How to Become a Better Rider – A 5000 km Journey from Warwick to Norway

This Lord Rootes Memorial Fund project was undertaken by M. Saghir1 and O. Hutter2.

Email,1: M.Saghir@warwick.ac.uk 2: O.S.Hutter@wawick.ac.uk

Date of completion: 29th of June - 11th of July 2015

Date of submission: November 2015

Report Prepared for the Lord Rootes Memorial Fund Trustees

Table of Contents List of Figures 3

Synopsis 4

Introduction 5

The Route 8

Norway and the UK: A Comparison 20

Acknowledgements 29

References 29

Financial Breakdown 30

2

List of Figures Figure 1­ Road fatalities of the UK and Norway. Page 5

Figure 2­ The route taken by both participants over the 11 day trip. Page 8

Figure 3­ Both motorcycles loaded and ready to go on Day 1. Page 9

Figure 4­ A well earnt rest in the Netherlands. Page 10

Figure 5­ The bikes near Kristiansand. Page 11

Figure 6­ Both motorbikes after arriving in Oslo. Page 13

Figure 7­ Artwork on the streets of Oslo. Page 14

Figure 8­ The campsite near Letafors. Page 16

Figure 9­ Beautiful roadside Swedish scenery. Page 17

Figure 10­ Architecture in Gothenburg's old city. Page 18

Figure 11­ The view from the ferry home. Page 19

Figure 12­ Front cover of Norwegian advance motorcycle guide. Page 22

Figure 13­ Front cover of UK advance motorcycle guide. Page 23

Figure 14­ The physics of motorcycling ­ taken from ‘Full Control’. Page 25

Figure 15­ IPSGA in ROADCRAFT. Page 26

Figure 16­ ‘The steering circle in ‘Full Control’. Page 27

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Synopsis This project was a motorcycle tour across northern europe undertaken with two riders

and two motorcycles. The trip consisted of travelling through 6 countries, taking three

ferries and travelling a distance of over 5000 km.

The goal of the project was two fold. Firstly it aimed to make both participants better

riders. Secondly it aimed to investigate why some countries such as Norway have a

significantly lower death rate per capita than the UK. This was achieved by experiencing

a wide variety of road conditions in different countries across europe including Norway

and via discussions with road users in these countries.

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Introduction The ever increasing numbers of road users in the western world has led to the

development of various driving/riding rules and regulations in an attempt to reduce road

deaths. With a multitude of tests; both practical on the road and theory, there has been

an ever changing drive to update and teach the general public about best practises.

Unfortunately road deaths still do occur, which is not a startling fact. What is interesting

is the distribution of deaths per capita, per motor vehicles and per km of roads. With

data obtained from the World Health Organisation report from 2010 and 2013, the

following can be learned in comparison with the United Kingdom.

Country Road fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants

Road fatalities per 100,000 motor

vehicles

Road fatalities per 1 billion vehicle­km

Norway 2.9 4.4 3.3

UK 3.5 6.2 4.3

Figure 1­ Road fatalities of the UK and Norway. Norway is ahead on all three statistics compared to the UK, leading to the following

questions. Why is this the case? What differs between the practises of the UK

compared with Norway?

Our aim was to use the funding to investigate the road craft employed by the average

citizen in Norway. In particular we focused on the road craft pertaining to motorcyclists.

The reason behind this is that although motorcycle riders make up 1% of road traffic,

they account for 20% of the deaths and serious injuries on the roads. This coupled with

the fact that the number of motorcycles licensed per year is increasing year on year

places an emphasis on improving road safety.

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Like many other motorcyclists, we enjoy commuting daily to university on motorcycles

and have taken the required tests in the UK to be proficient at motorcycling. In addition,

M. Saghir has taken the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA)

Advanced Motorcycle Test which is the highest available qualification available to

civilians. This gives us a unique insight as both advanced riders and the general public.

