The cold weather continues but SAM members made good use of the few fine days available. Thursday riders had a run out, stopped for a break and talked about punctures. Yes, on the way home one rider got a puncture! This was fixed to get the rider home. It’s one of the things about SAM rides that I really enjoyed. Whenever we stopped, the conversation would inevitably include riding conditions, managing hazards and coping with other road users. This conversation learning process is very rarely mentioned in the biking literature. I’m sure that other members found the discussions as valuable as I did. A secret source amongst riders that is one of the most valuable resources that SAM’s self-organised riding groups offer.
The UK government’s proposed ‘Integrated Transport Policy‘ has been a topic of discussion this week. The call for ideas, including those of bikers, will end on the 30th January 2025. One area is highway design and the location of speed limit signage. Sometimes they seem to be put, deliberately or not, in places where they can easily be hidden by tall vehicles, overgrown vegetation or high walls, etc. Penalties may generate significant amounts of revenue, but they also irritate and annoy road users and this can lead to poor behaviour.
Potholes have been in the news again this week. Everybody loves big numbers. The UK Government trumpets the £1.6 bn funding for road repairs. In 2023, between January and November, 630,000 potholes were reported, with 1.4 million potholes filled. Sounds impressive until you realise that some of those repaired may be repeated repairs of the same fault. Vehicle repair costs reached £579,000,000 and the estimated costs of repairing the UK highway infrastructure is £16.3 bn. This week’s freezing temperatures will cause further deterioration.
In other news, Kevin Williams tackles the subject of the rider’s best asset, the brain. It’s the best upgrade your riding can ever receive. Other topics include the limit point, surprise horizons and learning from the mistakes of others. The last point is a regular topic of discussion in SAM self-organised group rides. As advanced riders we don’t refute the fact that we can still make riding errors. We talk about them and learn from each other. It’s a collective brain. Ride safe and happy reading.
Advanced riders are safer road users, ride longer, rider further, meet more people and enjoy a healthier, happier life!
It’s the SAM Annual Photo Competition 2025
Email ALL entries to sam-editor@iam-sheffield.bike
Closing date 12mn Sunday 23rd March 2025
Next SAM Club Night
3rd February 2025
7.30pm start for meeting at 8pm. Gives you time to catch up on what you’ve missed!
Treeton Miners Welfare Club
Arundel Street
Treeton
Rotherham S60 5PW
Next SAM Committee Meeting
6th February 2025
Details to be arranged
General
The Status of UK Motorcycling – January 2025
“Challenging.” It’s a word that crops up again and again as motorcycling organisations, manufacturers, dealers, riders’ groups and political organisations look back over 2024 and into 2025.
As we push forward into the new year – still in the depths of winter and with riding season still feeling a long way off – the same term looks set to remain firmly in the lexicon for a while yet. Read more…
Technically known as nitrous oxide, or simply nitrous or NOS, the gas is a cost-effective way of adding increased power as and when it’s needed.
But many are still unsure of the legality, safety and insurance implications of nitrous for motorbikes.
We spoke to leading experts Wizards of NOS to get the lowdown on the “magic gas”.
The UK nitrous business bubbled along for more than 20 years before the big bang in 2001 that changed everything. Read more…
The UK motorcycle industry faced a tough 2024 and among those to succumb to the onslaught of reduced demand and inflated operating costs was longstanding dealer chain, Pidcock Motorcycles.
Now though, a glimmer of good news has arisen for the firm’s former Nottingham based BMW Motorrad site, with The Potteries Motorcycles of Stoke announcing they will be taking over the destination.
An opening weekend has already been pencilled in for March 1-2 and thanks to the venture, many of Pidcock’s former staff members are expected to be retained. Read more…
BMW ended 2024 with a whopping 210,408 new bike sales – the highest figure in the company’s 102-year history.
“We at BMW Motorrad will spare no effort to expand our top position in the global motorcycle premium segment, with numerous new and innovative models and products for our customers in 2025,” head of sales and brand, Stephan Reiff said. “Again, this year, our customers and fans can look forward to numerous world premieres, highlights, events and sentiment-focused offers, all about motorcycles.”
Speaking with MCN at last November’s EICMA trade show in Milan, BMW Motorrad CEO Markus Flasch pledged to deliver 17 new models in 2025, including a new parallel twin F450GS adventure bike. Read more…
Ah yes, electrification. The ultimate buzzword when it comes to anything and everything mobility. And clearly, electrification is more than just Teslas, EV motorcycles, e-bikes, and tooth-busting e-scooters anymore.
