Have you recently passed your test? Have you thought about any further training? Perhaps you’ve been riding for many years, without any formal training? Whilst the motorcycle test gives you the basic skills to ride safely on the roads, the Enhanced Riders Scheme (ERS) can give you the necessary skills to become an advanced rider. ERS has recently been re-launched and offers riders, both new and old the opportunity to enhance their skills under the tuition of qualified instructors.

Your instructor will find out your riding history and experience before offering an assessment ride, where they’ll look at every aspect of your riding, from cornering, slow control, overtaking and your planning and awareness. Once complete, the instructor will be able to work on areas of your riding that needs improvement.

For many of my students, cornering; bend assessment and overtaking are the areas they struggle with the most. What a difference it would make to know the severity of the bend before you’re in it? How nice would it feel to be able to overtake with a plan of knowing where exactly you’ll be able to execute the overtake and when to get back into position. These are skills that we can work on and in turn make your training package bespoke for your needs. Whilst it may be that your current riding skills mean that only one day is needed to gain your ERS qualification, it may take some riders up to 3 days, but in my opinion, you can never learn enough. Quite often a “top up” of skills is always useful, especially after a break from the bike.

Training after a break can seem daunting and the thought of another person having an opinion on your riding can be off putting, but the beauty of ERS is that it delivered by fully qualified advanced instructors who are trained to deliver advanced riding skills in a professional environment, that’s both enjoyable and fun. Whilst other training packages might offer a cheaper way of learning, it can sometime be a lengthier way of setting the skills, with a more generic training programme.

The great thing about ERS training is that we work on the same skills that all advance riders use to improve their riding, but there is no formal test! Let’s face it, riding under test conditions can be uncomfortable and sometime can even affect your riding. So instead, enjoy learning new skills, understand and implement advanced riding techniques and gain a qualification at the same time, what’s not to love?

Students are often surprised about the amount they can learn in a day doing ERS, usually so much that it requires time to absorb and practice before they come back in for their next session. This allows students to become more progressive in their training programme, giving them the time to practice and improve before being given the next installment of their training package.

Once you have completed your ERS qualification, this can put you in a more accomplished position to move into an advanced test. Both IAM and RoPSA have organised ride outs and

assessment rides with a view to putting you forward for a test. After an ERS qualification is complete, you will be in a far better position to put in for your test because of the skills acquired from your fully qualified instructor.

ERS offers core modules but also extra modules that can be a further addition to your qualification, some of these include, riding abroad (so obviously this includes a continental tour), group riding, blood biking and carrying a pillion passenger.

About the author:

Laura Smith is a fully qualified, certified CBT, DAS, ERS and advanced instructor, who organises and runs training tours on the continent. She works for midland based training school RMT Motorcycle Training and also owns Women Only Motorcycle Training, a training programme, specifically for women to gain confidence and full control of their riding in the comfort of a female instructor.