M. Saghir has also a desire to become a ‘blood biker’. Blood bikers are an essential

support service provided to the NHS in transporting vital organs and supplies within and

across NHS services up and down the UK. Being a blood biker is a voluntary role

maintained by blood biking organisations which are charities. To become a blood biker

you must hold an advanced motorcycle qualification and be prepared to be on call for

duty at any time. This is something I feel passionate about and so by gaining as much

experience motorcycling and learning safe practises as I can, I hope to become a blood

biker. Oliver is also keen on developing his skills as a rider. He has been on a number

of advanced riding skill events organised by RoSPA and has been on assessed riding

days where a serving officer provides tuition on how to become a better rider. This trip

would advance his knowledge, skill and confidence when riding motorcycles. It would be

fascinating to discover how a different culture treat an interest that we are involved in so

heavily, whilst also being of value to the wider motorcycling community.

Being able to ride a motorcycle is a very dynamic skill, and the way you ride is very

much dependant on the vehicle you are using. For example, a supersport motorcycle

will require a different riding and handling position to an off­road vehicle. As is the case

with many road users, one can often become complacent or develop bad habits when

placed in the same situation every day such as commuting – where the traffic and road

conditions can be predictable day to day. One can combat this by placing themselves in

different scenarios and forcing the individual to think differently and tackle a situation

from a different approach. We also rarely get an opportunity to ride off­road in the UK

and would relish this opportunity should it arise.

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These are skills we both wish to develop to help us understand our riding capabilities

and to push these boundaries to become better and safer riders – which is ultimately

our goal.

This final report hopes to encompass an in­depth comparison between the riding

practises of the UK and Norway and provide helpful infographics. This report will also be

disseminated to RoSPA West Midland Advanced Motorcyclists community who meet at

West Midlands Police Station in Aston, Birmingham. This will benefit the wider

motorcycling community and the report will also be made available through online

media to benefit the community of riders at Warwick University.

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The Route This 13 day trip crossed 6 countries, and ~5000 km, as illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 2­ The route taken by both participants over the 11 day trip. The GPS tracker we

were using was one approved by UK Search and Rescue had we got into any trouble. It

was however temperamental which would sometimes cause unnecessary worry for

those tracking us in the UK. The trip beginning in Holland and ending in Germany

according to the data above being one example.

Day 1: Rugby to Hook of Holland­ On Monday the 29th of June, we both met in Rugby

and left with our bikes packed and our tanks full of fuel. Figure 3 shows both bikes

loaded up and ready to go on the first day. After months of planning both of us were

ecstatic for the amazing trip we had ahead of us, whilst also feeling a fair amount of

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trepidation for the sheer distances involved. We set off and travelled to Harwich ferry

terminal in Essex to get the overnight ferry to the Hook of Holland.

Figure 3­ Both motorcycles loaded and ready to go on Day 1. Upon boarding the ferry we strapped down our motorcycles so they would not fall over

in transit and watched England fade away into the night of the sea. The overnight ferry

was an enjoyable experience and we both felt well rested in our cabin by the morning of

day 2.

Day 2: Hook of Holland to Schleswig­ We awoke at the Hook of Holland, eager to get

of the ferry and get some miles behind us, as this was going to be the day with the

longest distance to cover. There was a fair amount of traffic near the Hook of Holland,

and despite being able to filter past most of it, this still cost us a significant amount of

time on an already tight day. Better progress was made once we got onto the Dutch and

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German autobahns. Figure 4 shows a rest stop off one of the autobahns in the

netherlands.

Figure 4­ A well earnt rest in the Netherlands. Day 2 ended in the German town of Schleswig, and after about 700 km in the saddle, we were both excited for a well earned rest. Day 3: Schleswig to Kristiansand­ After some much needed maintenance to the

motorbikes and the morning ritual of strapping our luggage to them we left Schleswig

and headed north to ferry terminal of Hirtshals in Denmark. The Danish highways were

relatively empty and we noticed that many motorists were treating them as German

autobahns and far exceeding the 130 kph set on them. From Hirtshals we got the ferry

to Kristiansand in Norway. We subsequently travelled west through rural Norwegian

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woodland to our hostel, which was an old converted school. Figure 5 shows the bikes

and the Norwegian flag at the hostel.