These days, we’ve very much crossed into a world where mobility isn’t just a matter of wheels on the ground—it’s a multi-dimensional circus, where (concept) vehicles can take to the sky and submerge themselves in the depths of the sea. We’re seeing a microcosm of oddities that hope to somehow usher in the next generation of mobility, as some are amusingly imaginative, while others hilariously impractical and borderline insane. Read more…
Rider Health & Safety
Do you ride a motorcycle or know someone who does? If so, you’ll know that riding a motorcycle has some risks. In fact, statistics show that motorcyclists are much more likely to be involved in a serious or fatal accident than car drivers. This is why it’s important to take steps to reduce the risks and the Biker I.C.E. Card is one of the most effective solutions available.
The Biker I.C.E. Card is a simple, yet vital tool. It contains your contact details and essential medical information. In the event of an accident, emergency services staff can quickly access this information to help them decide on the right treatment for you. By carrying a Biker I.C.E. Card, you can ensure that emergency services staff have the information they need to take account of any ongoing health problems you have and any current treatments that you are receiving. This can make their job easier and your emergency care safer. Read more...
KEEP WARM with Zerofit base layers
Winter is the time for extensive base layer use, and these Zerofit garments are now being distributed by top kit firm Feridax, so will be much more widely available. The Zerofit Heatrub Ultimate kit claims to provide five times more warmth than standard base layers thanks to ‘heat thread’ technology within the material itself. And its Cold Skin products give optimal cooling in warmer months. Read more…
MCN is backing a new online petition urging the Government to do more in the fight against uncertified and potentially dangerous motorcycle riding kit arriving in the UK via some irresponsible online retailers, intent on flouting the law. The petition, which has been called Implement a strategy to protect motorcyclists from imports of unsafe clothing, was set up by lifelong motorcyclist and product safety consultant Paul Varnsverry, who has been working in the industry since 1984. Read more…
Alpinestars Introduces The Tech-Air 5 Plasma
CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW, LAS VEGAS – Alpinestars has redefined protection for motorcyclists ever since the company was established in 1963, and today sees the brand giving a technical preview of Tech-Air 5 PLASMA, the all-new, autonomous motorcycling Airbag System.
Tech-Air 5 PLASMA is the latest addition to the Alpinestars Tech-Air family, which includes the Tech-Air 10, Tech-Air 5, Tech-Air 7x, Tech-Air 3, Tech-Air 3 Canvas, Tech-Air 3 Leather, Tech-Air 3 Stella, Tech-Air OFF-ROAD, and Tech-Air MX Systems. Alpinestars continues to lead the way in active airbag technology for riders and passengers. The all-new Tech-Air 5 PLASMA is a definitive demonstration of Alpinestars’ continued commitment to making the most versatile airbag technology products in the industry.
Adventure & Touring
The histories of Rider magazine and the Honda Gold Wing have run parallel – and often intertwined – over the past 50 years. Rider’s first issue was published in the summer of 1974, and a few months later the Honda GL1000 Gold Wing was unveiled to the public.
The GL1000 debuted as a 1975 model, and sales in the U.S. began that year. Rider published a test of the Honda GL1000 in the Summer 1975 issue, which opened with this paragraph:
It’s a bull in street clothing. A solid, low-to-the-ground animal from the breed that produced the classic 750 Four. An ultra-smooth, quick, fast, silent, powerful roadburner. A sophisticated touring machine. Read more…
History & Custom
The Last Sled: A sparkling Kawasaki W650 scrambler by Dirty Dick’s Motos
The annals of music history are littered with bands whose third albums didn’t quite manage the success of their debut and sophomore offerings. That trend was at the forefront of Rick Hannah’s mind when he set out to build his third Kawasaki W650 desert sled. A South African ex-pat currently living in the UK, Rick… Read more
What do you get when you combine hundreds of kilos of spare steel, a ratty 20-year-old Yamaha R6, and almost 750 hours of hair-brained brilliance? The answer is the world’s fastest penny farthing. Swindon-based engineer, Greg Mitchell created the ‘Super-Farthing’ in his spare time from the ashes of his former business assets, fitting the project in between family life and a full-time job by climbing out of bed at 3am most mornings to crack on with his creation.
