MOTORCYCLES/Parents: 'Hey Ma! I'm getting a motorbike!" There are many families where the above statement will strike terror into a loving parent's heart, and there will be pleas, tears and entreaties not to do so reckless a thing, even followed by offers of a nice little car. John Brophy reports
It can be understandable, especially if there is a family member working in a hospital, where you see all the downside of motorbikes, but there are all the advantages too, and they don't get much press.
No danger can be totally eliminated, but risks can be minimised and managed through training. That's the message from Ray Murray who is a senior instructor for the Star Rider programme run by Fingal County Council though participants can come from anywhere.
As he explains it, back in the early 90s the various motorcycle clubs were concerned at the high level of accidents, and they organised a joint fund-raising drive. They then approached Seamus Kelly, road safety officer with Dublin County Council, and now with Fingal, with the idea of a training course. He welcomed the idea, and that's how the Irish Rider Training Association was born.
Originally the instructors were from Britain and Northern Ireland, and they managed to have 14 instructors available. But in 1999 they got three instructors trained to Advanced Standard and qualified to teach other instructors.
The Irish Rider Training Association www.irishridertraining.com is a company limited by guarantee and set up under the auspices of the Motorcycle Action Group. At its launch just before Christmas 1999, Minister Bobby Molloy promised meetings between local authorities and the IRTA.
It offers one to one instruction at four different levels, ranging from beginner, through to driving test standard, then to ability to drive safely in virtually all conditions, and then up to the advanced level of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.
Each level would take up to six hours, depending on previous experience and the amount of practice an individual rider is getting. As a general guide, the cost of instruction is between Euro 20 and Euro 25 per hour. The IRTA do not provide their own bikes; the cost of doing this, coupled with insurance would make the cost unviable, they say. Exam fees are Euro 10 per grade.
Ideally, he says, anyone buying a new machine should have a couple of hours off-road to learn its characteristics and handling, and he would like to see all dealerships being able to offer this.
OF his own trainees, about half take tuition because anxious parent has insisted on it; the other half because they have responded either to traffic or mid-life crisis by buying a bike twice as big and shiny as they had ever dreamed of. Within this category, there are the wise ones, who seek help and advice before buying, and the not-so-wise ones who find out the hard way that they do need help. According to the IRTA, riding a motorbike requires five times the concentration needed to drive a car The minimum age for bikes up to 125 cc is 16, but those aged over 18 can ride any size machine. Since December 1999, everyone riding a bike for the first two years, even after passing the test, is permitted to ride a machine of not more than 33bhp. And since April 2001 everyone applying for a bike licence must sit a theory test, even if they already hold a car licence.
Since the regulations have come in, says Ray, the accidents have been concentrated in the smaller section, and there is a higher than average incidence of "single-vehicle accidents" with riders hitting ditches, walls and trees due to lack of skill.
Ray pays great tribute to his colleague in the IRTA, John Wheeler, for his dedication to motorbike safety. John has been riding bikes for 48 years, and is founder of the long-distance bikers' group, the IBAI Iron Butt Association of Ireland.
Lastly, for those who want to push themselves and their bikes to the limits, Ray is involved in a scheme to give them access to racetracks, where they can be properly trained and assured of a proper surface, with no potholes or oil spills. Bike2Track info_at_bike2track.com is a scheme to make tracks available, and Ray has venues both in Anglesey and South Wales, as well as sessions in Mondello on July 12-14 and September 6-8 A couple of years back, he decided to have one machine for the road, and another fully tuned for racing. That's an expensive business, but his mate, Paddy Gallagher from the Thunder Rock Café in Temple Bar obliged. As a result, he's quite content to keep well within limits on the road the key to safe and happy biking.