Table of Contents
Editorial
The sun has shown its face this week and it was a very welcome sight. Pillion and I went to look at a new Triumph, but it definitely didn’t fit someone with arthritis and a hip replacement! As we’ve always said the bike has to fit the rider and the rider has to fit the bike! Pillion suggested that riding solo might be an option, but where is the fun in that!
We are looking at how we can link in with mental health networks to support any members that are struggling with life. It’s a work in progress. There is a reminder from Linda Hardy (Pillioness. Com) that the ‘wind in your hair’ and fully focussed riding is a great therapy. You can do it without hair too! There’s adventure riding in Bolivia, at 12,000 feet to blow the worries away.
The question is posed about the impact of electric vehicles on unrestricted autobahn speeds. The idea of a ‘custom bike’ is being stretched. Also, even though I like it, why are so many bikes having automatic gearing fitted? Take a look and you’ll see what I mean. Also look out of for the Lambretta scooter turned into a chopper bike. Very strange.
Kevin Williams provides the usual output for the ‘Thinking Biker’. He isn’t impressed by the latest compressed gas developments either. IAM RoadSmart have produced a poster to remind drivers and riders about doing POWDERY checks. They also remind us of what roundabouts in the UK used to look like. You know, those horticultural marvels with perfectly trimmed edges. We now have ‘vision blocking’ panels, weed strewn and painted round things to contend with. Happy reading.
SAM's Autumn Celebration
Online Motorcycling News
General
Combustion’s green future | Compressed Natural Gas bike from Bajaj banks planet-saving promises.
While many are focusing efforts on electric as the clean, green future, one company is turning to compressed natural gas as a low-cost, low-emission fuel. That brand is Bajaj, one of India’s largest bike companies and already a partner to both Triumph and KTM, cooperating on models including the Speed 400, Scrambler 400X, 390 Duke and 390 Adventure.
Why Isn’t a Vibration Dampener Standard On This Motorcycle Mount?
Don’t get me wrong; I’m glad that something like the Quad Lock Brake Reservoir Mount exists, but …
When you say the word “handlebar” to different riders, it means different things. Depending on what you ride, you might picture a tubular piece of steel in a certain shape and diameter, of course. Read more
Does Everything Count as a Wheelie When Riding This EV Monowheel?
Serious question, guys: Would you have a go on this thing? “Custom” is such a broad term. Slap some new aftermarket turn signals on your bike that you just got from a random shop? You’ve customized it. New mirrors? Same. Contrasting-color rim tape? It’s a customization hat trick! Read more
Could Electric Vehicles Spell the End of the De-restricted Autobahn?
Germany’s Autobahn network has long stood as the last bastion of legal speed on the public road, but could it now be under threat? Germany’s Autobahn network could be under threat, with environmental campaigners, the safety lobby and, weirdly, electric vehicles all touted as reasons for the possible decline of the unrestricted roads. Read more
Why Are Motorbikes Suddenly Going Automatic?
First Honda, now BMW, KTM, Yamaha and Kawasaki are introducing auto gearboxes. What’s going on? Automatic gearboxes and motorcycles have never really seen eye to eye. Scooters, sure, but when it comes to big-cc bikes riders resolutely prefer to keep control of their clutches and shifts. Until now…Read more
Rider Safety
SPOTLIGHT: Mental Health Motorbike
It’s 25 years ago, but still so vivid. At an exhibition, I was struck by a panic attack. The walls felt like they were closing in, I just wanted to get out. Somehow I held it together, but on the way home, waves of depression hit me. I was sent to a psychiatrist, who referred me to a hypnotherapist. She identified I’d been the victim of work bullying for over three years, my self-esteem eroded. Read more
Yes, riding a motorcycle is the most fun you can have.
But it also comes with a priceless bonus: wind therapy.
Getting your head out into the wind has miraculous results.
It doesn’t even matter if you’re the one riding the motorcycle.
Wind therapy happens when you’re sitting on the back of the bike as well.
As long as you’re on board that magical machine, you’ll reap the benefits. Read more
TVS EUROGRIP TYRES: We get under the skin
You’re absolutely spoilt for choice when it comes to selecting a new set of hoops for your pride and joy. There’re plenty of tried-and-tested options from the old guard of established tyre firms, but there’s also a growing range of more affordable rubber up for grabs. Here’s one firm you need to know about.