The guys at the YouTube channel BUM are known lunatics. Emerging from the YouTube channel Grind Hard Plumbing Co, they’ve taken the platform by storm with increasingly chaotic videos full of custom insanity and wanton abandon toward their own health and well-being. I mean, these are the folks who took a mobility scooter and said, “It needs a Harbor Freight Predator motor and wheelie bars!”
And the group’s latest video is no different.
Now, back in the day, trikes were all the rage. Until people started dying and getting seriously injured that is. But for a second, nearly every manufacturer built and sold a trike designed for off-roading. And, usually, they’d be powered by a modestly powerful engine. Not huge, but still more than enough for an ER visit by whoever rode them. Read more…
There’s no shortage of insanity-induced projects on the web. From twin Hayabusa-engined crosskarts, Zero-powered trikes, ATV robot dogs, and Harley snowbikes, the denizens of the internet are nothing if not resourceful with the leftover parts that they have in their garages, as well as psychotic. And that’s why we love them, as they give us endless amounts of time-wasting fun through their build and drive videos.
I mean, I think I lost a full day’s worth of work watching Grind Hard Plumbing Co’s build of the monster chopper KTM, as well as another day as they shredded their yard, and went up to Sturgis. Read more…
Councils will receive £1.6 billion in funding to repair roads and fill potholes in 2025, the Government has announced.
The investment – an increase of nearly 50% on local road maintenance funding from last year – is estimated to be enough to fix the equivalent of more than seven million extra potholes in 2025 to 2026.
The Government says fixing roads and filling potholes not only makes roads safer, but also improves journey times and saves drivers money from avoidable repairs.
Sir Keir Starmer, prime minister, said: “Broken roads can risk lives and cost families hundreds if not thousands of pounds on repairs. That’s a cost that can easily be avoided by investing properly in our roads. Read more…
Every death and serious injury on the road is a preventable tragedy. Yet, on average, five people die every day on the road in the UK and 82 are seriously injured (10-year average from 2013-2022). This has to change. Help us by sticking to the rules of the road. Brake, the road safety charity
Biogas from seaweed – the latest ‘save the ICE’ dream
Every few weeks, there’s another article pushing biogas as the solution to keeping the internal combustion engine running, and the latest enthusiastic story is all about seaweed being processed in Barbados to create the fuel, which the writer claims, could be used to power motorcycles and other ICE engined vehicles.
It’s true – you can burn biogas in a suitably modified engine, and I reported just recently that Bajaj, fuelled (sic) by the succes of their compressed natural gas powered machines, are now looking at the potential of producing biogas from agricultural waste. Read more…
Know the speed limit when turning at junctions
I was watching a YouTube video recently where a rider was explaining how he’d failed his bike test with just one fault – speeding. What happened? He emerged from a junction, spotted a 50 sign further up the road he’d turned into, so zipped up to 50.
At that point, the examiner told him to slow down and that the actual speed limit was 30 mph. Test fail. It’s not the first time I’ve heard that as a problem on a driving test. But it got me thinking about the difficulties of spotting speed limit signs as we turn in and out of junctions. Read more…
Inaccurate content helps nobody
As you probably know, my Science Of Being Seen work has seen me devote more than a decade to understanding why the ‘Sorry Mate I Didnt’ See You’ collision actually happens, as well as to come up with same ways to avoid being caught out by a SMIDSY incident.
Back in June last year (2024) I asked in my live webcast Elevenses:
“What does Scotland have planned to reduce bike crashes?” Read more…
Looking for an upgrade? Start with your brain
Motorcyclists love upgrading. They upgrade to a better bike. They upgrade components on that machine. The problem is that they may make the machine more capable, but does nothing for the rider’s ability to change speed and direction.
They upgrade their helmets. They upgrade their riding kit. Every upgrade to kit may make crashing more survivable but does nothing to help riders avoid a crash in the first place.
They upgrade their hard skills – some learn to brake harder (Mike Abbott of the British Superbike School has had a lot to say on that topic recently), some learn to corner harder on track, some learn to control them machine under hard acceleration at wheelie school and some learn to control the bike as it slithers around at an off-road school. But none of these really help the rider with the decision-making that puts the bike in the right place, at the right time at the right speed when riding into a sticky situation on the road. Read more…
Where’s your Limit Point?
When we’re riding, we have to be aware at all times just how far away in front of us our Limit Point, sometimes called the ‘Vanishing Point’, actually is. The Limit Point marks by definition – the furthest point down the road we can see. The crucial choice we have to make regards our speed.
