Dates For Your Diary
Next meeting is with Gream Feast, road safety consultant, on 9 Sep at Liddington Village Hall
Planning for Monday club nights is underway with the emphasis being on a particular RoadCraft topic. This is being developed so watch this space!
SkillShare
3 August 2024 meeting at the Dandy Highwayman Cafe Cherhill. 9.30 am for 10 am start
Bike Ride-Outs on the 3rd Saturday of every even numbered month and the 3rd Sunday of every odd numbered Month. Email will be sent out to Bikers and added to the Forum.
Next ride out Saturday 17 Aug . Details will be forthcoming via email to all bike members.
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Do you have a topic you would like discussed, or know of an interesting speaker? Please contact speaker at speakers@wiltshireroadar.co.uk |
Congratulations
Congratulations to the following members who have passed their Advanced Tests recently:
Laila Rhodes Car Silver
Scott Bonnell Bike Gold
Please welcome the following to the Group:
Car
Jeremy Lowe
Victoria Turton
Andrew Turton
Tom Young
Bike
Mark Oliver
Elizabeth Rutherford
Fru Murray
Chris Drye
Hannah Hughes
Keith Lee
Donna Stanton
Taco Jankman
Karl Sorenson
Stuart Peterson
Kyle Ashton
Genevieve Helm
Harry Helm
Lucy O’Malley
Andrew Holland
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Don’t forget that we have a range of clothing available to purchase. We also offer a range of books, such as Roadcraft, Motorcycle Roadcraft and the Highway Code, and these are available at discounted prices.
For more information visit the Merchandise page of our web site |
We are always looking for more articles, ideas and news for the newsletter. Have you been somewhere interesting recently that would make a good story? If you attend any group events then take a camera and send us your pictures!
Please forward all contributions to newsletter@wiltshireroadar.co.uk |
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We had a great month for new members due to an event we set up for female bikers and the Calne Bike Meet and I welcome them all and hope they enjoy imrpoving their driving and riding. It seems there are people interested in advanced driving and riding and the value for money offer of training with Wiltshire RoADAR attracted more then we have had before at similar events. I sense the personal approach by the volunteers who were able to discuss the process and their personal experience really helped. I hope the enthusiasm lasts once the training begins! There were plenty of people, however, who were content with their skills as they “have been doing it for years”. I think we could debate the argument of experience versus training (plus the combination of both!) for ages so I will not try and do it here but I suspect you already know my view.
I spent a lot of time riding in France and Spain this month (lucky me) which was fantastic. Great roads with little traffic (I did keep off the motorways), amazing places mostly found by accident (and some planned visits) and lots of sunshine (it was 38 degrees as I filtered through Zaragoza which was particularly challenging). I have put some thoughts together in an article later in the newsletter but suffice to say it was easy to do and great fun. I am trying to plan another trip and identifying a time in the diary and a reason to go (a reason is is NOT needed!). I thoroughly recommend a road trip to discover new places and cultures. I am also aware there are many places in the UK I have not visited, at least not in a similar fashion, so I will be heading off to explore closer to home as well.
We will be returning to monthly meetings in October – the second Monday of each month. I am grateful to Peter Genet and Steve Tucker who have developed the programme of talks and discussions. Please put these in your diary now and come along when you can. We will get stronger as a group and retain more members if we improve our social gatherings.
Stay safe.
Bob |
Car Tutor Needed
Car drivers, are you ready for the next step? We have a vacancy for a tutor. If you have a current Gold or Silver certificate, would like to further your skills and spread the word about advanced driving, we’d love to hear from you.
You need to be a good communicator, and willing to spend the time to get your skills and knowledge over to others. Training and support will be provided.
If you are in interested please get in touch with Nick Carrington
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Calne Bike Meet 27 July
Thank you to all who came along to help at our stand at the Calne Bike Meet. We had a busy day helped by Phill Colbourne’s new bike attracting attention, having enough people to chat to those who were interested in advanced driving and riding and the value for money of our offering compared to other organisations (IAM now charge £215 for their course and test which needs to be paid up front).
The Calne Bike Meet is the biggest free bike event in Europe and we managed to take advantage of the turnout, and our charming personality, and recruit 3 car drivers and 11 bikers. Our tutors will be busy. Welcome to all our new members.
