After 47 years of being a biker and riding all over the UK- Kent and Cornwall, Portsmouth and Perth, Chichester and Cheshire, I started having problems when cornering, or negotiating roundabouts- taking them in first gear & slipping the clutch a lot... not good.
I put this down to being on a Triumph Speedmaster twin, after years of riding Japanese 4’s, with the different geometry of a cruiser compared to a sports bike (albeit I fitted them all with high ‘Cruiser’ bars immediately I got them home), but still... not good, no excuse.
I had heard about Phoenix and seen them downtown a lot, so had a look at their website.
One ‘Customer Comment’ made an impact on me, something like “Tony said to me, ‘give me three hours, and I will...’ “.
Having been an Instructor myself for about 10 years in the old RAC / ACU scheme, then the BMF, and Star Rider briefly, I liked the confidence of that statement.
People- especially bikers- don’t say things like that if they can’t deliver; reputations are won & lost like that... Lesson booked.
In seconds Tony had told me what I was doing wrong, within 20 minutes I was ‘doing as I was told’, but freely admit I was still nervous that I was going to come off if I leant over any further. After half an hour more of patient, steady coaxing I was cornering like I always did on the CB750 Honda I had for 21 years from 1985, and the 1100 Kawasaki Zephyr for several more years after that.
Over the next few days a bit of practice on local roads, then the following week a ride out with Tony following me round some corners & roundabouts I’d had problems with, and was told ”not bad at all, big improvement, but how do you feel?” (Nice professional touch, that).
“Nicely confident”, I said.
“Good. Just remember- look ahead, not down. So what do you want to do now?”.
I was under no pressure to ‘enrol’ for another several hours- again very professional- but I know if I feel that further tuition would help, it would be there for me.
I can’t recommend Tony & his team highly enough- as above I gave him the “three hours”, he gave me back something I’d forgotten I had- a riding technique that I’d lost over the years... it was in there somewhere and he found it !
Richard L. Hallin, IAM, Instructor 1976-1985.
Thanks again, |
Would just like to say a huge thank you to Tony for his excellent, professional tuition during my 3hr back-to-biking lesson on Good Friday. Having not ridden a bike for some 25yrs I was quite nervous, but excited. Tony started with the basics followed by some pointers (and a cup of coffee) before we set-out on the road. A very rewarding experience, Tony’s approach was first-class which put me at ease and allowed me to retrieve some of my old skills. At the end of the 
Hi,