RIDING SKILLS: Use of speed
Motorcyclists can often rely on a natural speed advantage, whether it’s about accelerating off the traffic lights, or carving lines on country roads. But with great speeds comes great responsibility, and to make sure that your progress is not only speedy, but also safe for you and others, there’s more to it than just twisting the throttle and hoping for the best. We spoke to Enhanced Rider Scheme (ERS) trainer Ian Burchell from Phoenix Motorcycle Training, to find out what we need to do to make progress safely…Read more
Yes, absolutely! But read our complete guide before doing it yourself
Question: Can you plug a tubeless motorcycle tire? Answer: Yes, absolutely! If you put enough miles on your bike, you’re bound to face a puncture or two along the way. Nails, screws, and other roadway debris will try their best to spoil a Sunday ride, but a plug can get you back to civilization without too much effort. While these fixes are perfectly safe if performed correctly, not all punctures are suitable for repair. Get out your pencils and notebooks because today we will discuss everything you need to know about plugging tubeless motorcycle tires. Read more
This Is How Motorcycle Tires Grip in the Rain on Wet Roads
Leading motorcycle tire experts explain the science behind wet grip.
Adventure & Touring
A steady hum of crushed salt is the only sound at 12,000 feet as I rip across the white and blue desert, my view is broken by the melting colors of magma from a deceased volcano—the only proof I am not in outer space. It’s high noon in the middle of the Bolivian Altiplano. Read more
History & Custom
AW-DROPPING IRON FROM MECUM’S MONTEREY 2024 SALE
Mecum’s Monterey 2024 sale is swiftly approaching, and the U.S. auction powerhouse has a field of 100 vintage motorcycles selling August 15-17. With everything from turn-of-the-century cycles to a 2023 Ducati Lamborghini Streetfighter on the docket, there’s plenty to choose from, but we feel the following three Lots deserve to have their stories told. READ MORE »
Lambretta chopper is Rob’s masterpiece
It’s a Lambretta chopper like no other.
Part scooter, part Harley-Davidson, with a rear wheel from a Yamaha R1, Rob Johnson’s weird and wonderful creation is one of the most extreme of the breed.
The 60-year-old from King’s Lynn has form for devising eye-catching scooters – his Menace and 300 Lambrettas have won more than 150 awards between them – but the stunning chopper is perhaps his masterpiece.
Not that everyone agrees…Read more
Whiteknights Blood Bikes
SSCBB had a busy day yesterday with several time sensitive FMT deliveries. Our rider Chris H collected his delivery from the Birmingham Medical School at 7.30am and had a rendezvous with Andy from Whiteknights blood bikes at Barlborough on the M1. Andy then took the sample to Scotch Corner where he met Kevin from Northumbrian Blood Bikes who completed the delivery to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle on Tyne. Great teamwork between fellow blood bike groups. #itswhatwedo
South Yorkshire Safer Roads Partnership
Using a handheld mobile phone when driving or riding is both dangerous and illegal.Kevin Williams
Elevenses 445 Sun 14 July – motorcycle news, tips & views
in today’s show… Phoenix police pull over driverless Waymo… rider in Scotland makes off after collision leaves pedestrian critically injured… Swiss 2025 moto trade fair cancelled… Moto Front Sling – a ‘must-have travel accessory’… Oxford camouflage luggage perfect for summer gloom… Mosko Mule Pico tank bag costs £140 per litre of storage… KTM look to file mid-range model hole with 650 and 450 twins from Bajaj and CFMoto… Italjet create a 700 twin Dragster… in-depth today – online hazard perception training course delivers 1000 years of crash experience in three hours…Watch here
I recently came across a research paper with the snappy title of:
‘A thousand years of crash experience in three hours: An online hazard perception training course for drivers’
Published in March 2021 in the journal ‘Accident Analysis and Prevention’, this paper by Mark Horswill, Andrew Hill, Likitha Silapurem and Marcus Watson reports on a 6-week video-based online hazard perception training course for drivers. Read more
Information links – from front wheel to the Limit Point
This short series of articles on ‘observation’ has explained the starting point for gathering information is not simply gazing ahead and hoping to pick up ‘information’ – but being able to use vision very precisely to seek answers to a cascade of interlocking questions: Read more
Elevenses 446 Wed 17 Jul – motorcycle news, tips & views
in today’s show… why are Traffic Scotland turning off 100 fixed speed cameras… drug-driving Ukrainian acquitted in deaths of seven motorcyclists tries to get his US licence back… Kazakhstan MotoGP officially cancelled… new battery technology 1 – carbon fibre electrodes… new battery technology 2 – ‘large crystal’ nickel cathodes… battery-swapping off-road e-bike likely from Kawasaki… BMW confirms auto-gearbox for GS1300… Yamaha’s new electric gearbox… UK’s Maeving launches in California… in-depth today… defuse, don’t inflame…Watch here
Effective observation is a learned behaviour
We hear a lot about the importance of ‘effective observation’ when talking about motorcycle riding. But making observation effective is NOT simply ‘looking harder’.
