How to Pass an Advanced Bike Test - The System of Motorcycle Control

[@markbroadbent6923]

I've just started the IAM journey and really benefitting from your videos to support the practical application. Keep up the great work!

[@richarddepledge960]

HI, I found you via watching user name Kate. So im watching a bit of both. This was excellent revise and remind for me picture paints a thousand words. Better than reading roadcraft. Which I did as a teenager at 19. It kept me alive for definate. Im going to continue watching both of you. Then do some more training. Get better qualified. I attempted advanced test a few years ago having just got home from driving around Baghdad! I failed on a tecnicality Rear brake cover and light was coming on and off because I have foot over and on pedalall the time. When I checked my mot certs I had only done 633 miles on my R1150RT in the previous 2 years. So I was disappointed but pleased as well as I had not had time to adjust myself from work. Or get out on my bike either. Never got round to follow up training and then do test again so its on my list of things to do. ill be watching more. Cheers.

[@darrenmilo9565]

Glad I’ve found this Reg. signed up on IAM yesterday and my first observed ride so this can constitute some homework for me. 😁

[@Ziadalabbady]

This is simply brilliant. I've start riding on CBT not that long ago and planning to take my DAS sometime soon. This channel is gold, specially being basied in Bolton, almost every thing looks familliar.

[@terryblack2219]

Thank you Reg for revisiting this subject. I passed my ROSPA with a Gold 18 months ago, and although I have been riding 44 years at that point it was your bike videos and book alongside 3 lessons with a ROSPA that got me through so thank you. I must admit I have always seen my self as a steady eddy sought of rider although one bad habit I had and it still creeps back sometimes you address here engine breaking using the gearbox. Starting out in the late 70’s engine braking was the order of the day even in the wet with great care, guess it was the drum brakes and bikes that weighed a ton. I still am learning to trust those one finger dual braking ABS witchcraft items on my BM’s Anyway a massive thank you and I shall be glued to your coming videos for my retest in 12 months.

[@DavidcCbrider]

I am just about to start taking advanced riding training . I have put myself forwards for the blood bikes over here in Ireland . This is going to be a great help . Thanks . I have been riding for 45 years and did my training back in the day with the Lanchsire Police . The course was called star rider traing . I acheived a gold standard and hope that i can do the same again . Thanks for your help. 👍👍👍

[@grahamlees3199]

I have watched many videos over the years and this by far is the best I have seen totally understandable and clear

[@seren-sp1ec]

Hi Reg, Found your IAM test video first on here. Usernamekate. Loved it. As you can see, I am now starting the detailed videos on the ABT. I am an IAM Associate with the North Wales group, currently doing my bike training for the advanced test. Your videos are brilliant and you really put a load of effort in to them. Commentary is clear, concise and packed with valuable info. I discovered in this video the reason *why* we do not use gears to reduce speed approaching a hazard, as I have for years in my car. Thank you brother! Lee Roberts-Baldwin

[@garysimpson-s4t]

I am starting an advanced rider course in June and your information and videos are a great help many thanks

[@TwoWheelsCraft]

Thank you Reg sir. Learnt lot from your channel and A&PD Book. Best thing about you is that your lesson clicks easily and it's sensible. Even though I am applying this systems in India it still works as you know, what it's like to drive or ride here. I wish your channel subscriber to grow in millions and billions, that will make road much safer. I think it's not that accident kills people but the lack of knowledge. Following you since 2018.

[@normanmart7933]

Hi thanks for these I passed my IAM a while ago but great to refresh . I was of that generation that had little training to pass their bike test and felt that I was winging it for a while to the point where it was more stressful than enjoyable. Such a relief to have a system to follow and be back in control. So thanks again for all your hard work and great material.

[@thesociablesclassicrock]

Hi Reg. Thanks for your valuable and well explained information of using this system. Peter 🇭🇲

[@thesmithsmaf]

Excellent as ever - my go-to playlist at the moment - preparing for my IAMS test...liked the common mistakes and the emphasis on position before speed..thanks John 🙂

[@RegLocal]

Best of luck!

