Andy Pratt will be leading the first Monday ride of 2013.

There will be a mystery destination with what promises to be a very interesting demonstration of cutting edge bike kit, not to be missed!

Meet asda lorry park, 7pm Monday 8th April

There has been a slight name correction on the minutes, please find attached revised minutes.

HAB AGM 2013 Minutes

Paul

Firstly, what a great first ride, even better that the recce that Andy, Doug and I went on two weeks ago.  A good attendance and everyone seemed to be having a great time even in the sometimes challenging conditions.   I think we all got a lot out of this ride, enjoyment , confidence and a sense of achievement.

I had the luck to try out the new water cooled BMW R1200GS over the weekend of the Ride Out.   Alan Jefferies were kind enough to lend me the demonstrator from Saturday afternoon through to Monday morning.   I was really looking forward to trying the bike on the narrow roads of our Ride Out which I hoped would put it to the test.   As things turned out the ride proved to be a better test than I could have imagined.   I was comfortable with the bike right from the start, except trying to remember which buttons did what on the extensive menu of electronic options available on this version of the bike.  The bike was quite tall but it always felt stable at slow speeds and was easy to ride feet up in most situations so in the end I just stopped worrying about it and by the end of the ride was used to it.  The extra horse power over the previous model was immediately noticeable and there seemed to be lots of go whatever gear or speed.    The bike was very comfortable and the new windscreen gave better protection than I remember when I have ridden the older model.   As those who went on the ride will know it was a cold day with damp greasy roads so the heated grips were welcome as well as the adjustable windscreen.

The ride always felt secure and riding the bike soon gives the rider a lot of confidence as it feels incredibly planted in even the trickiest road conditions.   I even rode it through the snow at the middle of the road on the snowy bits and it felt just as good.   I have to confess to being sceptical about the riding modes etc but soon found that on the soft suspension setting with RAIN ride mode the whole character of the bike changed to give smooth progressive acceleration and plush ride which suited the snowy conditions perfectly.  As you have probably gathered by now I was mightily impressed by this bike and I think it is an excellent development of the old bike.   I found it enjoyable to ride in all conditions and great fun to ride as, when condition permit, it could really get a move on and exhibited such secure handling I had no difficulty negotiation the great bends in the Dales.

The Alan Jefferies Staff were most helpful and even seemed to forgive me for not getting the bike back to them by 10am as promised (sorry guys) due to the 4” of snow that greeted me at 6am at home that day. (perhaps I should have tried it in that depth of snow as well but the £1000 excess was a mighty dissuading factor.   Anyway, many thanks to Louise for letting me have and extended ride and Steve for patiently explaining the controls to me, although even he did not know how to alter the bikes clock!   I know that those on the ride liked the look of the bike and I would certainly recommend a test ride to fully appreciated what a great bike this is.   Would I buy one – YES.   Will I buy one, still awaiting deliberations of the boss!!!!!

Bob

The up-coming theory sessions on 23rd March and 6th April have been cancelled due to poor uptake from associates. The committee will look to reschedule these.

It is a requirement that new associates complete this training before commencing observed rides.

On behalf of the committee

Paul Dresser.

Well, what a great day out !!

(We all re-group after a tricky section)

Absolutely freezing cold but a cracking start to the season, I didn’t count exactly but I think there was 14 of us starting out from Harrogate.

The weather was kind, a few light showers but no heavy snow; the temperature ranged from -1 to 3 c.

As we went over the moors (as pic attached) the tracks became more and more tricky but we all made it through un-scathed. At one point though I struggled to use my levers (no heated grips).

We all made it back to Stump Cross but unfortunately on my way back I had electrical failure and couldn’t get the bike started. Luckily some of the guys were going my way and pulled over to help  (you know who you are !). Thanks for sticking with me until the AA arrived and thanks to Bob and Doug for getting the bike trailer and getting me home. If anyone has breakdown cover through the Halifax Ultimate Reward bank account, forget it. It’s not worth the paper it’s written on. I have now re-started my AA membership.

Here’s to the April ride. If anyone has any photo’s of the ride please email me ( pjd0568@gmail.com ) and I will add to the site.

If you want to leave a comment please do so in the box below.

Cheers, Paul.

After a few minor changes attached is the current Sunday rides schedule from Andy.

All dates remain the same.

SundayRides2013

Paul

Note from Andy and Bob

If there is inclement weather on Sunday an alternative route other than that published will be used in the interest of safety.

HAB

Just to remind everyone it is the first Sunday rideout this coming Sunday.

Meet Harrogate Lorry park adjacent to Asda for 9.15 am.

Paul

It would be worth making Observers aware of the following, if they are NOT insured via Adelaide/IAM Surety

Its renewal time again & I have been shopping around. I am currently with IAM Surety who make a point of including Motor Insurance Whilst Observing.

Carole Nash – largest UK Bike Insurance Broker, probably. Aviva probably the largest UK Bike insurer,

I mentioned Observing when getting a quote, and because we receive a fuel contribution insurers would treat this as “Business Use”  The cost of providing cover wasn’t massive, an extra £10, for 500 miles observing a year.

If Observers have not declared their observing activity to insurers, they may not be covered.

Many will think “how would insurers find out” Believe me, if the accident is serious, i.e. costly to insurers they will conduct full investigations.

You may wish to make Observers aware

Kind regards

 Andrew

Message to all members and associates of H.A.Bikes.

On Monday we hold the 2013 Annual General Meeting of our Group. I cannot stress strongly enough how important this meeting is.

Every year we get the message; ” this is your group, come and have your say  “.

Every year we recruit about a dozen new members, train them up Advanced Rider standard but at the end of the year our total membership has shown no growth.

Why?    It is because we are not retaining members.  We blame the economic situation, retiring from biking, moving home or job but these are all excuses.

i fear that the fact is people VOTE WITH THEIR FEET.

By all means vote with your feet if you get bad service at a restaurant, M & S or a bike dealership but not with your biker group.

The reasons I have been given by some foot voters are:

I don’t like the politics in the group.

I don’t like the format of the meetings or ride-outs.

I don’t like the way the club is being run these days.

Voting with your feet will never change that. You need to turn up at the AGM, tell us what you like, don’t like AND suggest how we can attempt to put it right.

There might be others who have similar misgivings so we need to know what direction to take to avoid losing more members.

So don’t vote with your feet. Turn up and vote with your hands.

Mike F.