To see what we need to see, first we have to learn what to look for. And that means understanding our riding environment because the threats change depending on where we’re riding. Watch here
“Everybody knows that”… well, they do now!
When I first started delivering my Science Of Being Seen (#SOBS) presentation in 2012, a talk that attempted to get beyond the daft ‘drivers don’t look properly’ myth* that so many riders, cyclists and even road safety experts still subscribe to, I was greeted with considerable disbelief. Read more
It’s summer – dealing with holiday queues
A question appeared on the Bennetts BikeSocial pages recently, about passing down the outside of a stationary queue on the wrong side of a solid line. Here’s what journo Steve Rose had to say: Read more
Elevenses 447 Sun 21 July – motorcycle news, tips & views
in today’s show… images released of suspect in Dalston shooting… three dead in head-on bike crash at Faro motorcycle festival… two shot dead, bikes burned in anti-government demonstrations in Kenya… £10k damage to Dundee golf cause caused by nuisance bikers… biker who lost leg wins strongest disabled man competition… Gryffin 450 retro-enduro comes at a price… Royal Enfield’s Guerrilla priced to compete… in-depth today – the realities of the Baja CNG-fuelled bike…Watch here
Motorcycling Organsiations
IAM RoadSmart
REACTION: IAM RoadSmart comments on the King’s Speech
AM RoadSmart Director of Policy and Standards Nicholas Lyes said: “While it is early days, this programme does not seem to offer a great deal on improving safety on our road network. Additionally, we would have also liked to see some vision on how the Government intends to fix our crumbling road network. A commitment to an infrastructure plan for roads renewal and an updated road safety strategy must be priority areas for Ministers.” Read more
Jungle Jamborees and Tuk-Tuk Tales: A Wild Ride on Sri Lanka’s Roads by IAM RoadSmart member Christopher Hill.
I am afraid I am a bit of a dinosaur, having passed my advanced motorcycle test back around 1988, when “Can My Safety Be Guaranteed Always?” was permanently implanted and is still my mantra. I also have a hang-up from being assessed for a driving job in London when the potential employer pointed out to me, “You can’t stop or steer with a horn” (so don’t use it much). Leaving that aside, earlier this year I visited Sri Lanka and, after being driven around the South Asian island, thought I’d share my experience. Read more
BLYTON PARK SKILLS DAYS
IAM RoadSmart are running Car and Motorcycle Skills Days in Blyton Park.
OUR MOTORCYCLE SKILLS DAY IS NOW SOLD OUT. Read more
Download them here and check out our other road safety posters.
Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, is home to the first roundabout in the UK which was named Sollershott Circus. 
National Motorcyclists Council
Today’s King’s Speech has set out the Government’s priorities for the new parliamentary session. Although nearly 40 new Bills point to a busy session for both MPs and Ministers, there is so far little in the way of announcements in areas of direct relevance to motorcycling. Although measures are planned in a new Crime and Policing Bill to create new powers to tackle the dangerous and anti social use of off-road bikes and another Bill on product safety will aim to address battery safety for eBikes, there is no specific Transport Bill. Rail and Bus privatisation are to be dealt with via specifically targeted Bills. Read more
FEMA
Swedish Riders: ‘Electric Rails Are Dangerous For Motorcyclists’
For five years there has been a light rail on Getingevägen in Lund. The rail has provided power for electric buses that are charged when the bus comes close to the rail. The project is called EVolution Road and has been financed by the Swedish Transport Administration. Now the project must be evaluated. In connection with this, enthusiastic articles have appeared in various media, where project manager Per Löfberg states that the light rail on the road “is a very good idea”. Read more
British Motorcyclists Federation
BMF Get Together At The Lakeside Diner
BMF Get Together at The Lakeside Diner at Mallory Park Racing Circuit, Leicestershire.
Come along and have a meet up in the centre of Mallory Park circuit! Whether you’re a BMF member or not, we invite you to ride in and park up centre circuit, meet up and chat with fellow bikers. A place to make friends and talk all things bikes in a fabulous location. Read more
New Rider Hub
But whatever the weather, make sure you always wear the correct protective clothing. Here’s why!Next SAM Club Night
2nd September 2024
SAM Chair’s Annual Ride Out
It’s a mystery ride
6.30pm start at
Meadowhall Retail Park
Attercliffe Road
Sheffield S9 2YZ
Next SAM Committee Meeting
28th August 2024
Details to be arranged