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 – Well, that was September and I’ve spent the last week on antibiotics getting over a bug – at least it wasn’t ManFlu, as that’s incurable. Hopefully October can still deliver some sunny, dry and mild weather though next week doesn’t look promising, so if you are looking to book an on-road course make sure to check out the WET WEATHER GUARANTEE that avoids having courses disrupted. I am currently taking bookings to end-October. 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.
Talking of the website, it has been given a bit of an upgrade! As well as some new articles about my courses and training generally, I’ve adds links to my EBOOK SHOP at Ko-Fi, my paperback BOOKSTORE at Lulu, the 60 SECOND SAFETY VIDEOS on YouTube, as well as the FACEBOOK ARCHIVE of 500+ better biking articles!
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 the mythbusting post on how often we need to check our tyres. Getting the gauge out every day really isn’t necessary – checking the tyre’s tread for foreign objects is… in my opinion anyway. Feel free to argue with me.
NEXT LIVE PRESENTATION – book up for SCIENCE OF BEING SEEN (SOBS)! Tickets cost £5. The presentation has just been featured on the Devitt motorcycle features pages:
www.devittinsurance.com/guides/motorcycle-features/the-science-of-being-seen/
Here’s your chance to catch the presentation used as the third module at most Biker Down courses from 2012 to 2020 – BUT IN FULL and UPDATED. Here’s the booking link:
WEDNESDAY, 6 OCTOBER 2021 AT 20:00
I’ll be running SOBS every two months so don’t panic if you can’t make it. And on Wednesday 3 November, there will be another talk – I’ll be talking about the technique of braking in corners.
CLUB & GROUP TALKS – I’ve just booked up my latest rider group talk and have a couple more in the diary for coming months. 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.
NEXT Ko-Fi WEBINAR – I planned to run this on Monday but due to other commitments, it will now run on MONDAY 4 OCTOBER. Free to all supporters & subscribers!
THIS WEEK ON FACEBOOK
*** ELEVENSES *** Elevenses 175 Wed 29 Sep
In today’s webcast… Harley rider dies after loss-of-control collision aged 93… man sets fire to bike in dispute with policeman in Bangladesh… eye study on drivers reveals the blindingly-obvious… new study shows economic value of two wheeler sector to economy… cheap scan claims to show if helmets are fit for use after drop… Suzuki launch latest variation-on-a-theme with GSX-S1000GT… Zero’s own GT pack free on a new SR/… See more
*** LATEST ON Ko-Fi *** March 2019 now up
I was struggling to sleep last night so rather than lie in bed awake, I dug into the Survival Skills archives and got the March ‘TIPS on TUESDAY’ and ‘SKILLS on SATURDAY’ posts up – spillchucked, with a bit of mild editing for clarity in a couple of posts and with an important update in one case.
That’s EIGHT more articles for the Ko-Fi page which now has well over SIX HUNDRED UNIQUE ARTICLES dating from 2014 to 2019 – and 2021’s pos… See more
*** TIPS ON TUESDAY *** Lean in / lean out? Or ride slower?
The last two Tuesday’s posts have been in response to FortNine’s “Leaning the wrong way” video on YouTube, a rapid response by MotoJitsu, and a slew of other commentaries on the issue…
…including my own. That’s because I felt that it was easy to miss one important messages in the videos, and to cover a couple of important extra points that weren’t brought up. … See more
*** COMMENT *** Mythbusting and tyres #1 – checking pressure
Motorcycles can only do two things – change of speed or direction. But the forces we apply to make those changes – accelerating, cornering, or braking – happens through the two hand-sized contact patches where rubber meets road.
Thus it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that tyres are a critical part of riding and deserve some careful consideration, and some routine care.… See more
*** ELEVENSES *** Elevenses 174 Sun 26 Sep
In today’s webcast… as DVSA seek to increase examiner workload union votes to strike… Royal Enfield sales on the up-and-up… and land first European race championship since 1956… Singapore e-scooter rider who caused motorcyclist to crash handed gets unusual punishment… the watch to own if you ride – apparently… today’s talking point – if there’s no incentive to develop ICE-powered bikes, where’s the next round of developm… See more
*** SKILLS ON SATURDAY *** New bike? Five skills to practise #3
Modern bikes are easier to ride, are more agile, and are more fun than ever! And they can get us into serious trouble in a fraction of a second. Even experienced riders get caught out, often when transitioning to new machines.
So some people say a motorcycle should move the heart as well as the head. I don’t know about that, but I do know this – the hips move the motorcycle!… See more
*** SCIENCE OF BEING SEEN *** Dazzle Camouflage
It is late 1917. After three years of war, the German navy’s increasingly sophisticated U-boat fleet is sinking merchant ships faster than they can be built. Ships sailing alone are picked off easily. Even convoys only offer limited protection. And attempts to camouflage them to make them invisible to the searching U-boats have been almost universally unsuccessful.
Critical times required radical thinking. Dazzle camouflage us… See more
*** 60 SECOND SAFETY *** #52 Mountain Roads – Might is Right
60 Second Safety is a series of short Better Biking tips from Survival Skills Rider Training.
Many mountain roads are single-track which means only room for one vehicle at a time. It’s likely we’ll catch slower cars and it’s a good idea not to get too close in case they stop suddenly. … 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
