Poor Rider Training

[ZZRCHIKKY]

iv been practicing ina tennis court

[Tack]

iv been practicing ina tennis court

Have you perfected your volley as well??

[Shifty]

Rider traiing is pretty awful, my braking was severely flawed and they passed me anyway.

it pisses me off when we get treated as dumb women

The boss loves it and uses it to her advantage, they all feel sorry for her when she asks for a "thingo" and she gets stuff cheaper... and if they try to ream her then she does a backflip and tears them a new one because she actually knows what she's talking about.

[zx'er]

It's just like Qride up here. It's all about numbers and bums on bikes. Production line teaching is what I call it and run by the people who sell bikes. Hmmmm work that one out. ANy wonder the road toll is on the increase.

[Blue14]

mate HART is the place. i have actually just booked in my nervous wife who isnt real good in a manual either for a free session. They do these for a couple of hours. Just give em a call and they will book her in, FOC.

[Cass]

It's just like Qride up here. It's all about numbers and bums on bikes. Production line teaching is what I call it and run by the people who sell bikes. Hmmmm work that one out. ANy wonder the road toll is on the increase. (zx'er)

I hear you zx'er - tho I guess it depends WHICH QRide you go to - I have connections with people in Road Safety research and some Rider Training centres are definately better than others *coughdon'tgotoSpringwoodcough*

Personally, for anyone in the Brissy area I thoroughly recommend the Morgan & Wacker crew at Brookside. They trained me up from scratch - I'd never driven any car and the closest I'd been to riding a motorbike was my pushie. Obviously this made me slightly nervous to begin with, but they worked me through that and soon had me smiling and riding confidently. I've never seen them belittle anyone attempting to learn to ride - chicks or not - and they set aside an instructor for 1 on 1 if someone is struggling. Oh and sure they push the sale of their gear (helmets/jackets etc) but their focus in training seemed to genuinely be saftey and awareness when riding - not numbers or bums on bikes.

3 years, a couple of skills/techniques courses and plenty of rides later, I'm still doing business with them, and they're still looking after me. If it's any indication of how good their training is, when I went back for my unrestricted licence I was the only chick and the smallest rider there, and I managed to comfortably, safely and confidently ride the biggest bike in the lineup better than the guys who'd done their original training elsewhere. Thanks to their support and training I'm happy on almost anything with 2 wheels these days, and I've calmly and effectively handled a few close calls - and as a result I love my riding! - Anywas like I said, I thoroughly recommend them.

Pitty you and the missus don't live in Brissy Chris - hope she sticks with it and comes to love it as much as me in the end!

~Cass

[Typhoon]

I went through the Wheel Skills (RTA contractor) pre learner's course here in Newcastle about three weeks ago. In my group of six, we had two women, both had not ridden a bike before and one had not driven a manual car in 20+ years. We were all treated as equals, and the whole instruction syllabus was outstanding. One woman chose to use a scooter, and the other, who had not driven a manual in 20 + years, chose a CB250, which she got the hang of really well. She was not allowed to pass, but was offered an extra hour of tuition(she freely admited to not being comfortable on the bike, and really just needed more seat time).
The course was truly professional, and having done a lot of flying training, was on a standard with that. Everything was taught, from the very basics of balancing on a bike, turning etc.
I had only ridden my bike for about 4 weeks before attending the course( carpark at work, and a little back street industrial estate stuff, but had been exposed to bikes on and off a lot over the years, and curiosity had filled in a lot of gaps, I had NEVER ridden a bike until about six weeks ago, but heaps of bicycle riding) and I came away with a LOT of good information and skils. I was confident enough to ride my bike to work at 80 km/h on a twisty hilly road with some traffic and lights.
So, I'd say go Wheel Skils newcastle if at all possible.

Regards, Andrew.

[Nanna10r]

Thanks for the Info Cass I'll be sending any one else learning to M&W from now on. Glad to hear that their si still some good instuctors in Brissie.
Cheers Brett