Shame this has gone so far off topic
I'm an observer at WVAM who are the Wey Valley branch of IAM that meet at Ripley.
CK, sorry you found it cliquey, how long ago did you go ?
You might find things have changed now.
You could also be surprised at just how many of us have dukes, just they don't always come out for the observing
On the track training front, last week we had Andy Ibbot and his sidekick Johnny 'the *******' (well that's what they called him when I did my Cali track days
) give a talk at our club night.
He conceded that some of what they teach is not applicable to road riding, but things such as wideview can help.
For those that have never been to a meet, IAM are not all barbour suited bmw or pan riders. around 80% of the bikes are sports or sports tourers. You are right that there are lots of Viffers, but that's cos as a club they do lots of touring trips, and the viffer is perfect for these (er, ask me how I know
). I should add these trips are graded on, well, speed of progress ranging from steady to advanced. fyi advanced is 996 against the stop in some circumstances
Closing comment is that passing the IAM Advanced test or getting Rospa Gold still won't help in some circumstances (we get it wrong occasinally too) but it will help you become more aware of the hazards enabling you to 'make progress' safer.
Sorry, I'll leave it there. Lecture over. If you want to know more U2U me or come along to a meet
Cheers,
John.