Figure 5­ The bikes near Kristiansand.

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Day 3 was our first experience of Norwegian roads. Whilst the differences will be

discussed in greater detail in subsequent sections, it is worth noting that we were both

very surprised at the huge differences in road practices that became apparent very

quickly.

Day 4: Kristiansand to Oslo­ The route on day four took us through some rural

norwegian areas in the morning and after calling into a supermarket for supplies we

headed for the E18 motorway which took us up to Oslo. In Oslo we stayed with some

friends to save money on accommodation, and they kindly showed us around Oslo.

Figure 6 shows the bikes outside the flat in Oslo.

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Figure 6­ Both motorbikes after arriving in Oslo.

After travelling such a substantial distance on these relatively uncomfortable bikes in 4

days both of us were exhausted and sore. We made the decision to remain in Oslo for

the fifth day.

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Day 5: Oslo­ This day was spent recovering and planning our further route. It was at

this point that we realised that getting as far as Trondheim on our current budget and

with our means of transport was simply not going to be possible. The decision was

made to head north in the direction of Lillehammer and rough camp in Sweden on the

night of day 6. In addition to budgeting, route planning and resting, this day also gave us

the opportunity to explore Oslo (Figure 7), which was a wonderful experience.

Figure 7­ Artwork on the streets of Oslo.

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Day 6: Oslo to Letafors­ We left Oslo feeling refreshed and ready once again to enjoy

the beauty that Scandinavia has to offer. Crossing from Norway into Sweden on the

rural roads was a beautiful and breathtaking experience; one that we will both

remember for a very long time.

Interestingly, when crossing into Sweden we noticed two marked changes in the driving

landscape. Firstly, the roads were of worse quality, and secondly the appearance of

static speed cameras in Sweden. Some Swedish drivers appeared to do what is

unfortunately also commonplace in the UK: Slow down for the speed camera and then

immediately speed up again. This was in stark contrast to the more commonplace

behaviour in Norway of simply obeying the speed limits during normal driving.

At the end of day 6 we camped beside a lake in central Sweden, had a campfire and

discussed the day’s events.

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Figure 8­ The campsite near Letafors.

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Day 7: ­ Letafors to Karlstad: After a night of rough camping we were both looking

forward to a proper bed again and eager to get on the road. The road south the Karlstad

was a beautiful ride and the accommodation near Kil, north of Karlstad was rustic yet

perfect for our needs.

Figure 9­ Beautiful roadside Swedish scenery.

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Day 8: ­ Karlstad to Gothenburg: Leaving Karlstad and heading down to Gothenburg

the roads became more like motorways once more and faster progress was possible.

We were lucky enough to have to opportunity to explore Gothenburg in the evening, and

loved this vibrant city.

Figure 10­ Architecture in Gothenburg's old city. Day 11: Gothenburg to Rodby­ Heading south through Sweden, our mind was now

set on getting to Rodby in time for our ferry across to Puttgarden. This included a stop

off in Malmo for ice cream, an unforgettable journey across the Øresund Bridge, and our

evening meal in Copenhagen. At this point the weather was not so good and the cross

winds at the top of the bridge were interesting to ride through.

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Day 12: Puttgarden to Leiden­ The journey through Germany and The Netherlands

went smoothly and we arrived into Leiden before sundown, giving us the chance to see

this beautiful city in daylight.

Day 13: Leiden to Hook of Holland­ Unfortunately during this part of the route we got

caught up in bad traffic, leaving us very little time for our ferry which was booked and

paid for. We did however make it in time, and had a well earned rest overnight on the

ferry back to our home country.

Figure 11­ The view from the ferry home. Day 14: Harwich to Birmingham/London­ After riding west on the A120 together, we

finally parted ways to make our final destinations in the UK. It had been a truly brilliant

two weeks; a once in a lifetime experience which left both of us better riders, better

friends and very happy if not rather tired students.