[@GJS-live]

Superb stuff. Currently working towards IAM test, 2 rides in. Your videos are a great help. Cheers

[@preston2adelaide]

Funny, doesn’t matter how much you think you know the system it still helps hugely to hear you talking through it all again. Takes me back to driving along Hutton Hall Avenue 20 odd years ago… I challenge anyone to watch these videos and not learn something.

[@saleemfawcett9818]

Hi Reg, good video and useful for a reminder and a correction on how I was trained, where I was told that having to use the brakes showed a lack of planning. I think you may have missed a trick in that as there's a lot of talking for you to do. You could flag each phase of the system as you are carrying it out. I think that would make things even clearer. My humble opinion of course. Thanks again for the video..

[@mrrarerooster3578]

Hi Reg Local. Your point about the order of position then speed with the example of approaching parked cars in the carriageway was mirrored in the examiners comments in my recent RoSPA test. Seeing the video really made the point clear. Thanks for posting these videos and safe riding.

[@liamcotter2002]

Thank you for the videos. They are extremely helpful.

[@clivewood7731]

Many thanks really helpful - working towards RoSPA test

[@anthonyrobinson782]

I have been doing the IAM for the last 4 wks, after the last session this Saturday I decided to suspend my coarse as I don't feel that iam anywhere near advanced enough to pass any test. After watching your video it has given me doubts on whether to continue the coarse at a later date. Thank you

[@hagleydave]

I’m working towards my IAM test at the moment and your videos are a great help. Great video looking forward to the next. 👍

[@onaroad4505]

Excellent informative video so well explained.Ash

[@TwoFourCharlie007]

Hey Reg, great videos but could you explain brake gear overlap in detail please?

[@geraldfitzgibbon7428]

Great stuf reg.nice, clear .lookin fwd to each segment of this.

[@ConciergeMed]

Absolutely Brilliant! So super clear and I’m going to follow everything in this series precisely. Thanks you! 💫

[@andyhewitt7588]

Very useful and informative, thanks👍

[@douglasreid699]

my dad was an advanced driving instructor, i been lucky to learn a lot over the years about advanced driving but i know i still got more to learn and hope to in future take advanced lessons. you mentioned about signals to take information in and give information out. is vehicle body language considered in infromation? if i behind a car in a national speed limit and i would like to overtake them, i position myself to the right of the lane to look past as i look for a safe place to overtake, but if i feel there is not a safe place to overtake and not for a while yet, i use the vehicles body language to move back to the center of the lane to let the car in front know i dont intend to attempt to pass them. same for roundabouts, watching for a car going round the outside of a roundabout, its body language says its going to take the exit i am entering from, but i wait until it commits before i enter in case they decide its the wrong exit for them and put their indicator on to travel round to the next exit. (the roundabout at Kincardine and the Clackmannanshire bridges is bad for vehicles being in the wrong lane and continuing round and a vehicle pulls out thinking they have exited and its a near miss or a collision.)

[@davidmccutcheon1181]

Again great commentary and very useful angle with your clips I know life savers and was watching your head on the roundabouts but often asked. Can you put it into your words. That’s is so, people are not just ticking a box, using it when they should

[@paramedstudy]

That was so informative thank you :) I have a youtube channel for my own riding as I am still a learner @thevalkyriebiker and I am trying to use SYSTEM for my bike riding as I do with my ambulance driving. I do find bike riding really challenging as a learner, but I am getting there I think. When I pass my DAS I want to be able to take an advanced bike course as it will be so functionally beneficial to me, like the blue light driving course in a car, as it helps with awareness so much more.

