Rev up on the bike

Sarthak Shankar
Pass the Bike Test: And be a Great Rider too! Sean Hayes & Rupert Paul, UIT Cambridge,  Pp 442 (HB), $ 35
MOTOR biking has for generations been the dream of young rebels, for a reason. They go well with the iconoclasts’ image. At the same time bikes have been the bane of many parents’ existence, for a reason. They are quiet unsafe. Sean Hayes and Rupert Paul try to buck that particular trend with Pass the Bike Test: And be a Great Rider Too!
For whatever reason people have got it into their heads that riding isn’t fun until its dangerous. A fallout of which is that year after year amateur riders die in accidents they could have, should have and would have avoided, had they been given the right training. In fact the Direct Access doesn’t even have standardised syllabus “even though it’s the most common way for people to get a full license”. Hence, often the motorcycle test lets many unprepared riders pass. As if the situation needed worsening, all of UK is dotted with schools whose training is incomplete and dangerous and their teaching method is inappropriate. In the words of adventurer Charley Boorman, “If you’re starting out, chances are you’ll learn to ride on the road, from scratch, in a relatively short period of time. And that means a really good riding school – one that’ll teach you to control a motorcycle properly, and not just pass the test. This is the first book that shows you how to do that.” In a fun and truly informative way this book introduces and even inspires the reader to take the plunge.
Sean Hayes learnt to ride in 1991 and was spurred into action when a fellow student lost a limb in a horrible accident. The instructor’s off-the-cuff response drove him to try to make better riders everywhere. In 1997, he started Circuit Based Training, which has taught thousands to ride responsibly. Rupert Paul started riding in 1978 and has considerable experience with not just riding, but as a mechanic as well. In 1983 he joined Performance Bikes as a road tester. He has also written many articles on bike control, rider psychology and technique for MCN, Bike, PN and Classic Bike.
(UIT Cambridge Ltd, PO Box 145, Cambridge CB4 1GQ England, htt:// www.uit.co.uk/site/ContactUs)