Have you ever considered enhancing your riding skills? There are several organisations and course available to bikers, and we’re proud to work with them at Bike Stop; better riders mean safer riders after all!
IAM Roadsmart
Bike Stop has a long running partnership with IAM RoadSmart (previously the Institute of Advanced Motorists), for over 5 years now. The only way to become a member of this organisation is to pass their Advanced Rider course, which focusses on control, observation, timing, optimum road positioning, alongside your abilities to deal with unpredictable roads and other road users’ behaviour. Once you’ve passed this course and test you retain the qualification for life and Bike Stop offers our biggest exclusive discount to these riders – check the link out here to find out how to get it, as well as why a visit to Bike Stop is an ideal stop on your ride.
Bikesafe
Bikesafe is another organisation we’re proud to be working with to promote better riding and awareness. Bikesafe is a national UK police run initiative, and they run day-long workshops across the country that you can book onto. Following this workshop, on another day, you go on an observed ride with a Police Advanced Motorcyclist who will see how you cope with a variety of roads and conditions, and they’ll ride come rain or shine, so don’t be a fair-weather biker! For those based in Hertfordshire, the workshops are run at the Police HQ in Welwyn Garden City, while the observed rides begin and end at Bike Stop, in Stevenage. Ending your ride here allows you to have an informal chat with the observer over a cup of steaming Lavazza coffee (if you so wish) in an environment that encourages honest opinion sharing and conversation, all while hopefully having some lovely visiting motorcycles to gawp at outside.
Bikerdown
Bikerdown is another initiative; this time run by the Fire Service, but in partnership with the other emergency services as well as Bikesafe. While Bikesafe and IAM Roadsmart are focussed on how to avoid getting into an accident, Bikerdown covers how to react if the worst happens, as well as covering a little bit of accident prevention. The three-hour course covers how to protect a casualty, basic lifesaving skills such as CPR and airway management, alongside whether, and how, you should remove a helmet. It also covers the ‘Science of Being Seen’ and how to reduce the chances of the classic SMIDSY incident that every biker dreads. For the time being the courses are on hold what with everybody’s favourite pandemic, but Bike Stop has previously held a course in the shop and we’d love to do it again.
Bike Stop - A Destination, Not 'Just A Shop'
These courses and benefits are just a few of the things Bike Stop gets involved in and offers to be more than ‘just a shop’. Of course, we strive to offer the best customer service possible, with knowledgeable staff in store, and web chat online for making those important motorcycle gear decisions. As we’re coming out of lockdown we’re finally able to re-open our café, for the moment only at the weekends and for takeaway only, but with some of the glorious weather we’ve been having this has been a boon for us and our valued customers. We're also looking to restart our monthly rideouts when we can; these begin and end at the shop, with hot food on offer for those hungry riders.
If you’re a bit far from Stevenage, our online shop is alive and well, and taking orders for delivery (or click and collect if you want to make a trip). You can also check out our full range on our website with free delivery for any order over £50 on the UK mainland, and delivery possible to almost anywhere else. Not only that but our ‘No Quibble’ returns policy allows for returns within a 365-day period – see our returns page for more details.
