Two wheels good.

[Eddie Honda]

And no, I wasn't paid anywhere near £32,000 a year!

32k wouldn't go far down there.

[christine]

Too many hours for Paul..

[Warren t claim]

This leads me into a long overdue Confessions Of A Motorcycle Instructor update.

What was the money like and how did we recruit instructors?

To start with, I was down trained as a CBT instructor. This requires no formal exam and all it takes is you to be signed off by an approved instructor.

Initially expect to be paid fuck all as to begin with you'll just be doing compound work until you've proved yourself. When you've "made your bones" you'll be allowed to take the learners out unsupervised by the chief instructor. Initially, I was paid £35 per pupil but later this went down to £50 per CBT regardless of how many newbies I took out after the school changed hands.

Apparently, being down trained to do CBTs is a sought after gig as we often had people turning up on spec asking for a job. Almost all failed the attitude test within 60 seconds! If you've taken the chance to read through my posts on working for the bike school you will have realised that we were something of an informal company, first owned by a dodgy absentee bloke who lived in Spain before being bought by a psycho nightclub bouncer. Some hopeful wannabe instructors blew their chances before even getting off their bikes due to turning up on a Pan Euro covered in Wirral Advanced Motorcyclist stickers, dressed like a copper, sorry, we're not looking for a "Dynamo Darren" who thinks that he's Gods gift to two wheeled transport due to knowing both The Highway Code and Roadcraft backwards. As I'm sure I've mentioned previously, CBT compound work lasts as long as it takes until the instructor thinks he'll stand a better than 50% chance of providing a negative breath test if asked. The last thing we wanted was someone who'd make us look bad!

It may surprise you to learn that some people who turned up for a job who were fucking shit riders! One lad turned up on his KLE500 and couldn't manage a feet up U Turn consistently, he'd fuck that up maybe one in three times! Others could ride but were convinced that they knew best and refused to be told otherwise and questioned the DSA rulebook. Plenty could ride, knew the training script but just couldn't gel with pupils and just didn't have the patience to teach stuff like slow speed riding and clutch control.

You don't have to be an ace rider to be an instructor which is why all the wannabe bike cops failed to cut it. If I'm being totally honest, the police skill that makes a good bike instructor isn't being a Class 1 police motorcyclist, but being a Juvinile Liason Officer who's used to dealing with 16 and 17 year olds.

I'll whang an update about attending Cardington to get the DAS training certificate later if you want!

[Hooli]

Where my mate works they make you turn up unpaid for about a month to train before they sign you off & start paying you. Seems pretty typical around here too.

[Warren t claim]

Motorcycle Instructor Required.

Wages. Shit.

If you're the sort of person who can get up at 7am with the mother of all hangovers on a wet Sunday morning to meet a hyperactive boy with ADHD on his 16th birthday who fucking knows it all as he's been riding robbed scooters on his council estate for many years then you may be the person we're looking for. The ability to do an impersonation of Mary Fucking Poppins by being able to jump high enough while holding a golf umbrella to avoid the Honda Vision sliding on its side towards you is a distinct advantage. Candidates will be expected to run around a compound in 30 degree temperatures whilst wearing full bike gear without suffering a cardiac arrest. The successful applicant should be able to ride an ER5 with no front brake after it was broken off when a pupil dropped it on a U turn.

If you feel that you have the qualities needed then please apply ASAP. Don't forget to mark your application "This is nothing like the job I thought it'd be."

[Warren t claim]

This is an interesting read.

https://www.pro-scot.com/join-the-team/ ... instructor

Become a Motorcycle Instructor
To undertake training to become a motorcycle instructor, you must have held a full motorcycle licence for at least 3 years and have no more than 5 penalty points.

Would you like to join ProScot's team of elite motorcycle instructors? Would you like to run your own ProScot franchise or your own independent training school in another area? At ProScot, we offer full training to reach the different grades of motorcycle instructor - Down Trained, Cardington and Direct Access.

To undertake training to become a motorcycle instructor, you must have held a full motorcycle licence for at least 3 years and have no more than 5 penalty points.

Down Trained Instructor Course : Successful completion of this 5 day course will enable you to deliver Compulsory Basic Training (CBT). All training and assessment is carried out in-house by one of our highly-qualified instructors. There's no test - just continuous training and assessment until you reach the required standard to deliver the CBT course.

Cardington Instructor Course : This 3 day course builds on all the skills taught for the Down Trained Instructor Course, plus the skills required to deliver CBT training to a higher standard, and supervise CBT instructors who have undertaken the Down Trained Instructor Course. Having successfully completed the course you are required to attend a two day assessment at the Driving Standards Agency's headquarters in Cardington, Bedford. Instructors who are successful can deliver CBTs, supervise Down Trained Instructors and deliver our 125cc and training sessions.

Direct Access Instructor Course: This 3 day course is a natural progression from the Cardington Instructor Course. All training is provided by one of ProScot's Direct Access Instructors, on successful completion of this course you are required to attend a half day assessment at the Driving Standards Agency's headquarters in Cardington, Bedford. Instructors who are successful can deliver CBTs, supervise Down Trained Instructors and deliver both our 125cc and DAS training sessions.

What's next?
On successful completion of these courses you have the opportunity to join our team of elite motorcycle instructors on either a full time or part time basis.

We also consider applications from individuals with the right credentials who would like to run their own motorcycle training school with the full support of a ProScot Franchise.

For details on career opportunities with ProScot, prices and course availability, please contact our office on 0800 093 7897.

[Warren t claim]

In my day the Cardington course was two days for CBT and one day for DAS. and no, you couldn't take both courses at the same time.

[Warren t claim]

[youtube][/youtube]

This is HARDCORE PORNOGRAPHY to most wannabe bike instructors.

[Warren t claim]

So how did we weed out the wankers then?

I'd have a hopeful instructor shadow me doing road work before letting them stooge as instructor and I'd take them to this junction.

stop1.PNG (1.19 MiB) Viewed 2027 times

Now, this is a sneaky stop junction that was put there back in the 70s when there was a petrol station where the flats on the right are. Without exception, every CBT pupil doesn't notice this and treats it as a give way.

How the hopeful instructor handles this is crucial. It goes without saying that he'll ask the pupils to pull over to correct them but his words will make or break his chances. As I knew the pupils would fuck this junction up I always timed this part of the lesson to coincide with me needing a smoke break. If the wannabe instructor yanks the pupils' chain and says the dreaded phrase "do you know why I stopped you?" he's immediately failed the interview and assessment. Only a frustrated bike cop would say that. The correct thing to say is "I've just taken a break in our ride to point out to you that the last junction is a sneaky stop sign and not a give way so be sure that if it comes up on your test then make sure you put your left foot down."

[Warren t claim]

Out of curiosity, I'd love to hear about other Wobbers CBT and DAS experiences. Obviously old fuckers like me who took the Frank Spenser test which involved a run around the block while the examiner watched from the pavement don't have to reply, unless you managed to fail!