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Norway and the UK: A Comparison During the trip we experienced hugely varying road conditions, regulations and attitudes

which allowed us to gain a wealth of knowledge and understanding about northern

european driving.

The reason that Norway has such a low instance of fatalities on its roads is due, in our

opinion to a mix of regulation, infrastructure and attitude. These are discussed below.

Regulation: Deaths on our roads are often caused by motorists speeding and

driving well beyond their capability. In Norway the punishments for breaking the

speed limit are very harsh. The speed limits themselves are also lower.

Infrastructure: The quality of the roads in Norway is very high, leading to a lower

number of incidents. There are also adverts on the side on the carriageway in

Norway which illustrate the high cost of accidents on people's lives. These are

very emotive and clear in their message, much like the drink driving adverts that

have have appeared on British television.

Attitude: In areas where there was no police or speed camera presence and the

threat of getting a speeding ticket is really very low, the vast majority of drivers in

Norway still stick to the speed limits (which are lower than the UK). This reveals

that perhaps the prevalent attitude is that you simply shouldn’t speed in Norway

at all, and this seemed to be the viewpoint of the individuals that we both spoke

to. Norway also has significantly harsher winters than the UK, and the average

Norwegian driver is probably more used to driving in a variety of conditions.

Whilst in the summer the speed limits may seem far lower than they could be,

those limits are regarding snow covered roads and motorists using chains. When

you consider these riding conditions, some would say that actually the speed

limits set by the state are too high. There were a few roads that we had come

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across that included hairpins were we would not feel comfortable riding at the

advised speed limit.

Other large differences in the driving environment and practices across europe were

very evident on our trip. For example, speed limits were similar in Sweden, although

they appeared to have a higher amount of fixed speed cameras. There also appeared to

be more individuals happy to break the speed limit.

In virtually all european countries, the motorways are both the fastest and the safest

roads, including Germany where in some areas there is no speed limit on the

autobahns.[2] This does not necessarily mean however that reducing the speed limit of

these roads would not reduce the number of casualties caused by road traffic accidents.

Other countries have large differences in punishment of breaking traffic laws. In Finland,

the fine accompanying a speeding conviction is linked to the earnings of the individual,

as illustrated by the case of a 54,000 Euro speeding fine for an individual earning a very

high salary. [1]

Norway is also one of the countries to adopt the “vision zero project”. [3,4] Vision zero is

a policy that “Life and health can never be exchanged for other benefits within the

society”, i.e. that a cost benefit analysis should not be carried out to save a life.

It may now be best to cover advanced motorcycle riding and the practises adopted by

Norway compared the the UK. The primary texts available to the public in Norway and

the UK respectively are “Full Control ­ a guide to precise and efficient machine control”

and “Motorcycle ROADCRAFT ­ the police riders handbook to better motorcycling”.

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Figure 12­ Front cover of Norwegian advance motorcycle guide.

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Figure 13­ Front cover of UK advance motorcycle guide.

We immediately notice a very important point from the outset. The go to text for those in

Norway wishing to learn about advanced motorcycle riding is a book available to the

general public and does not include any information pertaining to the police. However in

the UK, the text is aimed at police riders, and it is this book which is used to train

civilians on advance riding and is the one in my possession, which was given to me to

train with.

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Is it perhaps wise to have a more accessible text that is aimed at all riders as in Norway.

Having read through both books it would appear that having a book aimed for such

riders would be beneficial, much like the highway code.

Before ‘Full Control’ even begins to provide advice on better riding practices, the text

looks at the physics of riding a motorcycle. This is a very unique insight into how the

machine is designed and handles. This is important to understand what you can and

cannot do in certain situations. This whole section is missing from the ‘ROADCRAFT’

text which is startling.

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Figure 14­ The physics of motorcycling ­ taken from ‘Full Control’.

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In ‘ROADCRAFT’ there are two main points which are discussed throughout the text.

