Rob Gittins – Thank you for 50 years of voluntary service
IAM MEMBERSHIP FEES
Last week I reported the 21% increase in IAM RoadSmart membership fees. These are an a priori requirement for being a SAM Club member. In other words, you have to have a paid up IAM RoadSmart membership before you can become a SAM Club member. A 21% increase in IAM RoadSmart membership fees sounds a lot. SAM Club fees will not be going up in the year 2023/2024. In fact, rise in IAM RoadSmart membership goes up from 73p/week to 89p/week. Including the cost of your extremely good value money SAM Club membership, it will cost you about £1.12p/week. Real value for money. We encourage all our members to continue their support for both IAM RoadSmart and the SAM Club to help our local biking friends and Club members to become and remain safe advanced riders. Thank you.
Editorial
Photos for SAM Annual Photo Competition are rolling in. So, remember you have to be in it to win it! I still have my beautifully framed picture in the office in pride of place amongst my other biking memories.
This week we start off with keeping warm. A very nice review of heated gloves to help keep those hands nice and warm. It helps to still be able to feel your fingers on the throttle, clutch and brake! We move onto our ears. We heard from Intaride at the last club night, Resonar have developed something called 8D technology to help us hear things a bit clearer on the bike. You can also read about the Helite e-Turtle 2 Airbag. A move away from a tethered system is very welcome. As with all safety systems, it is still wise to understand what it can and can’t do.
Next we move on to pondering the question: should new drivers ride a moped for six months? Given that statistics tell us that young drivers are more at risk of mishap, maybe riding two wheels for a while will help them to drive safer. After all biker’s continue to outperform drivers on the UK’s DVLA tests. A testament to trainers and the motivation of new riders for sure, but when riding a bike, there is probably a lot more being learnt about roadcraft than when the learner is sitting inside a vehicle. In addition, there is a good article on why motorcyclists make excellent drivers. An interesting read. As are the pros and cons of owning a motorcycle when you are a student. I know this might be a struggle to remember for some of you. A very nice article exploring the pros and cons of owning a bike when life is a struggle to get the next assignment into the teacher on time. Staying with the road use theme, the RAC are calling on the UK government to reduce EV charging costs by decoupling the price of gas and electricity.
Onto my favourite topic, motorcycling history. This week you have two articles to read. Well, I couldn’t decide which one to use, so you’ve got both! Read about a very rare production motorcycle. It marks the development from steam driven vehicles to fossil fuelled machines and ran with the help of rubber bands! A fascinating story. The last story is about ‘The Mule’, and affectionately named 1933 Velocette. Happy reading.
SAM ANNUAL PHOTO COMPETITION
Subject: Bikes, Biking & Bikers
Closing date: 12mn 20th March 2023
Email entries to: sam-editor@iam-sheffield.bike
Ways to stay in touch with your Club!
It’s really easy to stay in touch with your Club! We provide emails, a website and use social media accounts for you to contact us. All of which is free of any cost to the Club. If you are not getting the Club information circulated, or simply want to tell us something, just let us know at sam-editor@iam-sheffield.bike. We’ll be happy to ensure that we stay in touch with you. You can also now sign up for Club emails on the SAM website. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in any SAM Club email.
Paul Conway
Editor & Webmaster, Sheffield Advanced Motorcyclists