[@chrisowens3781]

Fantastic thank you. So should you always block change gears and not go through them when slowing down

[@sidwills]

Reg may have better advice, but from my point of view the only time I'll change sequentially is if I anticipate that the situation might change in my favour during or close after the speed phase. For example, if I'm on approach to a roundabout and there are a couple of cars waiting to go. I could plan to lose all my speed just behind the last car and block shift down to 1st. But it might be smoother to lose some speed a little bit earlier, take it down one or two gears, and then see what happens (continuous information phase). If those cars start to move, and if I have a view onto the roundabout, etc, etc, then I might be able to just follow on, no need for any more braking or any more down shifts. If they're not moving, then the speed needs to keep coming off and I might want another gear or two lower. An opposite example would be a light that changes to red as I'm approaching. It's not likely to get back to green before I get there, so all the speed can come off in one go and there's no point going through the gears.

[@RegLocal]

I’ll cover the gear phase in a future video.

[@douglasreid699]

@@sidwills good advice, but one thing i am noticing in Dundee and Stirling, some traffic lights are changing to red as they on a timer but as no other traffic they change back to green quickly. i actually think its a sort of traffic calming messure but it can leave a vehicle to have slowed to a stop intending to wait but then surprises them to be allowed to carry on. local knowledge lets me adjust for them but i have also seen bad drivers harrass drivers (by honking the horn or flashin the lights) that come to a full stop with such a quick change to the timing of the lights going to red then 2 seconds later going back to green as they go through the process of getting back up to speed.

[@thesmithsteron2wheels362]

Enjoying the series so far, Im thinking when to change gear always becomes unclear or shall we say for discussion , sometimes i match the speed and change down gears as i slow down gradually and sometimes i slow down using brakes and then block down gears but yes i get using gears to slow down without slowing down or braking is widely used , but how about with rev matching, any thoughts on this please

[@RegLocal]

I’ll cover the gear phase in detail in a future video.

[@dasp125]

I have always been taught to keep my toes close to the gear shift and brake pedal. I noticed that you tend to ride on your balls of your feet and move your feet forward when operating the controls. Is there any benefit to riding on the balls of your feet on the road? Cheers, Mike.

[@mikeroberts]

Great video Reg. The part of the system I find new associates often struggle with is the order of the Speed and Gear phases. This is probably as they've ridden so much slowing on the gears that doing it a different way is so alien to them. I produced something similar to you RAB segment with some bends in my 'IPSGA - Speed Gear Acceleration' video. This part of the system does generate a lot of discussion and some never really 'get it'. A question for you. I notice in the video you were using the Cruise Control (probably to keep the keyboard warriors at bay 😉). What are your thoughts on using this on test either on NSL roads or, if your bike allows it, in long wide open 30s? I use mine a lot more than I ever thought I would. Looking forward to the next one.

[@RegLocal]

No issues with candidates using cruise wherever they feel appropriate Mike. It makes your speed one less thing to worry about!

[@aidebethune]

When coming off the roundabout and you have passed the junction before and seen it's clear why do u need to do a left shoulder check. Surely a right would be more appropriate as a car may be trying to sneak off the same exit?

[@RegLocal]

The question is why would you not do a left shoulder check Aide? No-one is perfect & you could have missed something entering the roundabout at speed.

[@aidebethune]

@@RegLocal I agree. In that case I would do both. As the risk is possibly greater from the right I would favour this tho personally.

[@stevemitchell5599]

Surprised to see you seem to have gone for black riding gear Reg. You mention how important it is to be visible on the bike, and a high vis outer layer really helps to get you noticed.

[@RegLocal]

I always like some flouro on my helmet Steve - the highest & most visible point.

[@deanjohnson7350]

Thanks for the vid Reg, I've got a Speed Triple 1200rr with quickshifter/autoblipper and find that downshifting with it gives a fair bit of braking on its own with it being a big lump of an engine and a relatively light bike, just a bit of front brake to slow right down is all that's needed so would you recommend I use the clutch as normal instead? I do enjoy using the autoblipper but of course safety and control have to come first though I haven't had any problems so far, cheers!