They come under two mnemonics IPSGA and T.U.G (IPSGA ­ Information, Position,

Speed, Gears, Acceleration). The information phase is further broken down into T (take)

U (use) and G (give). By following this cycle, you are able to address all possible

scenarios when maneuvering.

Figure 15­ IPSGA in ROADCRAFT.

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Figure 16­ ‘The steering circle in ‘Full Control’.

You can see the similarities in figures 15 and 16. The methods and processes are the

same when wanting to execute the maneuver. However, the language used is very

different. Whereas in the UK, it is a 5 step process, in Norway there are 12 steps. This

is probably because of the audience to which the text is aimed at. In my opinion, the

Norwegian text is better suited to explaining the steps involved to the average motorist.

Full control is divided into three main sections looking at steering, braking and

acceleration with other sections looking at making a complete rider, addressing attitude

and riding position and how to handle scenarios which may agitate the rider. In contrast

to the UK, a large section is devoted to this at the start of the book. However, when

training this section is more than often overlooked and many trainers begin starting at

Chapter 2 which discusses the System (IPSGA).

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All in all, ROADCRAFT is a very indepth guide at advance riding but it is not a go to

textbook that provides general information to the public. Full Control bridges that gap

and provides even a seasoned rider a concise and practical advice guide that can be

used at a moment's notice. It is only 57 pages compared to 172 for ROADCRAFT. In

summary, a shorter more practical ROADCRAFT guide should be made for the general

public which aims to improve the riding capabilities of the average rider.

It should also be noted that the Norwegian police use a similar more in depth guide to

that of ROADCRAFT. The Norwegian authorities have translated key sections of that

text to produce an English guide called ‘Full Control’ which it actively promotes for other

countries. We should look at this and use it as a base upon which to produce a short

manual for UK citizens which in our opinion will lower road casualties IF followed. That

however may be the problem, as we have identified previously, that the attitude to riding

and driving needs to be addressed with better education. Should this process occur

during initial training schemes as in Norway? Should be make the tests more rigorous

much like in Norway? We already know that you can opt for a speed awareness course

in the UK instead of a penalty. Why is this not mandatory prior to obtaining a UK

licence? This trip has raised many question which all address the safety of road users.

By answering these, the UK will become a safer place to ride and drive.

The trip itself was quite a challenge and we have obtained what is probably our most

priceless possession: a large amount of footage to edit and post online. Both Oliver and

I were quite apprehensive the closer we got to our departure date as everything we had

planned all of a sudden felt insufficient. However, we had a safe journey and have

learned a great deal. We have quite a few stories to tell now and I think it’s safe to say

that we have in the spirit of the project achieved what we set out to.

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Our biggest challenge was budgeting for the trip. We knew the trip would be difficult as

we were awarded £2000 to cover 5000 km in 10 days. This broke down to £100 each

per day for food, fuel and accommodation. Some days seemed endless with 10 hours

on the saddle and with the exchange rates and fuel price variations the costs quickly

added up. As a contingency we had decided to camp to save money which was

‘interesting’.

In summary, we got tired pretty quickly, and ran out of money, but in the end the bond

that has developed between two students on an epic journey across the beautiful

Scandinavian landscape will be for me at least, memories to last a lifetime. We hope to

present all our findings and hope the wider community can become safer from what we

have learned and the hazards we came across when riding through Europe. A

presentation has been scheduled for Christmas at ROSPA West Midlands to share our

findings.

Acknowledgements

Finally, both authors would like to take the opportunity to give a wholehearted thank you

to all the staff involved with the LRMF, as without this funding this trip would only exist in

our minds.

References

1. http://www.cnbc.com/2015/03/06/a­60000­speeding­ticket.html 2. http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2013/may/13/speed­limits­reduce­number­ro

ad­deaths and https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dw2U­1X_DUUD5wl0ymEovAVm9FPMGxExC7i63F4m3Fg/edit#gid=4

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vision_Zero 4. http://www.vegvesen.no/_attachment/58683/binary/2818

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Financial breakdown:

How to become a better rider – a 5000km journey from Warwick to Trondheim

Lord Rootes Memorial Fund Application

Detailed Budget Plan Linked To Daily Itinerary

The budget below is per rider on touring bikes (pictured below) which typically have an efficiency of approx. 48 mpg. This increases for motorway riding to approx. 61 mpg.

