Gearing Up - Fanshawe College M1 exit (M2) Course | GTAMotorcycle.com

Gearing Up - Fanshawe College M1 exit (M2) Course

VT1100

Well-known member
Hey guys!

So I just completed the M1 exit course at Fanshawe College in London, had a great time!

My instructors were:

Rainer - Awesome, knowledgable and very patient. He explained everything really well and was more than happy to provide that little bit of extra help if you needed it. He also did the motorcycle pre-session.
Tony - Really nice guy! Know a ton about biking and never fails to add in the little things to remember while explaining moves or procedures. Although he did smack me across the head once (I'm sure it was an accident :p)
Devin - My favourite out of the three (although maybe not for bike reasons :p) he was a great guy to have on the course. He made me feel the most comfortable during the tests and manoeuvres and could talk about anything. Just my luck I'd find another Jazz guy while doing a motorcycle course!

We did the info/pre session on thursday night where we found out that there is only 11 people (out of a possible 30) signed up for the course - lucky us! So Rainer asked if we wanted to end a little early or power through and skip the mid session classroom portion. We opted for the latter and went from 6-9:30pm and were ready to go for Saturday!

Saturday morning 8am we were in the garage and ready to go. It was -2 degrees out, cloudy and slightly snowing.

We were shown how to do a pre-check on every kind of bike (that they had there) and then had a quick talk about what we had to be wearing etc. Then we were wheeling bikes out and off to the parking lot!

We did a bunch of manoeuvres with a human motor (read; pushing the bike :p) then we were rift on the bikes learning how to ride the clutch friction point and we then we were moving across the lot within the first hour. We started small and then built our way up.

The first parts of the course could be pretty boring if you've been riding before - the real learning comes afterwards. But first - lunch.

We then started with very tight right and left turns, even some of the guys with riding experience had trouble with these. We then went into slow slaloms, circles and figure eights all while trying to keep that friction point.

"Eyes up" "Look at me" "Look here, look here, look here" "don't look at the cones!" are heard all over the lot.

Around 3:40pm we finished up and went home - cold, tired but excited for the next day. We were also given a sheet showing what will be on the test the next day.

Sunday morning was glorious - sunny, 0 degrees and the time went back an hour so extra hour of sleep!

We got the bikes out, gassed them up (yes they show you how to gas up a bike, awesome) and we were on our way back to the lot. We started with going quickly across the lot then into some some long curves, fast slaloms and tons of fun stuff. We learned emergency stops, stopping in a curve, accelerating in a curve stopping for obstacles, emergency swerves and some sharp turns. Tons of fun!

The instructors were great, guiding you every step of the way, giving you as much knowledge as they had in their arsenal. After everyone was feeling good we stopped for lunch.

Then she got back and we were told about the test, how it works and what it takes to pass. They had us fill out a short questionnaire and we were back on the lot. We were asked what we wanted to practice some more and then off we went. We practiced some sharp turns as well as 90 degree right and left turns and the we lined up for the test. Devin guided me through the test object by object. They did that for every person and then we were back in the garage to get our results. Pass after Pass! we all did very well.

I personally got 6 points taken off for being too slow in the first two exercises. But otherwise no problems :D

Overall:

Great experience - now that I have done it I cannot imagine trying to go for my m2 without having it done. They teach you so much about how to do the moves, but also how to them safely. I will never forget to do a shoulder check, thats for sure!

A huge thanks to Rainer, Tony and Devin, you guys were great!

If anyone has any questions feel free to ask and/or pm me, I'll answer to the best of my ability!
 
Glad you had a great experience with the course. Every new rider who has never been on a bike before should take a course like this.
 

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