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Changes to Parking Charges in Bath
Bath and North East Somerset Council (BaNES) have gone out to public consultation regarding the increase in car parking charges and the introduction of motorcycle parking charges.
The introduction in motorcycle charges is not surprising but the way in which they are comparing bikes to car emission is, perhaps, unfair. The attached table shows the basis on which the council will be charging motorcycles. It's worth mentioning that less than 5% of motorcycles have their CO2 output listed on the DVLA database, so a 601cc machine could be charged the same to park as a 3ltr diesel Range Rover! Whilst it explains they are trying to reduce emissions and encourage people to take more sustainable transport this does seem a bit over the top.
The consultation ends on 8th August, so if you would like your say on the subject, simply follow the link below where there is an online form which needs to be completed by 8 AUG 2024.
Do have your say!
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Wiltshire RoADAR meet the Lady bikers from Mischief and Mayhem
On Saturday 20 th July, six lady bikers from the FaceBook group, Mischief and Mayhem –
Lady Bikers, attended a free introductory advanced riding session. Our hosts for the
morning were Moto Cave, Swindon which offered a friendly and relaxed
environment.
The day started with a series of slides introducing Wiltshire RoADAR and what
Advanced riding is, and what it is not; followed by an on the road observed ride. Six
tutors volunteered for the event which enabled the on-the road session to be one-to-
one.
The presentation was, we hope, relaxed and informative. It became a two-way
discussion with questions being asked, and answers provided from all the tutors.
At the end of the morning, three riders signed up with one more planning to once she
had gained her full licence in September.
We believe this was successful, learnt several lessons, and plan to hold another one
in the near future. Dates to be confirmed.
If this is something any group of riders or drivers would like to do, then we can do a similar event.
Peter Genet
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Call for Mandatory Safety Features in All New Cars
More than 50 organisations and individuals from across the road safety community have written a joint letter to the new transport secretary, Louise Haigh MP, urging the Government to prioritise vehicle safety.
The consensus letter, led by Brake and AXA UK, is a direct request to the Government to adopt the latest vehicle General Safety Regulation updates to the existing GB Type Approval Scheme. The regulations, which were implemented in full across Europe two years ago, mandate driver assistance features such as intelligent speed assistance, advanced emergency braking and driver- drowsiness-detection systems.
They also cover key measures that improve vehicle crash performance and will significantly improve the protection of women and the elderly in the event of a collision.
It has been estimated that adopting the full package of measures in Britain could prevent more than 1,700 deaths and 15,000 serious injuries over the next 16 years, saving up to £7 billion in health costs.
The UK played a significant role in the development of the Vehicle General Safety Regulation when it was part of the European Union.
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BMA demand actoin on drink and drug driving
The President, Sir Ian Gilmore of The British Medical Association (BMA) is calling for more action on drink and drug driving to save hundreds of lives just by implementing ‘all necessary policy measures’ to stop drink and drug driving concluding that more needs to be done to implement enforcement and education on the subject.
The BMA has worked with medical professional bodies, alcohol harm and road safety charities and campaign groups and police and emergency services who have jointly produced a coordinated statement on alcohol, drugs and driving.
The statement includes recommendations around:
• Lowering the BAC limit for driving
• Ensuring enforcement and educating the public
• Increasing alcohol and drug treatment service capacity and capabilities and directing those
services
• Implementing other preventative policies such as mandatory labelling of all alcohol products to include health risks and warnings not to drive if drinking.
Also highlighted in the statement is a stressing of the need to situate drink and drug driving harm in the context of the broader harms caused by alcohol and other drugs and associated health inequalities and calls on governments across the UK to recognise that measures must be implemented.
England, Wales, and Northern Ireland currently have the highest legal BAC (blood alcohol content) limit for driving in Europe, at 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. Drink driving caused 260 fatalities in 2021 in Great Britain, the highest it has been since 2009. When it comes to drug driving, the calculations are more difficult due to the lack of clear information and statistics available. However, drug driving collisions in Great Britain have escalated by over 60% between 2014 and 2019, painting an incredibly bleak picture of the current situation.
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Have you been up to anything to do with Riding or Driving lately? If so, then please let us know as we would love to include it here; photos would be great too!
