Poor Motorcycle Instructor Training (2 people’s experience)

Nobody sets out to undergo Poor Motorcycle Instructor Training

I am saddened by the reports that I hear about how people who want to become instructors are brought into the industry to train new riders. Poor motorcycle instructor training is far more common than you think. In fact it is a countrywide problem as existing trainers are not equipped to properly train new motorcycle trainers in the majority of cases.

I’ve heard horrendous stories time and time again, about the poor motorcycle instructor training and the poor introduction into varies motorcycle training schools, for so many people who want to be instructors.

Is it because the motorcycle training schools are so desperate to get learners through the door, they cut corners and do not prepare new instructors properly and the need to earn more money clouds their judgement and training process to adequately teach someone to become a motorcycle instructor!

I have my doubts about the role of a Down-Trained Motorcycle Instructor (this is someone who becomes a motorcycle trainer for the training school that taught them to teach).

To go one step further, I really question if the Approved Training Body (ATB – motorcycle training school) has the right morals, skills and processes in place to train their own trainers. Poor motorcycle instructor training starts very early with a quick training program that is rushed.

Just because you own an ATB, because you have your DAS Training Certificate or because you’ve been doing it for a long time, does not mean you are good enough and can train a new motorcycle instructor to do this extrememly important and serious role (that is putting new and inexperienced riders on the road). This is one of the reasons why motorcycle instructor training is so poor.

Disgraceful antics

I am absolutely horrified by the stories I have heard over the years. Recently, and I am talking about within the last month or so. I have spoken to two people who have approached motorcycle training schools with the intention of becoming motorcycle instructors. The poor motorcycle instructor training that takes place is by big and small organisations that think they are doing good job – wrong! They are cutting corners to increase profits and not to produce high standard trainers.

Person 1 has received Poor motorcycle Instructor Training in London

They have been with a large ATB less than 1 month in total. During this period they have followed and watched about twelve CBT Courses being conducted. During the CBT Course, they were thrown in at the deep end and told to deliver a lesson as they have seen it a few times!

They were given the opportunity to deliver a lesson off the cuff, which meant it wasn’t prepared or planned and they were thrown in at the deep end to deliver a lesson to paying customers. To top it all, there were two fully qualified instructors and six learner riders. The new want-to-be unqualified enthusiastic person who wanted to be a motorcycle trainer was left to teach all six learners. 

This is wrong, very, very wrong. But the guy didn’t know any better and tried his best to teach six learner riders how to ride (even though he didn’t have the right skills). The other instructors stood back to watch and assess but instead spent time on their mobile phones rather than being fully engaged in the unqualified trainer’s delivery to new and inexperienced riders.

My question is, what would your thoughts or comments be if you paid for a so-called professional course and the guy with no skills, knowledge or qualification was presenting the motorcycle training to you? What if you went to see the consultant and the auxiliary nurse ended up doing your operation, would you be happy with that? No, I bet you wouldn’t!

Person 2 has received Poor motorcycle Instructor Training in Norfolk

So this example is even worse than the previous one, I spent 15 or 20 minutes talking to this guy. To say I am disgusted is an understatement, he has followed two CBT Courses and the radios didn’t work for him to hear what was being done or said on the road ride session during Element E. So he hasn’t really experienced a full CBT Course yet, this is poor motorcycle instructor training of the highest order (all trainers should be struck off).

But, now it really gets interesting. He is now being asked to deliver a full CBT (under guidance) after watching just two CBT Courses being conducted. Are you sitting there cringing or do you think that is acceptable behaviour for a professional organisation? Let me say, if you think this is okay, perhaps you should be hanging up your boots and departing the industry immediately. This should not be happening, but it is.

I am shocked and horrified that this is still going on, unchallenged and routinely done throughout the country. There are many more stories that I have heard over the years but these two are recent. I am sad that we are allowing learner riders to be subjected to such appalling behaviour, inadequate training and professional guidance.

The two riders above did not set out to undertake poor motorcycle instructor training, it was forced upon them because of below standard guidance, education and direction by qualified instructors.

Wrong on every level

This is very very dangerous for both learner riders and trainee motorcycle instructors. The learner riders are paying for professional training, they have paid in good faith that they will be taught by a good, professional and qualified instructor. 

