How to Choose a Motorcycle Training School.

Not all schools are Equal.

We Try to be the best there is.

Please read out customer coments and recomendations on facebook. many of these customers had been to other schools first

Not all Schools are equal, and there some "creative" practices out there that won't be in your best interest, so have a read of our insider's guide of what to look out for.

Facilitys and Equipment

We have just had one student who was impressed by the pictures and description of another school. When they went for the CBT they thought they had gone to the wrong place. The facilitys and training area did not bear any resemlance to the pictures or description on the web site. (They did the CBT but came to us for test training)

Before you book anything it is best to visit the place and see what you are getting.

Check the true cost

Cost is (quite understandably) top of most people's minds when learning to ride, but the headline price can often hide the whole story:

NEW December 2014

The Government has just published a survey on CBT courses ( its here if you want to read it)

We all know that you only get what you pay for. But one of the findings was that only 69%of courses which cost Less than £90 actually deliver a Legal Length Course.

It is common for CBT courses to have 4 or more students usually with one instructor for most of it. However when you go on the road for a minimum of two hours there can only be 2 students (by law). So either some students have to wait a few hours before they can go out, or another instructor will take you. Do you want to be mixed in a large group? Do you want to either wait for your road ride or go with a different instructor?

When they say "small class sizes, never more than 2 on the road", they are not doing you a favour, that is the maximum they are allowed!

Some schools advertise a price including bike hire BUT you then discover that the insurance has a high excess sometimes as high as £750. You are liable for this unless you pay more for Collision Damage Waiver (CDW), sometimes as high as £20.00 per day.

Some schools Advertise FREE extra training if you do not complete the CBT course in one day, in the small print the training is free but bike hire is as high as £45.00

Put another way, which is better?:

CBT Headline Price £99.00. You get there and find you need to pay another £15 or £20 for CDW and there are 5 other students. You should get the instructors full attention all day but its hard when he is helping 6 students Then you go out on the road with a different instructor.

CBT £110. Everything included. You and 1 other student and the same instructor all day

DAS or A2,

In short make sure you know what you are getting before you book, Here are some of the things you need to look for.

We have had reports that where people have paid for a 4 or 5 session course including a CBT, (Most Schools "sessions" are 3 or 4 hours).

They then find that 2 of the sessions are to take the CBT, One session is the Off Road part and the next session is the On Road part of the CBT ( all on a 125cc bike). Another 2 sessions are literally to take the tests.

This means that if you did a 4 session course, you are only going to get on the bigger bike just before your test. If you did a 5 session course you would only have one 4 hour session on the bigger bike before your 1st test session.

Example Mod 2 tests, ( remember most schools have 2 students at a time) The session is 8am til 12. two tests are booked ( they are roughly an hour apart, lets say 9.30 and 10.30) by the time you get going its 8.15 you need to be at the test centre at 9.15 then you will either taking your test or waiting for the other person

Tests finished by 11.30 then ride back to the base.

You have had 1 hour training and 1 hour taking the test. But you paid for 4 hours!!!

Mod 1 will be similar , the test is shorter but it can take a lot longer to get there.

If you paid for a 4 session course including a CBT there is no time for real training.

Because you will realise that you have not done enough training you will book another session. This is when it can get expensive.

What you thought was a cheap deal suddenly becomes a lot more expensive.

If you are training to take your bike test, what is going to happen to the cost in the unfortunate event of not passing one of the tests?

We have noticed some very expensive charges to retake a test.

At Smart Rider we do not require test fees from you until we allocate them to you, ( some people don't book a Mod 2 until they have passed Mod 1 so they don't pay for it until then). Tests can be changed provided we can cancel them with the DSA, they need 7 working days notice to cancel a test that we have booked. We will tell you that date when we book the test for you.

( This is different to the 3 working days notice required if you book tests yourself)

We do not sell you "sessions" we sell you "hours" .We charge you 2 hours to go for a Module 1 test ( its about a 3 hour round trip including the test) & 1 hour to go for a Module 2 test. ( its 5 minutes from our base)

You may have someone with you, and you may wait for them to complete their test, but you will have had all hours training that you paid for.