[@rmatt375]

Dean, I wish I could find someone in IAM to give me a rational answer to your question other than "Its not the system". I feel the same way about block changing, why is it not allowed to keep the gear matched to the bike speed as you slow? The system seems to dictate that you approach a roundabout slowing down with the brakes, leaving the bike in 6th gear until the final moment and then deciding whether to change down 3, 4 or 5 gears in one hit. My gearbox doesn't seem to like doing that smoothly and consistently. Can anyone tell me if there is a real safety issue with progressively changing gear rather than block changing?

[@iainbaker2742]

Gears are for going, brakes are for slowing.... block gear changing (when done correctly) is mechanically sympathetic and ensures the brakes and, therefore, brake lights are used. This is part of IPSGA, and TUG system ie giving information. The danger of changing down gears in sequence is that u reduce your speed without bringing this to the attention of other road users with the brake light. Additionally, it means there is less to do when braking, allowing u to concentrate and leaving the multitasking of braking and gearchanging to lower and therefore safer speeds. Hope this helps

[@deanjohnson7350]

@@iainbaker2742 Yes makes perfeect sense thankyou, I do feather the front brake to show my brake light to anyone behind if I'm slowing gradually with the engine braking and I really enjoy that autoblipper!

[@richardtinson8227]

Hi Reg, having just got back into motorcycling, after a break of 17 years and having had 6 IAM lessons back in 2002, I intend to get sorted next spring with doing the IAM course down here in Oxford. Please tell me I wear a tinted visor, how is this looked upon by IAM instructors, if at all

[@TwoFourCharlie007]

No issue at our group

[@richardtinson8227]

@@TwoFourCharlie007 much appreciated the reply

[@colingreen2320]

Great informative video but with regard to positioning, with no nearside hazards would you recommend always moving to position one for oncoming traffic and with regard to positioning on roundabouts - at 17:33 you moved to the nearside on the roundabout prior to exiting it but on the same roundabout and for the same exit at 20:03 you take a more offside position which seemed much safer to me than at 17:33 as traffic entering the roundabout won’t presume that you’re taking the earlier exit (even though you hadn’t signalled to do so) and there’s less chance of following traffic undertaking you and then cutting in front of you for the same exit so please could you provide some clarification?

[@francisyoung-bt9yc]

What BMW do you ride?

[@jonathantatler]

You're closer than two seconds on many occasions

[@PrinceAndrewFucksKids]

Don't worry, police officers are never in the wrong. They like to say police riders are some of the best, yet they're also some of the worst. Usually you'll find one or two big headed pricks on most track days lol 😂

[@jasonebison438]

What is the best iam or rospa

[@AlbaFife101]

I am biased but RoSPA is better as RoSPA requires a retest every three years to ensure you are maintaining your skills and I have ridden behind IAM & RoSPA advanced riders, you can tell the RoSPA riders as the system application is sharper.

[@MrB1967]

Thanks = big takeaway for me, brakes before gears.

[@-robster-robster-]

Start of video im like ipsga is too much info to proccess , at end of video im like yeah you instinctively do most of it anyway ....just get it in the right sequence

[@johnneaves5]

This is inaccurate and misleading. The system is NOT five phases. Roadcraft states at page 30 “The system of motorcycle control consists of processing information and four phases - position, speed, gear and acceleration”. This is not just semantics. Describing information as the first of five stages implies that you then move on to phase 2, then phase 3 and so on. That is a fundamental misunderstanding of the way the system works. Again, Roadcraft at page 31 “Processing information is central to the system - it runs through and feeds into all the phases”. It isn’t helpful to be giving people inaccurate information.

[@ronacollins4056]

He explains exactly that in the video

[@AshleyWilliamsWorkinprogress]

I agree - surely you don't do anything without basing it on the information to hand.

[@AshleyWilliamsWorkinprogress]

Thank you very much, Reg, for sharing your knowledge and experience in such a straightforward way. I am just back to biking after a 30 plus year gap and very mindful that equipment and conditions have changed dramatically in that time, but that the principals of safe riding still apply and are more important than ever. These videos, alongside some observation rides booked with my dealer and plenty of practice, are very motivating.

[@AshleyWilliamsWorkinprogress]

principles! Bloomin' autocorrect.