During our visit to the bike show at Excel London I came across the Bike safe London stand , and was approached by one of the “boys in blue” how many times has that happened in my riding life, anyway this guy came over as a friendly enough bloke, so I stayed and listened.

Now to add another dimension into the outcome, my son Martin “Dodger” past his test in  November last year and as a dutiful father I have tried to pass on as much road experience to him as I can, “baring in mind the time of year” we have tried to go out as much as possible, and I have even purchased a good quality bike to bike intercom to comment whilst riding, ok I hear you say, we all have learnt by our mistakes, as I did, BUT, this is my boy, my flesh and blood, I know what other road users are capable of , I’ve been pulled out on, gone too fast into a corner, run out of road, we’ve been there, and so will “dodger” its just different when its your lad, anyway, with the spring round the corner and TT approaching I decided to book up with bikesafe – London so Dodger can gain more experience from London’s “finest” so they say, now I can't let my lad travel down to London on his own so dad went in support “yeh right”. I don’t believe I paid to have a copper up my arse for the day.

We were then split into groups of one copper to two riders based on experience, so “Dodger” was put with another guy who had been riding about six months, me with another old timer of 30 years experience plus, our bikes were checked for roadworthiness, tyres, brakes, lights, etc, Nothing said about loud cans, small plates, we were left to be what we were……. BIKERS.

These coppers were there to purely pass on advise on riding, “coppers are human” f**k me, also they CAN ride “trust me” anyone who thinks different you will find out to your cost, I personally take my hat off to them. They do it on BMW’s “sorry flat twin owners” anyway back to the course we went on two assessment rides, one in London traffic and one in the twisty’s  “nice roads in Kent countryside” after the first ride we went to lunch at a local café “nice grub” included in the cost, and then had an informal chinwag regarding the ride then went into the countryside for second and assessment, once back at Bromley we had a talk and slide show and were given a gift pack and certificate of attendance, which some insurance companies offer a discount for, all in all a bloody good day and I defy anyone NOT to come away from this course without learning something, even us older experienced KNOW IT ALL riders, without a doubt the best £30.00 I have ever spent.

Dodger and I finished the day off with a trip to the ace café for an evening meal, we covered approx 280 mile “that’s a ride out” gained a lot of experience and had a bloody good day.

ZIPPY (Len Baker) DODGER (Martin Baker)

For more information go to http://www.bikesafe-london.co.uk/