But what do they get? They get an unqualified, unprepared and a weak substitute who has been ‘given a go’ at teaching a learner rider how to ride. The most vulnerable rider being taught by the most uneducated unqualified learner trainer!

The learner rider doesn’t know any better, they listen carefully to the rubbish they are being taught and are left to ride around with extremely limited education. They are not given enough knowledge and education, let alone having a structured lesson delivery that has been thought about, produced and practised by the learner motorcycle trainer. If you train badly there is only one outcome, a poor rider who has limited education, knowledge and skill. They will also be very weak, vulnerable and at risk.

The Learner Motorcycle Trainer thinks they are doing well because they have been left to teach inexperienced learner riders. The poor unqualified motorcycle trainer is not insured to teach, they are not qualified to teach and if the learner rider comes into difficulty and ends up having an accident, the court will not look favourably on a process that has been employed to give the unqualified motorcycle trainer ‘a go’ at teaching a difficult skill to novice riders.

Something needs to be done – and quickly!

If the motorcycle training industry continues to allow this to happen, we will continue to put learner riders’ lives at risk. The above examples are commonplace and I am sure are happening up and down the country.

This has been happening for many years and has become ‘the norm’ for many motorcycle training schools. They have been doing this under the radar as there has been no policing of how they train their trainers. The Driver and Vehicle Standards agency has made huge progress but there is still more to do to stamp out the way instructors are allowed into this role.

There is no professionalism to this kind of approach, as you can see from the two case studies above. But in my opinion poor motorcycle instructor training is happening for a number of reasons, here are a few that come to mind:

1. The ATB are not good enough to train their own staff properly
2. The ATB needs more instructors to service demand – corners get cut and people put into role too early
3. The consequences of poor motorcycle instructor training are not severe enough when giving a Down-Trained (in-house qualification) ticket to a new instructor
4. There is no recognised route to becoming a trainer
5. The pay is not high enough to encourage professional educators into the industry
6. It is run by hobbyists and not professional businessmen/women
7. The DVSA are too stretched to be able to deal with the issues
8. ATB’s working practices go undetected for the majority of time
9. Nobody reports the poor or inadequate goings on

The Solution to Poor Motorcycle Instructor Training

Basically things will not change until the industry has had a shake up. This can only be done if there is a stronger structure in place that motorcycle training schools have to adhere to when training new instructors. This is one way to deter poor motorcycle instructor training from the outset.

Without a better route for new motorcycle instructors, the most vulnerable learner riders are being trained by the weakest and badly trained instructors. It isn’t until the DVSA Enforcement Officer turns up that the cat is let out of the bag and in some instances the training is stopped immediately and the instructor certificate is revoked on the spot. 

But the damage has already been done as the trainer is permitted to train unchecked for a number of weeks or months until they get an official assessment. How many young innocent riders have been let out onto the road with sub standard guidance and even worse have been given a certificate of competence and issued a CBT Certificate.

In my mind, there should be a rigid training process with a thorough instructor training log, with a minimum amount of training that must have been done to achieve a qualification. This is just the start to guarantee that poor motorcycle instructor training is not used from the outset for new trainers.

The new instructor should have prepared a lesson plan, it should be written down and presented to the person training them. This way they have a guide through each lesson and know exactly what they should do. This is proof that they are being educated properly and not thrown in at the deep end.

Also the new trainer should deliver ALL lessons to a qualified motorcycle instructor before they are evn allowed to deliver to novice riders. This will highlight shortfalls in training and gives the new trainer the experience to present lessons without the pressure of teaching new learner riders for their first lesson delivery.

All training should be logged and development points highlighted to the new trainer and they should not be teaching unless they have been signed off by a qualified instructor first before they are permitted to train live paying customers. Quite frankly novice riders deserve much better training and education than is but this is going on in the motorcycle industry right now and something really needs to be done.

Start off on the right path

To start off correctly I am more than happy to discuss your options and to help you meander your way through the process of becoming an instructor. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. There is no way you can become an instructor in a few weeks.

Call me if you would like some impartial advice Simon Hayes 07976 511353

For further training resources and information about giving detailed training, take a look at Motorcycle Riders Hub

Check the website shop page for more information (especially about CBT), this will help you to understand why poor motorcycle instructor training is prevalent. It’s because it is difficult and time consuming to train instructors properly.

Written by Simon Hayes