i2i Motorcycle Academy experience

I'd heard a fair bit on the 'net about the experience offered by the i2imca and their Machine Handling courses, so biting the bullet I booked myself on the first of these - the MC1 course down at Rufforth at York.

The day (today) turned out to be glorious weather, not the ideal weather for demonstrating that grip doesn't disappear in the wet & wind.  But we made the most of it!


The website advertises the MC1 course content as:

Section 1.1: Bike Stability Exercises
In this section you will learn why bikes are inherently stable and understand the stories around what does and doesn’t make a bike unstable. This section contains a series of very unusual exercises to help you learn how to maximise the stability of your bike.
Section 1.2:  Advanced Braking
In this section you will understand the stories around braking; including why panic braking occurs, how to avoid it, and how to quickly and confidently bring your bike to a halt.
Section 1.3:  Counter-steering
In this section you will understand the stories around changing direction and how to use counter-steering to improve the speed, accuracy and confidence of your cornering
Section 1.4:  Hazard Avoidance
In the next two sections you will learn about the stories, behaviours and instincts you have created around dealing with unexpected hazards. Building on the earlier braking and counter-steering sections, you will learn how to control the bike quickly and confidently to avoid a hazard. 
Section 1.5:  Hazard Non-Avoidance
In this section you will learn what to do and what not to do (and why) when you come across a hazard that you cannot avoid. To help you develop the correct instincts and ability to deal with this type of situation, you will get to practice hazard non-avoidance under controlled circumstances.
Section 1.6:  Slow Speed Machine Control
In this section you will understand the stories you have created about slow speed control and learn advanced techniques for controlling your machine at slow speeds.

Tom Killeen, our Instructor for the day, made the day a really enjoyable experience using interesting & quirkly examples to illustrate his points - rolling tyres around to demonstrate the stability of a wheel/tyre, leaning his weight on the tyre to show grip levels and his "escapades" of the R1 to demonstrate the inherent stability of the bike were eye opening!


During the day, quiet technical issues such as Gyroscopic Precession and it's effect on counter-steering & The Cone Effect and it's effect on the turning of a bike, are explained in a very non technical manner which gets the point across in an understandable and memorable way.


The majority of riders at the MC1 course were in the early stages of their biking careers, the ideal time to learn how the bike really reacts to the rider's interfering inputs (the bike will remain stable and upright, NO MATTER what happens, unless the rider does something to prevent it!).


Despite me being not in the early stages of my biking career I still found Tom's teaching points entertaining and educational.  

When attendees had concerns with their bikes, Tom would hop on their machine to demonstrate how to handle the bike and how no issue can truely interfere with the bike's natural stability (as long as the wheels are turning).  His slow riding demonstration was done using my BMW GS1150 Adventure - on which he could not touch the ground, with me riding pillion!  The point being - once the bike is moving, thinking of his teaching points, anyone can handle any bike in the same way.


For anyone who has an interest in understanding why the bike does what it does, and also learning something new (no matter how long you've been riding) then I can highly recommend the i2imca courses.