[somedayisnow]

Well, I went a bit quiet there "post-wise" on IBF - a few reasons, but I've been busy!

Started my ADI training and exams last year, thinking I'd give it a go and see how it went.......

....fast forward a few months and now I'm qualified and on the register!

After near drowning in a sea of RSA paperwork, I am approved for bikes and cars and am just getting started with a few pupils for both IBT and EDT and I am enjoying it a lot.
Good timing too,as the educational cut backs have meant my primary school hours have been slashed.

It is very exciting and a bit nerve-racking too - starting any business in the current climate is a challenge.

Anyway - have a look at the websites (still under construction - any suggestions for improvement are welcome!)

This post has been edited by Tazzzie: 31 October 2011 - 10:54 PM
Reason for edit: advertising links removed.

[Linda]

Good Luck with it. It's hard work getting to be an ADI,

[jimgoose]

Very well done! I just got my Stage-3 pass letter in the post yesterday morning! Cat-B only, but who better to train the young cagelings to respect us!

Best of luck with it.

[SwissMiss]

Well done, lot's of work and time, congratulations and all the best

[Jem]

Thats fantastic Gillian - well done!! Am sure this will be a rewarding career for you

[Magnets]

Well done and good luck with the new venture

[Darkcloud]

Brilliant stuff Gillian ... I'd say you'll be a great success....

Best of luck with the venture and keep us updated

[Playtime]

Big Congrats Gillian
Hope it all works out for you

[crispy]

somedayisnow, on 27 October 2011 - 12:41 AM, said:

Well, I went a bit quiet there "post-wise" on IBF - a few reasons, but I've been busy!

Started my ADI training and exams last year, thinking I'd give it a go and see how it went.......

....fast forward a few months and now I'm qualified and on the register!

After near drowning in a sea of RSA paperwork, I am approved for bikes and cars and am just getting started with a few pupils for both IBT and EDT and I am enjoying it a lot.
Good timing too,as the educational cut backs have meant my primary school hours have been slashed.

It is very exciting and a bit nerve-racking too - starting any business in the current climate is a challenge.

Anyway - have a look at the websites (still under construction - any suggestions for improvement are welcome!)

gdldrivers.ie is the car site (get the pun? GDL for Graduated Driver Licensing and Gillian Dunlop Learner Drivers - clever or wha'?!)

ridesafewexford.ie for the motorcycle training with founder instructor, Eddie Tierney (Mr T on IBF)

Well done and hope all goes well for you. Had a quick look on the sites and both look pretty clear and simple.

Bike site first thoughts - Seperate the contact details and lose the skype highlighting bit of text.

Then I visited the the car site. Make the links work as hyperlinks (like the way you have with you email address contact) and just an idea for the news sections where you mentioned the flood and new rules for new drivers, maybe use an RSS feed to keep the material current.

Have a look on this site http://www.ketec.net/

(I can recommend the instructor but not DBS/Dublin Business Schools facilities or it's fees.)

I did a basic introduction to web design course two years ago. Commercail website design was the instructors main business outside the class. He kept on at us about Search Engine Optimisation. This is making your site optimised for search engines such as yahoo/google. It means you can make your site return in the first few result when someone searches say "motorcycle lessons in wexford". But without having to pay google/yahoo for that privileage. I wish i could tell you more but I didn't follow up on that interest. But that along with meta tags will help your site get visitors.

Hope it all goes well for you.

This post has been edited by crispy: 27 October 2011 - 10:16 AM

[somedayisnow]

Thanks everyone - I appreciate all the good wishes!

Good tips there, Crispy, on the sites - this is all very new to me and just getting my head around the IT jargon - Google is a great resource
for even just finding out what the hell a term means.

- this would certainly describe me, late at night when everyone gone to bed, trying to get a link sorted!

[josh59]

Congrats and best of luck - hope it goes well for you.

[hawkeye]

Well done Gillian, hope you are well rewarded for all your hard work.

[reillste]

Congratulations on your ADI exam success and good luck with the business.
As a former instructor and current RSA driver tester I would like to give you one piece of advice.
When you have any queries about someones test marking sheet or what someone should do in any situation,
go into the Test centre and ask the tester or the local supervisor. We would much rather do this than see
an instructor miscontrue a mark or fault.

[Hazardo]

Congrats, SDIN Hard work, I know, so fair play. Hope it all works out for you

[somedayisnow]

reillste, on 04 November 2011 - 12:18 AM, said:

Congratulations on your ADI exam success and good luck with the business.
As a former instructor and current RSA driver tester I would like to give you one piece of advice.
When you have any queries about someones test marking sheet or what someone should do in any situation,
go into the Test centre and ask the tester or the local supervisor. We would much rather do this than see
an instructor miscontrue a mark or fault.

Thank you!

Yes, better to hear from the horse's mouth than to make assumptions - in the end, its all about
helping bikers be safe on the road, not a battleground between ADIs and testers.

I appreciate any advice - it's hard to think of every scenario when something is new!

[corkdragon]

congratulations and best of luck

[jimgoose]

somedayisnow, on 04 November 2011 - 09:27 AM, said:

Thank you!

Yes, better to hear from the horse's mouth than to make assumptions - in the end, its all about
helping bikers be safe on the road, not a battleground between ADIs and testers.

I appreciate any advice - it's hard to think of every scenario when something is new!

Tell me this - how does the ADI Stage-3 test for bikes compare with that for cages?

[somedayisnow]

Similar in the sense of the cost, the preparation of the vehicle, the technical checks, being told pass/fail on the day with a written report to follow.

The first part of the test takes place in the compound (Waterford, in my case) - you must demonstrate:

taking the bike off/on the stand/s, wheeling the bike forwards and backwards, handsignals.

Then, do the slow ride at the tester's walking pace, the U turn between marked cones, the slalom, the figure 8 and the controlled stop.

After that, the on-road part is over a variety of environments - rural, suburban and urban - under radio control with the tester behind on a bike.

The whole test from checking in to final "whew, it's over!" took about an hour and a half, tho' in fact, it flew past.

So, jumgoose, thinking of giving it a go?

[jimgoose]

somedayisnow, on 07 November 2011 - 10:45 PM, said:

Similar in the sense of the cost, the preparation of the vehicle, the technical checks, being told pass/fail on the day with a written report to follow.

The first part of the test takes place in the compound (Waterford, in my case) - you must demonstrate:

taking the bike off/on the stand/s, wheeling the bike forwards and backwards, handsignals.

Then, do the slow ride at the tester's walking pace, the U turn between marked cones, the slalom, the figure 8 and the controlled stop.

After that, the on-road part is over a variety of environments - rural, suburban and urban - under radio control with the tester behind on a bike.

The whole test from checking in to final "whew, it's over!" took about an hour and a half, tho' in fact, it flew past.

So, jumgoose, thinking of giving it a go?

Possibly. I just recently got the cat-B one. But the above sounds like the Stage-2, no?