Editorial
This is the last newsletter before the close of the SAM Club Annual Photo Competition. Many thanks to those SAM members who have sent entries. Other SAM Club members, if you could ferret around your photo archive it would help to improve the competition. If you don’t fancy a framed picture, I’m sure that we could consider another prize such as mugs, tea towels, coasters, pinafore, or whatever you might like us to consider. Just support the event and let’s have some fun in these trying times.
The SAM Club Annual General Meeting will be held on the 3rd April, 2023. Due to health and family reasons, I’ll be stepping down as a SAM charity Trustee at the AGM. However, if the new Committee agrees, I’ll be happy to continue volunteering to assemble and send out the newsletter, send out notifications and look after the website. Whilst the SAM Committee can have up to 20 members, in recent years we have been reduced to the 8 current members. If the number of Committee members falls below six, the SAM charity becomes unviable and will have to cease its activities. Being a SAM Committee member is a great way to help determine the future direction of the Club, support new Associates and our hard-working Observers. Also, to ensure that we have a successful Club to take forward for another year. If you can’t put yourself forward for the SAM Committee, how about volunteering to help organise various activities for members.
I’ve had a very interesting week. Apart from collecting a new bike, a Piaggio MP3 530. Motorcycle manufacturers are continuing to invest in leaning 3-wheel bikes. Kawasaki being the latest company to file patents. Also, this week I took part in an IAM Social Media workshop using Microsoft Teams. There were representatives from 15 IAM Groups. There was a presentation on which social media platforms to use and how to set up social media campaigns. The IAM RoadSmart sales and marketing team are working hard to provide material that Groups can share with the general public. The future of any charity relies on getting new people to support its cause. The SAM Club is no different. Our core mission is to educate, promote and provide advanced motorcycle training; and, to help our local communities to experience safer roads. SAM Club members have an important role in helping to keep those around us safer.
Onto other content in your SAM Club newsletter this week. It’s been a long time since I did any camping, but one thing that Janis and I have learned about travelling by motorcycle is to pack it well. Now we may prefer a warm place to stay and a soft bed, rather than a tent, but how to pack for a motorcycle camping trip has some practical advice to offer.
If you fancy travelling far, why not read about touring Romania. There is a fascinating insight into some hidden gems that you might want to explore. You can also read about the opportunities to tour with a Zero Electric Motorcycle. A great way to test, for yourself, the reliability of electric motorcycles over long distances. Although most motorcycles have self-cancelling indicators these days, there are still those riders, including me, who will forget to cancel indicators after turning. Have no fear, a retired electronics engineer has come up with a reliable and cheap solution. Being away is also a time to relax and read about other biker’s adventures and perhaps marvel at the artwork of Easy Rider cartoonist Hal Robinson.
The history slot this week is about a true WWII hero, Beatrice Shilling. This lady battled gender discrimination for most of her life. But, this record breaking motorcyclist saved countless RAF pilot lives by inventing a thimble-shaped carburetor washer for use in the Rolls Royce Merlin engines of Spitfire aircraft.
If it’s a long time since I’ve been camping in a tent, it’s an even longer time since I was abseiling out a 4-storey barrack room window and off of mountains in the Snowdonia National Park. However, here is a chance for the more fit members of the Club to abseil for charity. James Toseland, former Superbike Champion, will be leading an abseiling event to raise money for Sheffield Children’s Hospital. If you are not up for abseiling down the side of a building, how about signing up for TT Marshalling. Alternatively, you can support the National Association of Bikers with a Disability by going to the final ‘You’ve be Nabbed Concert’.
Finally, there is an important article, from Kevin Williams, about NOT handing over your UK National Insurance Number, to a motorcycle dealer, before being allowed to test ride a bike that you fancy. 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.
