Any IAM members here?

StrumminRonin · 04-24-2009, 8:14 PM

A friend of mine is a member & introduced me to some of his motorcycle group last night. I sat in on about half a session and all I can say is that the stuff they taught was pure gold.

My riding is still very much like learning to play the clarinet with sticky or taped fingers, but hey, I am gonna join the IAM and get some training in the car as soon as I can. When I can do that too with the bike, guess what I am gonna do......

Destructo · 04-25-2009, 4:50 AM

Not yet, but I am planning to join the IAM this year and do the bike training / test.

StrumminRonin · 04-25-2009, 9:45 AM

Excellent.

Destructo · 04-25-2009, 11:46 AM

I've been advised that there are 2 types of IAM menber - the first teach you that you must never, ever exceed the speed limit, and the second who believe that it is possible to be safe and responsible in excess of posted limits.

I went out for a weekend away with a group, many of whom were IAM members / observers, and they definitely fitted in to the second category

TimDog · 04-30-2009, 5:41 PM

I took and passed my IAM bike test through the Army so actually got paid to do it!!!
I didn't learn a great deal but gained a lot of confidence in more adverse conditions and was shown just how much grip you do have in the wet!! Their method of teaching forward planning a lot earlier is a life saver.
The people I met through the course and test came from all walks of life and just loved biking. It was very easy to look at somebody on a BMW or FJ1300 and come to an immediate stereotype but in virtually all cases they could all ride my socks off and leave me for dead at a whim. Fantastic people and bloody good riders who are not naive enough to think that people on a sportsbike will get their kicks sticking rigidly to the speed limits!

reeseyboy · 04-30-2009, 11:33 PM

I went to Northern Ireland for the NW200 in 2004 with a guy who was an IAM observer. He was riding a BMW K1200LT full-on touring jobbie. We went out one morning for a blast along some lanes etc. I was on my old 'Blade with a couple of mates on similar bikes. When we stopped for lunch he got off the beemer and, without looking like he'd even been trying, proclaimed "I enjoyed that, never got out of 2nd."
I was dripping into my boots! My mate had ripped one of his knee sliders off when hitting a cats eye on a lovely right hander. This guy was sparking his foot boards, all the while blasting out The Beatles from his onboard CD system!
Never underestimate these IAM guys!

weegaz22 · 05-09-2009, 10:02 AM

not a member but rode with a few examiners/instructors, picked up a lot of info biggest thing it taught me was to be smooth and you will go far far faster without the effort

Twincam · 05-09-2009, 4:07 PM

For people who don't know the IAM is the Institute of Advanced Motorists - an organistation set up over here in the UK (Institute of Advanced Motorists | Welcome to the IAM!)

When I did Bike Safe, the "teachers" (Metropolitan Police) sort of speak were also observers in the IAM.

I would have thought that they being both Police Officers and members of the IAM that they would be really strict, but they changed my opinions a great deal. They told me that us as motorcyclists need to keep up with the flow of traffic, and if that means doing 75-80 (max) then so be it.

I'll be hopefully doing their course next year when the son jumps on the GPZ.

I would recomend it to anyone (it also helps reduce your insurance too)

Destructo · 05-12-2009, 9:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twincam

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I would recomend it to anyone (it also helps reduce your insurance too)

It does..... but it also costs you £17.50/yr to maintain your membership - not sure how much discount insurers offer but for me I doubt it'll even cover this!

But as I don't intend to do the training for cheaper insurance, it doesn't bother me.

BTW the cost of the 'course' has just gone up from £109 to £139

Twincam · 05-12-2009, 6:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Destructo

It does..... but it also costs you £17.50/yr to maintain your membership - not sure how much discount insurers offer but for me I doubt it'll even cover this!

But as I don't intend to do the training for cheaper insurance, it doesn't bother me.

BTW the cost of the 'course' has just gone up from £109 to £139

Hmmm, from what I heard I thought you got your certificate (same as Bike Safe) and you were free to go.

I'm surprised the price of the courses have gone up, with the way the economic climate is I would have thought it would have gone down

Oh well, time to save up some pocket money

Destructo · 05-13-2009, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twincam

Hmmm, from what I heard I thought you got your certificate (same as Bike Safe) and you were free to go.

I'm surprised the price of the courses have gone up, with the way the economic climate is I would have thought it would have gone down

Oh well, time to save up some pocket money

I'm not really sure how the insurance discount is applied - I guess it depends on each individual insurer, and whether each one applies the discount for passing the IAM test or being an IAM member

And I was shocked when I saw the price hike - nearly 30%! Still, no-one is making us join I suppose......

Destructo · 08-30-2009, 5:37 PM

Time for an update on this....

I decided to stump up the £139 back in June and joined the IAM, purchasing the 'Skills for Life' package. I've been riding for about 5 years, and I know I have a lot of room for improvement so thought this training might help.

The IAM is kind of an umbrella for all of the regional affiliated IAM groups so once you have paid your money it seems that's the last you have to do with the actual IAM. I'm now an 'associate' member of my local group. All of the groups are registered charities, with the local groups run by volunteers.

What is supposed to happen is that your local group assigns you to an Observer and you agree times and dates to go out on observed rides. After 2 months, I had heard nothing so I contacted the Chief Observer, who immediately got on the case and actually took me on as one of his Associates.

During these 2 months I have been out on a couple of 'all abilities' rides which as you can imagine are not too demanding and involve sticking rigidly to speed limits and riding around a variety of roads. Not exactly my cup of tea.

To be honest, until today I was thinking it had been a waste of time and I was going to try and get my money back. I was really fed up with the waiting and from what I had seen on the rides I had been on, it all looked like a waste of time and money. But today was my first observed ride.

It started by meeting my Observer at a service station, and having a chat over coffee, background info etc, before going out.

Again we had to stick to the speed limits, which is harder than you'd think when you are used to riding at an 'appropriate' speed! This time my Observer was following, which makes things feel very different to normal. Every so often would pull over and we'd chat about the last section of the ride.

Amazingly, he picked up on exactly the areas where I wanted to improve i.e. cornering and positioning. Apparently I do not prepare for corners early enough. Now I'm not a great rider by any means, but I thought I could ride along quite comfortably at the speed limit so was expecting nothing much back. For the observer to hit the nail on the head first time out I thought was very impressive.

My Observer will now type out a form and email it to me with things to work on, as we discussed over another coffee at the end of the ride. I have to work on 2 areas over at least 250 miles before booking another session.

So at the moment, I'm starting to think that the training may well be worthwhile after all. It's definitely worthwhile for new riders, I was just a bit suspicious of it's value for intermediate ones like me.

It's worth bearing in mind that, as well as the £139, you are expected to offer the Observer £10 to cover fuel for each ride-out (remember, they are volunteers). My observer was happy for me to get the coffees in and leave it at that. But for those that take the cash, for an average of 6-8 rides that's another £60-£80 on top of the package fees to pay out.

incognuity · 09-05-2009, 6:48 PM

I've been an IAM member for 3 years and an Observer for 2 years.

The training greatly improved my riding ability and Observing gives me the opportunity to give something back to my local club and riders looking to improve their own riding.

In my opinion it is well worth the £139 price.

It's quite funny when I turn up to meet an Associate for an Observed Ride as most of them expect their Observer to be an old man on a BMW... not a 31 year old on a Blade!