Really enjoyed this article very informative. Does give you lots of food for thought and I totally agree.
Keep them coming.