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Trip to France and Spain
I covered 3000 miles in 2 weeks (over a 3 week period as I spent some time with friends in Spain) travelling through France and Spain. Rather than just let you know what I did and where I went, I thought I would write a few notes about how I did it and include some lessons learnt from my experience. I hope this is useful and if I can do it, any of you can. It does take some preparation but most of it (thanks to smartphones) can be done on the hoof!
Preparation and vehicle choice
Your vehicle needs to be fully fit and able to last the journey time and distance (think pre journey checks as well as daily checks and servicing schedules). I am lucky and have more than one motorcycle and the one I chose to take was an adventure bike which, whilst it can easily maintain the national speed limit, is best in the 40 – 60 mph bracket. The longer travel suspension was useful on some of the roads I used (France and Spain have hardly any pot holes but plenty of bumps in the roads).
I had pre booked ferries to get to France (Dover – Calais) and returning from Caen to Portsmouth. The latter was a flexible ticket in case my plans changed (which they did). I had a rough idea of where I was going to stop each night as I planned to cover about 350 km per day avoiding motorways and dual carriageways. I planned routes using maps and my satnav with only a few hard and fast locations to visit (Loos Commonwealth war grave to pay my respects to my great grandfather, Oradore Sur Glane (a memorial village left virtually untouched since the Waffen SS killed all the villagers in 1944), Zaragoza – I had heard it is lovely – it is! and Normandy beaches on the way home.
Navigation
I had paper maps of all the areas in which I was travelling. I also used a Beeline Satnav (links to an app on my phone) which performed brilliantly except in cities with complex one-way systems (where I had to rely on Google maps to find one hotel!). I asked the satnav to take me on fun routes for motorcycles and it did so with aplomb. I followed my progress on my map (in a map case on the top of my tank bag) so if all else failed I know where I was and could navigate to where I was planning to go. I was often on roads not marked on the map but this was not an issue as after half an hour or so I could locate where I was – I was never really lost!
Each night I planned the next days riding in conjunction with booking.com and air BnB apps to help me find accommodation at a reasonable price. I always had a comfortable night and also found some absolute gems by pure luck. Three of note were a Vineyard near Utiel in Spain (nice wine as well); Anso, a beautiful village in the Spanish foothills of the Pyrenees and my B&B in Carantan in Normandy (which coincidentally was run by a French farmer who was an expert in military Jeeps and DUKW and had fascinating collection of both).
Distance
I had plenty of time to make my journey and settled into the routine of about 350km per day. I had a riding companion through France which made it interesting. I had not ridden with him before and I think it always pays to do a practice run so you get to know each others’ idiosyncrasies. It was never a problem, but it took us a few days to get into a joint routine. It was good to have someone to share the highs and lows of the journey.
Once I moved into Spain I was on my own and whilst I could have done more distance each day it was clear fatigue was setting in towards the early afternoon so the target of 350 km remained. I had noticed a few mistakes as I tired and discretion was the better part of valour; 7 to 8 hours riding per day is enough.
Maintenance
The only issue the bike had (it was otherwise flawless) was a coolant leak which developed on day one in France. It was minor and despite trying to get it fixed in France and Spain (thank you to my O level French and Google translate!) I continued with the leak and only had to top up the reservoir twice in 3000 miles – I have the parts to fix it now I am home.
I travelled with tools, tyre levers and some minor spares all of which stayed in my panniers. Daily pre ride checks were the only things I did – except add fuel obvs!
Driving in France and Spain
This was fantastic and the system of motorcycle control works well. The roads were generally well maintained and a pleasure to use; there were some bumpy sections but this added to the challenge and the enjoyment. I was caught out by the “priority from the right” a couple of times when in towns but otherwise road signs were clear and accurate. I stuck to the speed limits (as you would expect!) and was often overtaken by cars but I was not in a rush and progress was made where possible.
A baguette dispensing machine! - who knew
I went through some lovely areas and villages and there was hardly any litter. Nearly every town and village had a 30 km/h zone enforced with large traffic calming measures – these worked and I think we should stop complaining about the 20 mph limits (may get some abuse for this statement). The people I met were great and the food amazing.
