June 2017
Monthly meetings are held on the second Monday of every month 7.30 pm for 7.45 pm at Liddington Village Hall, opposite the church

July 10
Julie Garbutt -  British Horse society.
 
August
  No Meeting
 
September 11
Mark Kendrick From Bespoke Driver Training
Subject Commentary Driving
 
October 9
Lee Lowry - Air Vests
(Discount on the night)

Dates For Your Diary
 

 
Monthly Ride-Outs
Remember that monthly Bike Ride-Outs take place on the 3rd Saturday of every month. 
 
National BikeSafe at Rockingham 19 August
 
Events where we will be recruiting and  need your support - please put them in your diary and inform the Secretary if you can help.
 
Calne Bike Meet 29 July
 
Emergency Services Show
3 September
Cotswold Airport near Kemble
Do you have a topic you would like discussed, or know of an interesting speaker?  Please contact Monica!
 
Congratulations!

Congratulations to the following members who have passed their Advanced Tests recently:
 
Mike Bedwell, Car re-test, Silver
Stephen Fretwell Bike Gold Tutor David Blackledge
David Brierley Bike Silver Tutor Mark Sealey
 
 
New Associates:
Please welcome the following to the Group:
 
Zoe Wildgoose         -  Car
 
 
Merchandise
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 at www.wiltshireroadar.co.uk.
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
 
 
We're now on
Facebook
AND
Twitter!
Find us on facebook
@wiltshireroadar
 
June Notices
 Help develop the Group - Committee members refresh
 
A reminder we would need to refresh your committee.  In addition to the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer, Monica has decided it is time to hand over Membership Secretary and arranging the Speakers.  She has well developed processes to make this a straightforward task.  We need to handover all respective responsibilities at the next AGM in October 2017.
 
October seems like a long way off but trust us it will be here before we know it. 
 
If  anyone wishes to take on any of these posts then please let Mary know at
secretary@wiltshireroadar.co.uk.  If you are at all interested then please come and join the committee and see how we operate – we all can add value to the Group and fresh ideas are always welcome so please help to guide and run the Group. 
 
Speaker: Martin Collison – The Life of Riley – How (not) to rebuild a vintage Riley

Martin is a long time Riley enthusiast, and gave a comprehensive and interesting presentation.
 
He started with a history of the Riley company, which originated in a 19th century Irish weaving company called O’Reilly, later Reilly, and then Riley. They moved to Coventry when the weaving industry in Ireland declined. They bought a cycle company, and started manufacturing bicycles. Later they developed an engine, a small 9hp OHV unit, which went into many of their models and many are still racing today. They moved on to build motorcycles, up to 1906.
 
Their development as a car manufacturer was fostered by Percy Riley, an inventive genius who built his first car in 1898, when he was only 16 years of age.
 
By the 1930s they were a prolific producer, creating a large number of models, with many commonalities, but a bewildering array of options, including no less than 7 different engines, each with multiple stages of tune.
 
Many famous people owned their sporting and racing models including Raymond Mays, who went on to found ERA (using enhanced Riley 6 cylinder engines) and BRM, and Reid Railton, famous for specials involved in world-record attempts. Others were Freddie Dixon, renowned motorcycle racer, and Elsie Wisdom, wife of Tommy Wisdom, author of a famous advanced driving manual.
 
Between 1933 and 1935, Riley participated at Le Mans, achieving superb results in 1934, taking 1st and 2nd in the 1500cc class, and 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the 1100cc! However the company were not particularly serious about racing, not having cottoned onto the link between racing and sales, and lost interest after 1935.
 
Martin then moved on to his personal involvement with Riley, having owned a number of cars in his youth, starting with a 1935 12/4 (12hp, 4 cylinders) Falcon. Later in life he was keen to reconnect with the marquee, and looked for a project to restore. What he found was a 1935 Lynx 12/4 which came from a seller in Cornwall as a pile of bits and boxes. This rebuild took a number of years but when complete, Martin immediately drove it to the Le Mans Classic, where he put it into the concours competition on impulse, and won 3rd prize! The car made easy work of the journey, being capable of a 65mph cruise – pretty impressive for an 80 year old engine.
 
The second rebuild involved a 1933 14/6 Lynx, one of only 6 or 7 left. Ironically it came from the same seller as the first. Once again extensive work was necessary to complete it, including a complete new ash frame and body panels, re-trimming, new instruments, and sundry other items. Rather than keep it completely original Martin has fitted a new engine block from an engineer who manufactures replacements for the rather fragile originals, an alternator in place of the heavy dynamo, brand new wiring with better fuse protection, and so on. The engine has been pepped up with high compression pistons and a fast road camshaft. It sounds mad.
 