The usual ‘rule’ that gets repeated is that we should “be able to stop in the distance we can see to be clear”. Read more…
IAM RoadSmart
Has it been a while since you passed your Advanced test? 
Are you aware of the OAP framework when out riding? 
National Motorcyclists Council
As we move forwards into 2025, it’s already clear that this will be a busy year for motorcycling and the organisations which represent riders and other motorcycle sectors.
To kick off the year, attention is focusing on the Government’s consultation on a new Integrated Transport Strategy. This ‘Call for Ideas’ specifically asks for the views of ordinary motorcyclists, plus the views of motorcycle sector organisations. The National Motorcyclists Council (NMC) is urging riders to respond to the consultation and set out their views on what Government should be doing for motorcycling before the consultation closes on January 30th .Read more…
SOME LIGHT AT THE END OF THE POTHOLE
POTHOLE PARTNERSHIP REVEALS IMPROVING PICTURE ON NATIONAL POTHOLE DAY
- The AA attended 643,318 pothole related incidents in 2024, down compared to previous year
- Partnership urges councils to make permanent repairs a priority over temporary fixes
- Drop in pothole incidents coincides with rise in repair costs
- Pothole damage costs drivers whopping £579m
The Pothole Partnership is calling for more permanent repairs and greater use of innovation and technology on National Pothole Day (15 January) to reduce vehicle damage and injuries to cyclists and motorcycle riders. Read more…
FEMA
The European Council wants to make it mandatory to hand in motorcycles when the have come to ‘the end of their life’.
A majority of EU member states wants to include motorcycles in the new Regulation on circularity requirements for vehicle design and on management of end-of-life vehicles (end-of-life vehicle means a vehicle which is waste or vehicles that are irreparable). Some members did ask for more data and for feasibility studies when it comes to inclusion of motorcycles and other powered two- and three-wheelers. This is the outcome of an environment meeting of the European Council on Tuesday 17 December 2024. The Hungarian presidency of the European Union was not able to complete the end-of-life dossier and reach a Council position, so it will now be handled by the Polish presidency, which will start from January 2025. Read more…
Filtering through a traffic jam on a motorcycle has finally become legal in France. After 26 years of fierce fighting this already well-established practice is recognized.
French motorcyclists’ organisation FFMC – a member of FEMA – calls it ‘A major step forward that marks a decisive step in road sharing and user safety’.
A step forward for road sharing and mobility
Filtering, although generally practiced by many bikers, was in a legal grey area until now, often tolerated, rarely sanctioned. And since 2016 the authorities experimented with it. After almost ten long years of experimentation, this legalization brings official recognition to a practice that helps to smooth traffic flow and reduce traffic jams. Read more…
British Motorcyclists Federation
POTHOLE PARTNERSHIP REVEALS IMPROVING PICTURE ON NATIONAL POTHOLE DAY
• The AA attended 643,318 pothole related incidents in 2024, down compared to previous year
• Partnership urges councils to make permanent repairs a priority over temporary fixes
• Drop in pothole incidents coincides with rise in repair costs
• Pothole damage costs drivers whopping £579m
The Pothole Partnership is calling for more permanent repairs and greater use of innovation and technology on National Pothole Day (15 January) to reduce vehicle damage and injuries to cyclists and motor cycle riders.
One year after launching, The Pothole Partnership is also supported by the British Motorcyclists Federation, IAM RoadSmart and TyreSafe. comprising of The AA, British Cycling, JCB and the National Motorcyclists Council and other supporting organisations, have welcomed the Government’s commitment to £1.6bn funding for local road maintenance in England but is pressing local authorities to up their game to the standards of the best by investing in more technology and proactive repairs. Read more…
New Rider Hub
What is Ridefree?
Ridefree is an award-winning enhancement to compulsory basic training (CBT), consisting of pre-course eLearning modules. Its aim is to help you prepare for your CBT and riding on the road.
How can it help me?
CBT should be an enjoyable experience. But there’s a lot to learn, and it’s normal to feel anxious about your first bike ride. The good news is that Ridefree will help you become a better and more confident rider…Read more.
Look after your bike/moped and it will look after you. Carrying out a few simple checks before each ride could save your life. Use POWDERS
Petrol
- Do you have enough for your journey?
- Is the reserve tap off?
- Check there are no leaks Read more…