If you did have to retake a test you may choose to take more training hours

But you would only need to pay for 1 or 2 hours to go for the test. Not a whole session.

With Smart Rider you could pay as little as £25.00 to retake a Mod 2 test, Some others charge over £115.00

Check your potential instructor's qualifications.

It is possible to be a motorcycle instructor 3 years after they pass their test. They'd be trained by the school and allowed to conduct CBT courses and 125cc training (they cannot do Direct Access training). There is NO official test of their ability. They are known as a down trained instructor. Most down trained instructors would go on to take the rest of the training and testing to become Fully Qualified. A Fully Qualified CBT instructor will have passed a very intensive 2 day assessment of their abilities. A Fully Qualified DAS instructor will have also passed a further half day assessment. An Advanced instructor should have taken an instructional ability test, a riding ability test and a theory test.

We have noticed schools offering Advanced training where none of the instructors have passed an basic Advanced test. Let alone passed any kind of advanced instruction test.How can someone instruct Advanced Training if they haven't passed an Advanced Test themselves? Make sure your instructor has the right experience. An Advanced Riding instructor could have done one or more of a wide range of tests with the IAM, RoSPA or Diamond. They could be ex police.

Some Advanced riding tests are just that, riding tests. What about instructional ability? Some organisations i.e. the IAM use the term Observers rather than instructors (even examiners are really Observers). To be an observer you need to pass an advanced test, get plenty of experience, and demonstrate your instructional ability. To be a Senior observer you need to take another riding test and again demonstrate your instructional ability.

Apart from whatever testing and training an Advanced Instructor has done he will also be a very experienced motorcyclist. By that we mean, rides in all weathers, covers plenty of miles (20,000 miles a year is not uncommon, The average rider does about 4,000) and will have been doing so for a considerable time.

Smart Rider is operated by Tony Fuller Who apart from 46 years riding experience, has qualified as a IAM advanced Senior Observer and is a RoSPA gold standard rider ( this is retaken every 3 years, Gold every time) You are unlikely to find a more qualified instructor.

Just had a thought, 46 years 20-30,000 each year (Even the 1st year on a 50cc I did over 10,000) I must have ridden over a million miles.

Check student to instructor ratios on Post CBT training (usually aiming to take the motorcycle test)

Most schools train 2 students with 1 instructor on big bikes. On small bikes there are often more, 4 to 1 is not uncommon. Ask yourself how much training am I going to get if I am doing OK, but the others are not doing so well. Will I have to stand at the side of the road whilst the others are practicing u-turns or emergency stops, when really you want to be practicing something else.

Some schools on DAS courses leave you on 125cc bikes as long as possible so that they are not restricted by who they put you with. After you have completed your CBT they are not restricted to 2 to 1 on a 125cc. So they could take you out 4 at a time. If you are on a big bike it can only be maximum 2 to 1.

Check how long the sessions are

Some schools do all day courses, and many students like the idea. BUT, all day often means 6 hours, and you cannot ride non stop for 6 hours. You will need a short break about every 1.5 hours and you will need to stop for something to eat. If you are committed and the weather is kind you might do 5 hours. If you tire easily and the weather is extreme in any way (too hot is probably the worst) you are unlikely to do more than 3 hours riding.

We recommend 3 hour sessions but we have known plenty of people who cannot manage more than 2 hours and it is noticeable that students usually start making mistakes near the end of the sessions.

Conclusion

Ask about the hidden costs

Ask about student to instructor ratios
Ask how many hours actual training- not sitting at the test centre.

Ask about the instructor's qualifications and experience

Ask about the length of the sessions

Ask about cost of Re-tests if required

Ask about refund of test fees if required

If you get a less than frank response to any of the above, it is probably best to move onto the next school on your list.

SAD NEWS.

SMART RIDER CLOSED MAY 2016 Until Further notice

Rougham Airfield,
Perkins Road, (All the way to the end)
Rougham Industrial Estate,
Bury St Edmunds,
IP30 9ND

"Perhaps nicest of all was the feeling of being ‘looked-after’ with unlimited bottles of chilled water on very hot days, coffees and simply being given your complete attention. Other training schools should take note!"