Notwithstanding all these modifications (subtly and discreetly done), Martin entered the Lynx in the 2013 Coventry Rally Concours event, and won 1st prize. Apparently the judges missed all the modern items!
 
Martin’s enthusiasm shone through throughout the evening, and the presentation was engaging and fun. Asked if he would do another restoration, the answer was “no thanks, perhaps 10 years ago, but not now”. Martin still provides expertise and advice for other enthusiasts, and is part of a busy owners’ register. We wish him many more years of enjoyable vintage motoring.
 
Nick Carrington
 
 
 
Communication
Head Office - Accreditation Consultation
 
We  have received a response from Head Office to our letter, and other RoADAR groups, stating our concerns.  The Chairman is gathering support from other groups; for which there is plenty.  Meetings at RoADAR HQ in Birmingham have been scheduled in August for a member of the committee to attend so as to be able to discuss concerns raised. We will keep you updated at the Monthly Meetings and through this Newsletter. 
 
Forum
 
A reminder for all Members there is a Forum on the Website which can be used for any purpose but particularly coordinating events, hints, tips and general conversation.  It is easy to register on the website so please do log on and chat away.
 
Bike Tutors
 
Do you fancy the idea of tutoring others? Did you enjoy your experience of being tutored? Well, now is the time to give it a go yourself!! We are on the look out for new bike tutors to help train new members. If you like the idea of tutoring others, and finding another excuse to get out of doing the cooking and housework and being out on your bike, then have a talk to your tutor to see what it entails. Believe me, its a lot harder than you might imagine, but also very very rewarding!!
 
Committee minutes 
 
It was discussed at the most recent committee meeting that minutes should be made available to any member who wishes to see them. We have no objections to this, of course, but would prefer not to publish them on our website. If you are interested in reading the minutes, then please send a mail to the Group Secretary whom will promptly forward them onto you. Better still, why not pop along to a committe meeting to see them developed first hand!  
 
First Aid course 
 
Saturday 13th January 2018. A course has been booked for up to 24 people. Drop a line to the Membership Secretary if interested.  

At the end of this course you will obtain an ITC First Aid Qualification which is recognised nationally, certificate, paperwork and updated manual.  The group is subsidising this and requires a non-refundable booking and deposit of £25 per person by December 1st. This is an excellent one day course.  We have used this company before and it is aimed specifically at car and bike incidents, learning the correct way to take helmet off if necessary.
 
The cost also includes also refreshments throughout the day. Coffee / tea breaks and lunch.

 
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.
 
Membership fees - confused? 
 
This was discussed recently and a clarification is needed. There are two fees to pay:

1. Wiltshire RoADAR (the Group) - an annual fee is paid to the Group in October. This pays for hall hire, speakers and promotional material. This fee does not cover test fees or RoADAR/RoSPA membership fees.

2. RoADAR (HQ) - a fee is only paid to RoADAR (HQ) in the first instance for the test fee. After that, it is up to the individual if they wish to pay an annual membership fee to RoADAR - this is in addition to paying an annual membership fee to Wiltshire RoADAR. If a member does pay an annual fee to RoADAR, then assuming one does so for three years continuously, there will not be a further test fee to be paid for the three yearly retest.  The fee to RoSPA is paid by the indiviudual at the time of booking their test. Annual renewal to RoADAR is around the time of your test. 
 
 
Skill Share

 
We will be running SkillShare for both cars and bikes on the first Saturday of every month from April to October (inclusive) at the Divine Café in Cherhill at 1000 – 1200 (details on the website if you need them).  Please use this as a way of encouraging new members to come and meet us and have a driving /riding assessment. 
 
All Tutors please make yourself available where you can to help us promote the Group.  Cars are coordinated by Nick Carrington and Mark Sealey for Bikes.
.
 
Membership Secretary: Mrs. Monica Graham, 114 Marines Drive, Faringdon, Oxon. SN7 7UG.Tel: 01367 242377
Hon Secretary: Mrs. Mary Southgate
To make sure that you receive our messages we recommend that you add newsletter@wiltshireroadar.co.uk, membership@wiltshireroadar.co.uk and secretary@wiltshireroadar.co.uk to your address list.