Fuel price per stage followed by accommodation, food and ferry if applicable: Stage 1 693 km (Warwick Uni, UK to Leiden, NL.)

430 miles @ 48 mpg = approx. 9 gallons of petrol = approx. 41 litres @ 1.51 €/l (avg) Fuel (using above formula) £44.57 Hotel £40 Food £20 Ferry £48.50 Total £153.07

Stage 2 821 km (Leiden, NL to Aarhus, DEN)

Fuel (using above formula) £52.51 Hotel £40 Food £20 Total £112.51

Stage 3 418 km (Aarhus, DEN to Moss, NOR)

Fuel £26.77 Hotel £40 Food £20 Ferry £35 Total £121.77

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Stage 4 Rider Development Course and meet with NMCU rep to conduct training Fuel £4.02

Hotel £40 Food £20 Total £64.02

Stage 5 551 km (Moss, NOR to Trondheim, NOR)

Fuel £35.01 Hotel £40 Food £20 Total £95.01

Stage 6 446 km (Trondheim, NOR to Sundsvall, SWE)

Fuel £28.52 Hotel £40 Food £20 Total £106.54

Stage 7 727 km (Sundsvall, SWE to Gothenburg, SWE)

Fuel £46.54 Hotel £40 Food £20 Total £106.54

Stage 8 645 km (Gothenburg, SWE to Bremen, GER)

Fuel £41.29 Hotel £40 Food £20 Ferry £28 Total £129.29

Stage 9 547 km (Bremen, GER to Hook of Holland, NL)

Fuel £35.01 Hotel £40 Food £20

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Total £95.01

Stage 10 166 km (Harwich, UK to Warwick Uni, UK)

Fuel £10.61 Food £20 Ferry £48.50 Total £79.11

Total costs incurred: Fuel £324.85 Food £200 Accommodation (9 nights) £360 Ferry £160

Total (Estimate) £1044.85 per rider

We had budgeted £400 for fuel to allow for any price fluctuations, as petrol price was trending upwards. Furthermore the actual mpg we achieved was dependent on the route as motorway miles give a better fuel economy. Ferry prices also fluctuated depending on time of booking and could have increased by approx. £120 however this had been factored into the budget and was within contingency. Accommodation according to TripAdvisor, averaged £73 per night for a twin room across Europe. Security was the most pressing issue when choosing accommodation and several forums had discussed trips of a similar nature where accommodation was booked with an average price of £30 per night for one person. We had a budget of £40 per day per rider and we aimed to book accommodation as early as possible to meet this price. According to per diem rates determined by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, the average subsistence for the countries being visited equated to £59. We have budgeted £20 and believe the per deim rates do not reflect value for money and subsistence of £20 per is sufficient as the majority of locations where food will be obtained include service stations and local supermarkets.

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Actual Budget Spenditure N.B. The receipts have been organised in batches with each batch representing one day. On some occasions, receipts were unavailable. The trip was over budget. Norway Trip Expenditure Cost/ £

Mo Breakdown Cover 51

Olli Breakdown Cover 129.13

Ferry to hook of holland 117.7

ebay essentials 13.54

Luggage strap ­ eBay 1.39

ebay essentials 6.9

ferry to kristiansand 51.14

batch 1 95.69

batch 2 209.69

batch 3 215.62

batch 4 92.95

batch 5 81.08

batch 6 57.29

batch 7 246.15

batch 8 54.83

batch 9 393.44

batch 10 101.13

batch 11 78.77

Unreceipted (Food in Leiden and Amsterdam) 53

Mo Bank Fees up to 12th july ­ both cards 62.61

Hotel Gamla Skolan NOT IN BATCH 53.18

Ferry from hook of harwich home 253

Total: 2419.23

Amount over budget : 419.23

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