Welcome to the latest edition of the Survival Skills Rider Training newsletter, which goes out on Thursdays and covers my Facebook posts up to Wednesday. Survival Skills is all about helping you improve your knowledge, your skills, and your understanding of ‘better biking’ and I won’t take up half your day with random ads or product placement! All you get are links to my ‘better biking’ posts of Facebook.
TRAINING – it’s the last weekend of summer and the outlook for the bank holiday weekend and a few days beyond is still and mild, if not particularly warm and sunny. So we shouldn’t need the WET WEATHER GUARANTEE that avoids having training disrupted by poor weather. September and October can be some of the best riding of the year so it’s still a great time to book an on-road course from my Ride4Fun and Ride2Work range, and until mid-September the evenings are long enough to take a RIDING ASSESSMENT. I am taking bookings to the end of September. Visit www.survivalskills.co.uk for more info on training courses. You can also download the latest information PDF here. Or drop me a line at info@survivalskills.co.uk.
And of course, I’m also available for ONLINE COACHING sessions immediately.
READ ONE THING – if you’re pushed for time, have a look at Monday’s ‘The force of the collision threw me…’ post. It’s a report on another rehash of the tired old driver awareness approach to motorcycle safety!
NEXT LIVE PRESENTATIONS – I’ve now scheduled the next two live talks. On Wednesday 1 September, we’ll look at CORNERING WITH CONFIDENCE – a 45 minute talk about how to incorporate the Survival Skills ‘reference points’ into your own cornering technique and get a reliable road map for bends! Tickets cost £5. Here’s the booking link:
WEDNESDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2021 AT 20:00
And on Wednesday 6 October, I’ll be running the SCIENCE OF BEING SEEN again. The presentation has just been featured on the Devitt motorcycle features pages:
www.devittinsurance.com/guides/motorcycle-features/the-science-of-being-seen/
So here’s your chance to catch the presentation previously used as the third module at most Biker Down courses – BUT IN FULL and UPDATED. Tickets cost £5. Here’s the booking link:
WEDNESDAY, 6 OCTOBER 2021 AT 20:00
CLUB & GROUP TALKS – I’ve just delivered my latest rider group talk and have several for later in the diary. If you’d like me to arrange something for your own group or club, get in touch. As well as the ‘Science Of Being Seen’ and ‘Crash Course (as in “how not to…”) presentations, I have a selection of others on various riding issues. Drop me a line to sort something out.
AUGUST FLASH SALE – 15% off Survival Skills books. Ready to save on some ‘better biking’ reading material? SAVE 15% on my paperbacks till midnight tomorrow! Use code TEXTBOOK15 at the checkout www.lulu.com/spotlight/survivalskills
NEXT FREE Ko-Fi WEBINAR – exclusive to my supporters on Ko-Fi, look out for a FREE and EXCLUSIVE 60 minute live ‘better biking’ webinar but with the usual Survival Skills twist! WANT TO WATCH? Just sign up as a SUPPORTER from as little as £3 and find it in the supporter area!
MONDAY 6 SEPTEMBER – details coming soon!
THIS WEEK ON FACEBOOK
*** COMMENT *** “This riding tip could save your life”
…Or not. As usual, I’m a sucker for the attention-grabbing tagline. As I’m sure you know, a business will use a tagline. It’s not supposed to tell you anything about the brand or business, it’s just a teaser to get your interest and draw you in to find out more. And it’s a common approach in the internet too – an attention-grabbing headline pulls you into watching a video or reading an article.
And predictably, it’s a … See more
*** TRAINING *** Last Minute Availability
Right now, the following dates are available at short notice – SEVEN DAY AVAILABILITY:
SAT 28 Aug – PM EVE
SUN – PM EVE… See more
*** ELEVENSES *** Elevenses 166 Wed 25 Aug
In today’s webcast… Stuart Garner faces court over Norton pension fund raids… Sturgis rally sends COVID figures soaring in South Dakota for second year… new R9 will plug affordable sportsbike gap… Yamaha has limited plans for electric PTWs… Scarborough Gold Cup meet cancelled amidst safety and insurance issues… bikes banned from Pikes Peak hillclimb… today’s talking point: waterproofs – why aren’t they?
Make a brew, … See more
*** FACEBOOK ARCHIVE *** All the 2018 posts…
…are now available to read in one place! Well, that’s all the TIPS on TUESDAY and SKILLS on SATURDAY ‘better biking’ articles, anyway.
I’ve finally got them all up on my supporters page at Ko-Fi. You can find them at:… See more
*** TIPS ON TUESDAY *** See the (yellow) light
If you’ve done an on-road bike training course with me, you’ll undoubtedly have noticed that I habitually wear a pair of yellow glasses under my helmet. And you may wonder why!
There are actually several reasons. … See more
*** COMMENT *** “The force of the collision threw me…”
Back in the spring, one of our fire services launched a rider safety new campaign. It was, truth be told, yet another rehash of a well-worn theme – an “appeal for driver awareness of motorcycles” based on the emotive report of a real-life involving a firefighter.
The story offered to the local press told how the firefighter had “suffered severe leg damage after crashing into a car that pulled out in front of his motor… See more
*** ELEVENSES *** Elevenses 165 Sun 22 Aug
In today’s webcast… another week, another bike safety campaign… Suzuka 8 hours and Malay MotoGP cancelled… Maverick Vinales sacked with immediate effect… electric bike company to build ‘world’s biggest motorcycle factory’… oil in recyclable containers… today’s better biking tip – overtaking and when it all goes wrong…
Make a brew, grab a biscuit and pull up a chair ready to tune in to the ‘ELEVENSES’ LIVE webcast. Joi… See more
*** SKILLS ON SATURDAY *** Out of sight, out of…
Years ago, I was riding down Shaftsbury Avenue, towards Picadilly Circus. As the traffic was jam-packed as usual, I was filtering. And as there are side turnings every few dozen metres all the way down the road’s length, I was filtering quite cautiously, expecting vehicles in either queue to turn right, or for others to emerge from the side roads into my path.
Meanwhile there was another courier who clearly wasn’t being so … See more
*** SOBS *** Feedback from couriers past and present
As you probably know, the Science Of Being Seen project got a great write-up on the Devitt Insurance website just over a week ago. I popped the link up on a few Facebook groups that I’m associated with and on one in particular – the ‘London and UK Couriers Past and Present’ group – I got some really thoughtful comments.
One that got me thinking was from Kev who said:… See more
*** 60 Second Safety *** Braking IN corners
As we saw in the previous video, ideally we get all braking completed BEFORE we reach a corner, so we can get the throttle open again, steer round the bend on a little positive power to keep the bike well-balanced, before accelerating upright and away from the corner.
But it’s not always possible to do this. … See more
THAT’S IT FOR THIS WEEK – so finally SHARE THE NEWS!
Please Please PLEASE pass on the newsletter to biking family and friends. Let’s get everyone we know ‘better biking’.
See you next week
Kevin Williams
Survival Skills Rider Training
