I hope everyone is staying safe and enjoying the better weather.
The AGM was held via Zoom on the 10th May and we enclose the minutes for the members perusal. There were a few changes in post at the AGM. John Blanchfield stepped down as Chairman after his three year tenure and Paul Dresser was voted in to succeed John. I would like to thank John for steering the ship through these difficult times with Covid. Also, Peter McNulty took up the position of Secretary.
As restrictions start to be lifted, and we hope the Indian variant don’t scupper these plans we are now looking to re-start our normal activities. We have been in discussions with Bilton Cricket club to start our indoor meetings from September. We have already secured some speakers for these meetings including Graham Feest (Road Safety Consultant) on the 13th September, Mike Bevington of Yorkshire Air Ambulance for the 4th October (Please note this is a week earlier than the normal second Monday due to lack of availability at Bilton) and Nick Jefferies, TT racer and local motorcycle dealership family on November the 8th.
The next Sunday ride coming up is the 20th June. I will be leading the ride with Peter Smith as tail ender. I did intend a route into the Peak District but am now planning a ride into the Dales, Tan Hill, and back down through North Yorkshire. There will be no limit to ride participants but we will have to consider numbers for the food stops so will still be asking people to book on the ride rather than just turning up on the day. Further details will be published.
We are also considering other activities such as the slow riding workshop and some other social activities or functions. If any members have any suggestions as to what they would like to do in the club then please let me know.
We have had a good influx of new associates and Bob has been busy working with his team of Observers to allocate these and start training. We would love to welcome these new associates to ride outs and our meetings.
If any member has any questions or any other business to raise please email secretary@harrogateadvancedbikes.co.uk and these will be added to the agenda with floor time made available.
As this meeting will be via Zoom we would ask that the officers give their reports and any questions are held until these are concluded. On zoom there is a button to raise a hand and the Secretary will then address the people wanting to contribute in-turn.
I am 58, married and have lived in Kirk Deighton since 1998.
I got my first bike in 1980, passed my bike test in 1981 and rode for the next five years, including two as a despatch rider in Manchester.
I’ve had a lay off from riding since 1986 but bought myself a bike in January.
The move back onto two wheels has been less daunting than I had feared and I’ve managed to clock up 1,500 miles without falling off, but I am definitely rusty and never really received any instruction before my original test, so I think it’s time to get some proper training.
Here’s a picture of me on my bike. It’s a Husqvarna Vitpilen 401.
I hope I’ll get to join one of the ride outs in the near future.
I’m 65 with nearly 50 years bike ownership. I bought my first bike aged 15, a Honda CB160 for £20. It was a non runner, so I pushed it 10 miles home and spent the winter stripping it down, replacing the big end bearings and getting it running ready for the road on my 16th birthday in June 1971. Passed my “round the block without falling off” test in ’71 and then traded down to a Triumph Bonneville 650 in 1972. WHY? A Honda 250 followed (quicker than the bonneville!) then a laverda 750SF, a kawasaki 900 Z1B that handled like a barn door, although I did manage Italy and back without serious incident in 1976, and a very yellow Honda 750F1 in ’76 and a new Suzuki GS1000 in ’78.
Then family interfered a bit so I was restricted to a Suzuki 380 single for quite a while. Since the kids, I’ve owned a BMW 1150RT, a couple of BMW 1200RT’s, Honda VFR750f and probably some others. Currently I have a very original 21 year old RC46 which is as new with only 2000 miles on the clock, a very well used BMW F800GT which is my everyday ride and a new Triumph Street Triple RS which I’m currently running in. I’m officially an OAP in June this year and looking forward to many more miles on two wheels. Very much looking forward to new friendships and rides out with HAB.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN by order of the Group Committee that the Annual General Meeting of ““Harrogate Advanced Bikes” will be held via Zoom meeting at 7.15pm on Monday 10th May .
Paul Dresser is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
To enable the Trustees of the Group to present their Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended (31/12/20) for approval by the Group Full Members and to conduct an election.
Chairman – John Blanchfield (Will Not Stand) Secretary – Paul Dresser (Will Stand) Vice Chair – Peter Smith (TBA) Treasurer – Richard Stembrowicz (Wil Stand)
Nominations are invited for the positions above and will be voted at the meeting. Please send all nominations to the Secretary (secretary@harrogateadvancedbikes.co.uk)
Committee Members:
Chief Observer Bob Hill is willing to continue in post. Rideout Coordinator – Barry Ring is willing to continue in post. John Watts Peter McNulty
The group invite members of the group to joint the committee and contribute to the running of the group. All help and input welcome.