Conclusion
A fantastic trip – even though I did not see any views from the Pyrenees as it was raining on the way down and the way back! If you have the time I really recommend travelling abroad and taking in some of the sights and culture away from UK. I will undertake a similar trip in UK to see what it has to offer if I plan routes in the same way – I am sure I will find some hidden gems here as well.
Bob Fram
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Driven Ohm Racing - 2024
After a busy month of May on the road in Europe, it was back to normal in June for the race team. Once again the cars were prepared by Darren from 119 Racing.
The third meeting for Hot Hatch was on June 16th. Max was away on holiday in Japan, so there were only three cars out. Dan in car 265, Ben in 887 and Gary in the 119 Racing car.
We had the usual format of qualifying and two races. All three of the cars managed to get near to their personal best times in qualifying. Dan getting P4 in class C. Ben also in P4, Gary in P3 for class E.
The weather was pretty warm, with a fully dry track. Race 1 was quite clean for the Hot Hatches, with all three of the cars finishing in the positions they started. Ben had a few issues with a slipping drive belt, which gave him some intermittent power drops, as the supercharger would lose boost. He scored a best place of P4. Gary was up ahead in 3rd place in class, with Daniel finishing 4th in class C.
Race two started well, with Gary jumping past one of the other Minis after a fast start and was on the rear of the leader when the race was stopped due to an accident. Sadly, Daniel picked up a puncture on the broken glass from the accident and could not take the restart. Gary wasn't quite as lucky on the restart and slotted into third right behind the other two class E Minis ahead of him. As the race unfolded the engine temperature started to climb alarmingly, so he backed off the pace to preserve the engine, managing the gap to the 4th placed car of Ben to score a 6th podium for the year's 6 races so far. Ben's two 4th place finishes give him a step up in the championship for the year.
Gary had a tribute in his helmet for a fellow instructor from Thruxton, who sadly passed away in May.
The next rounds are August 3rd and again August 29th with all 4 of the team cars due to compete.
Gary Franks
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Promotional activities
Successfully supported by Wiltshire RoADAR motorcycle tutors and WABAM Observers. Final confirmed date for the year is:
If you have any ideas for events, then please get in touch with the committee using the committee email address :
Look forward to hearing and discussing your ideas.
Presentation material
A generic set of slides has been created for use if you are asked about Wiltshire RoADAR and have the opportunity to present. This could be at a local club, workplace etc. Please send a mail to committee@wiltshireroadar.co.uk and the slides will be sent over to you.
We also have flyers and business cards so ask for these via the same means.
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Booking a Retest
Please be aware you need to book your 3 yearly retest directly with RoSPA via their website. Sadly we cannot book it for you as it is all done electronically. You may also need to check when your re-test is due if you have not been paying your subscriptions to RoADAR as they will not remind you.
Tutors will be happy to conduct a refresh should you wish one prior to a re test.
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Membership and GDPR
Due to GDPR we are required to remove an individual's details from our Group database when they are no longer required by us. We remove a lapsed member's details if they have not paid a subscription by the 31 Dec following the AGM (3 months after the subscriptions are due). If a member has forgotten to pay their subs and pays after 31 Dec we will require a joining form to be completed so we can replace them on the database.
It all seems a bit strange, but we do not want to get on the wrong side of the Government's Information Commissioner. We understand if members forget or are late with their subscriptions, but please help us to keep our database accurate and compliant.
This is, of course, separate to those of you who maintain a membership with RoADAR HQ.
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Media coordinator - Help us to broaden our reach
To help promote the group we have a variety of online media platforms, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter. To help make the most out of the opportunities that these outlets provide, we could use some help from someone who has experience of using such tools. Drop me a line at secretary@wiltshireroadar.co.uk if you would be interested in helping promote our group.
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Committee minutes
These are available from the Group Secretary if any member wishes to see them. If you are interested in reading the minutes, then please send a mail to the Group Secretary whom will promptly forward them onto you.
Test results
Reminder to let the Membership Secretary and your tutor know when you have taken your Advanced Driving/Riding Test and result. This is so our database is kept up to date; there is no need or pressure at all to have the result published on the website or in this newsletter if you wish to keep your result confidential.
If you have read this far, thanks! If you have any feedback or suggestions about content for your newsletter, then drop us a line at newsletter@wiltshireroadar.co.uk If you can't leave constructive feedback though, then we don't want to hear from you!
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