A nice run today, but I would say that because the Observer I was out with said I did some things right. My regular observer Bob was out doing a mock test, so I was out with Jim this week. Jim keeps his bikes (4 of them) really shiny, so much that we reckon he brings them in a van to keep them clean before appearing at the car park we meet up in.

We started today with a bit of a demonstration from Bob. Bob is a Senior Observer, and therefore conducts his share of mock tests. He had picked up on a couple of points. One was mirror checks, instead of checking the mirrors left then right, some had been doing the opposite. Left then right lends itself to a number of situations, mostly based on start/stop drill and that we drive on the left. The other was to do with feet! This is an example where it can seem a bit over the top to bother about what your feet and hands do, but it can look really messy and clumsy if you get it tangled up. Basically Bob had seen a few “Hendon Shuffles” which are an Over the Top method of handling stops. The procedure is to stop on the rear brake, in first gear, and put the left foot down. If it is a longer stop (can’t remember the number of seconds) then front brake on, right foot down, left foot up and into neutral and release clutch and the bike is held like that until ready to move away. This saves the clutch mechanism, and means the bike drive is disengaged if you get shunted from behind.

After that it was a run with Jim to Penecuik and Peebles, with drills for overtakes and observations. Jim went in front, gave the wave, then I was to make safe overtakes. And then in front Jim was pointing out early observations. A really nice chap and good teaching methods, and I’m still happy that I’ve got stuff to take away to work on with tips for practice.

Just waiting for the IAM to get back to me with my test date!