As the meeting will be run via zoom the reports will be run in sequence, An Agenda will be published in advance. If any members wish to bring up any specific items or any other business then we would ask that these are forwarded before the meeting to be incorporated in the agenda and floor time will be given to address the topics.
Members can freely contribute at any point by pressing the hand button however we would ask that this is after the main presentation and voting.
The second Saturday in June, saw seven of us on the 0900 Channel Tunnel crossing, having stayed in the Canterbury Travelodge the night before. The plan was simple, ride our bikes, see some scenery, and have a great holiday over the next 9 days. Starting on the coast road Calais to Boulougne, a great road near the crossing terminals, then the Autoroute & main roads to our first night stop (the only hotel pre booked), south of Reims. Do you remember that Bonnie Tyler 70’s hit “Lost in France” – Dick, John, Keith & Kathy do! We go split up in Soissons, and Ian, Pete and I hung around for 20 minutes, before deciding the four lost, were ahead of us & we’d see them at the Hotel. So we cracked on & arrived at 1800 – no fellow bikers here. We were a little worried, until they turned up around 1930 – they’d taken the scenic route thru the Champagne villages, and had the best roads/scenery of the day.
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Next day we were heading for Meiringen, Switzerland, 300 miles away, on twisty interesting back roads, having done the Northern France slog yesterday. Well, we got to the border & stopped for a mid afternoon coffee, then decided to stay the night in Gourmois on the River Doubs. So much for Meiringen!. Being the international travellers that we are, we went for a pre dinner drink in France, then crossed the bridge, for an evening meal of river fish in Switz.
Meiringen cannot be far, so we planned to get there for lunchtime, then do the tourist bit up the mountain railway to Reichenbach falls. No such luck, too many photo-opportunities, views of the Alps, meant we didn’t get to Sherlock-town, till mid afternoon. Then we had to find a hotel, Meiringen is around 50 miles from Bern, one of the centres for some Euro football kick-about going on at the time, and the place was packed with fans, mainly from Italy. I think it was the fourth hotel that had rooms, although we had to share, the only time on this trip that we struggled to find a bed. Why Sherlock? – its Sherlock Holmes Hotel, Sherlock Café, bar, rail station etc. Amazing how a tourist industry can be built around the death of a fictional character. And, in the story, he didn’t die there anyway!
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Day of the Seven Passes. Today we are heading east, via Davos (ski resort of future kings) to Bormio in Northern Italy. First we’ll go up the Susten Pass, and back down again as the other side was blocked !. 40 miles in vain? – No – great roads for our first “proper” pass, and Dick took one of the best photo’s of our trip – Ian’s red Yamaha against a snowbank. Now the Grimsel, Furka, & Oberalp out of Andermatt. After Davos is the Fluella Pass, 1st time I can recall progress being restricted not by visibility/road condition/traffic, but by Pain ! Yep, a heady mix of summer gloves, and hail the size of large peas, meant more than 20mph was too painful on the hands! Onward now via Ofenpass, & finally the Umbrail, a hard packed gravel road into Italy – the hairpins were interesting!. Dropped into Bormio, & found rooms at the “Albergo San Lorenzo” Hotel, with luxuries such as marble floors, ornate ceilings, & hot & cold in the rooms, it was the best in the area when built in 1924, so OK for us bikers on tour.
Stelvio today, re-trace our route from yesterday – The Umbrail joins the Stevio 2 or 3 miles from the top, & on to the 9080 feet summit, the 2nd or 3rd highest pass in Europe depending who’se claim you believe. This was the most technically difficult road of our holiday, with very sharp, narrow hairpins, the ability to swivel your head like an ostrich to see the road ahead (which was actually behind you after the hairpin) was a distinct advantage. Another hazard was the downhill cyclists with no brakes – or none they wanted to use!
