Training Scheme Anecdotes

When we were persuading the Hinckley and District MCC to start an RAC/ACU Training Scheme a maintenance lecturer was required. Twig Forest (of Apple Motorcycles) immediately volunteered his services. I asked him if he wasn't cutting his own throat as it was his business to fix motorcycles. "Listen Ben" he replied "As soon as one of these lads picks up a spanner, it's money in my pocket!"

I am hoping Richard Taylor will confirm this report. He followed one trainee along Oxford Street towards the Magazine and the trainee was then supposed to go east on Newark Street and return to the cattle market along Welford Road. But the trainee made a left turn at the Magazine and disappeared through the underpass - against the traffic. Richard did not follow.

At one time I used to advise that arm signal were useful because they are not left on by mistake or signalled in the wrong direction. Dave Smith soon corrected me from his experience and within weeks I witnessed it for myself when a trainee signalled then changed his mind. So much for a good theory.

In the days before Sunday trading, Sunday mornings were a quiet time to test trainees. But when they stalled their bike at traffic signals and missed the green before restarting, the examiner would have to U-turn and ride round over the cable loops to trigger another signal cycle.

Please tell us your favourite stories from the training scheme.