Our plan was to stop tonight in Austria, & on to the Black Forest hotel I’ve stayed at several times, & every tour now seems to include a visit. Somewhere near Landeck, the sat-nav told us the Black Forest was “do-able” tonight if we pushed on. Everyone was up for getting there tonight, with a day off the bikes tomorrow, so “Linguist Pete”, phoned the hotel & booked us in. – Most of us get by with “Merci” & “Danke”, but Pete chats away in France/German & a bit of Italian, very useful. A couple of delays, including another “Lost” moment, meant we didn’t arrive until 2000, Pete had phoned earlier no problem, we’d get a meal whatever time we arrived. Most of us had the Swartzwilde-Fleisch special, of wild boar, & two types of deer – not sure what but it tasted great. Try www.altersbach.de for a relaxed stay in the south Black Forest.
Did the tourist bit, with a ride into Frieburg (10 miles) then lunch at the top of the Kandel mountain, & back to the hotel, for a walk in the forest.
Heading for home now, we went North on the back roads, & stayed at Bernkastel on the Mosel, a lovely old town, with timbered buildings, and as John & Ian know, a bar that stays open until dawn!
Our last night we’ll spend in Brugge, so, a mix of back roads and Motorway saw us finding a hotel in the tourist city in the late afternoon. Tomorrow we go home.
The bikes – two Cruisers (John & Dick), Triumph Tiger (Pete), Yamaha ThiunderAce (Ian), and the correct touring tools, a pair of BM’s (Keith/Kath, & me). Seriously, you can tour on anything, all bikes ran without drama, apart from Dick picking up a couple of scrapes on his exhaust on the passes day – pity, but then again, those Cruisers are too shiny anyway!
Cost, was higher than previously, due to the strength of the Euro, still paying 40/50 Euro’s for a room and 15/20€ for a good meal. Germany seems better value than France/Switzerland.
For a very long time now I have been saying that I would join the IAM and do the advance test, finally got it done. I understand that during these difficult times and restrictions things are not running as they should and I understand that there is a delay in getting through the test. I look forward to hearing from Bob and finally get some valued feed back and pointers on where I can improve.
Brief bit about my biking background for the website feel free to edit ….pic attached.
Got the bug for motorbikes from a young age whilst living in Zimbabwe, and rode for many years starting on a Honda C70 and just before moving to the UK I had a Honda CBX1000. I passed my test here in the UK in 2007 and bought my first BMW R1150GS which has been replaced by a couple more BMW’s, my current bike is a 2013 R1200GS ADV. Riding for me is a pleasure and enjoy annual holidays across Europe on the bike which is normally a two week trip covering between 2500 – 3000 miles. Apart from doing a BikeSafe day the year after I passed my test, I have not had any additional motorbike training so now is a good time for me to join the IAM. Looking forward to the challenge and meeting other members when we get back to normal.
Our posting system was blocked by an attempted Spam attack, this has been repaired now so posts should be going back out. If you are receiving this it means it is working.
We are asking our members and friends to support the MCIA initiative (as detailed below). At the end are links to two example letters along with details of how to find your local MP.
As usual we would be interested to hear of any responses.
MCIA
9th February 2021
Subject: Early Day Motion in support of the extension of CBT certificates
As you will be aware, lockdown restrictions mean that Approved Training Bodies (ATBs) are prohibited from offering motorcycle training, resulting in riders being unable to renew their expiring CBT certificates. Consequently, those affected, including key workers, cannot use their PTW, which affects their ability to commute, or carry out their jobs.
Therefore, MCIA is pleased that Independent MP, Jonathan Edwards, has tabled an Early Day Motion in Parliament, which asks:
That this House notes that Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) certificates for motorbikes and mopeds are issued on a two year basis for learner drivers; further notes that these vehicles provide a low carbon mode of transport for passenger and cargo; notes that many key workers use this mode of transport as part of their commute, especially in rural areas where public transport links can be poor; notes that as a result of lockdown measures, motorcycle and moped tests are suspended; expresses concern that road users whose CBT certificates lapse whilst lockdown measures are in place are prohibited from using their vehicles on public roads through no fault of their own; notes that whilst road safety concerns are paramount, motorists in this position have been using their chosen mode of transport for two years; calls for a temporary extension of CBT certificates whilst lockdown measures are in place; and further calls on the Government to annul test fees for people with CBT certificates which have lapsed during the current lockdown if they will not extend their validity.
Early Day Motions are used to put on record the views of individual MPs or to draw attention to specific events or campaigns, but by attracting the signatures of other MPs they can be used to demonstrate the level of parliamentary support for a particular cause or point of view.
To generate parliamentary support for this initiative MCIA is asking all to write to their Member of Parliament, asking them to support EDM 1462.
