Dates For Your Diary
Monthly meetings are held on the second Monday of every month at Liddington Village Hall, opposite the church
11 Nov - Richard Bayliffe - Experiences of a TT Marshall
9 Dec - Mark Tunstall - Oils and Lubrication
10 Jan 2020 - Christmas Meal at the Cross Keys in Rowde; food and skittles. More details below the AGM Minutes.
Skillshare
The next Skillshare will be held in April 2020.
Invite from the Glos RoADAR Group
Red Arrows to Blue Lights
Thu 14 Nov 19 at 19:30 – 21:00
Gloucester South Fire Station Community Room SkillZONE Tuffley Lane Gloucester GL4 0AS
There are significant links between aviation and advanced driving. This
will be explained during the presentation by Chris Ellis, a former
member of The Red Arrows Aerobatic Team, a former police advanced
driving instructor and more recently delivering advanced driver training
to trauma doctors and Special Forces. As usual refreshments will be
available and there will be an opportunity to catch up with friends.
Looking forward to seeing you there.
Remember that monthly Bike Ride-Outs take place on the 3rd Saturday of every month. Check the Forum for details
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Do you have a topic you would like discussed, or know of an interesting speaker? Please contact Les Brown! |
Congratulations
Congratulations to the following members who have passed their Advanced Tests recently:
Paul Pywell Bike Silver Tutor Steven Hyde
Welcome
Please welcome the following new members to the Group over the past month
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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 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 |
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Minutes from AGM - 14 October
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Present: Bob Fram, Steve Williamson, Peter Milner, Les Brown, Andrew Dannat, Mike Bedwell, Dave Venman, Winston Castle, Nick Carrington, Mark Tunstall, Paul Pywell, Neil Godwin, Mark Sealey, Richard Bayliffe, Phil Colbourne, Gary Franks, Jane Lomax, Tim McQue, Mike Southgate, Peter Genet, Peter Wilmslow
Apologies: Steven Hyde, Trudy Affleck, Jim Hobby, Nick Burnett, Dave Blackledge
Minutes of previous AGM: Agreed at committee meeting held on 16th October.
Chair’s
Report - Bob Fram
2018
– 19 has been a promotional year, with revamped advertising material used at events; including banner and leaflets.
The
marketing budget has not all been spent and we have had plenty of
new members joining us. At the time of the AGM, membership was at
141, which is the highest ever for the group even though we have
had a good clean up of the database.
We
do however need new ideas for recruiting new members.
Currently
we provide,
Skillshare
for bikes and cars
Shows
Bike
meets etc.
All
ideas are welcome.
Please come and help us promote the Group!
Throughout
the year, high standards have been maintained.
However, we must
not become complacent. Within the group there are 4 RoSPA Diploma
Holders, 3 bike and 1 car with more tutors being trained over the
next 6 months or so.
Our
relationship with HQ though distant is supportive.
There is a
need for change.
The new regional coordinator, Martin Powell,
has
some new ideas to bring to the region including inter group
activities and is planning a workshop in the new year to help
share
ideas.
Thanks
go to the committee and our new member, Jane Lomax. Thanks also
go to Les Brown for organising our speakers; and to James
Courneloues and Dave Venman for being the Bike and Car Skillshare
coordinators; and thanks to Mark Sealey for stepping up to take
on
more work until new volunteers are found to help.
Special
mention goes to Chris Gleed, who as a founding member, is only
now relinquishing his membership of RoSPA. He is a lifetime
member
of our Group so we do wish him well.
Thanks
to all the tutors and coordinators.
Next
year’s vision:
Grow
numbers
Maintain
our high standards
Consolidate
ideas for promotion
Challenge
each other through good debate
Any
ideas for events will be welcomed, as are volunteers.
Any
questions?
Nick
Carrington – Have RoADAR guidelines for car tutors been formally
published?
Is there anything formal yet for bike tutors?
Not
sure
BF will chase up HQ.
End
of Chair's report.
Membership Secretary’s report - Gary Franks
Plan was to boost numbers which was done!
Membership overall:
2018 AGM – membership was 135
2019 AGM – members was 141 (September)
There were 30 new joiners in the year.
Tests have dropped this year, with only 17 that GF knows of.
Car Members - 55
Bike Members - 70
Dual membership - 7
Tutors 17 in total;
4 Advanced Bike; 4 Advanced Car; 8 Approved Bike;5 Approved Car
On the whole, a good year and very positive.
End of Membership Secretary's report.
Treasurer’s
report - Winston Castle
We
have returned a small profit on the year of £375. Accounts have
been approved and signed off.
Committee
meetings are taking place at the Village Inn, Liddington removing
costs from hall hire. The Committee does pay for its own coffee!
Website
costs have increased.
Expenditure
for the year is £3312.50
Income
was £3688.43.
Propose
to leave membership fee at £17 for the coming year.
WSC
received an email from
Liddington Hall.
There has been a new
defibrillator installed and
training will be available on 29th October in the Hall.
It is very easy to use but knowing what to
do
before you first try to save a person’s life has to be a good
idea.
All are welcome at 6:00pm on the 29th October.
End
of Treasurer's report.
Election
of committee
This
was done in one block for existing members:
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Position
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Nomination
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Proposer
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Seconder
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Chair
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Bob Fram
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Les
Brown
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Peter
Milner
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Hon Secretary
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Peter Genet
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Membership Secretary
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Gary Franks
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Treasurer
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Winston Castle
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Member
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Mark Sealey
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Member
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Phill Colbourne
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Member
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Jane Lomax
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Member
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Peter
Milner
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Winston
Castle
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Gary
Franks
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Member
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Peter
Wilmslow
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Nick
Carrington
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Mike
Southgate
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AOB
A
generic presentation is available to use if any member is invited
to talk to any group.
Christmas
Meal - 10th January at the Cross Keys in Rowde; food and skittles.
Questions
Les
Brown – noted that the IAM started observer training meetings to ensure
they maintain standards. They have two theory sessions followed by a
practical. We could offer this to members as a free drive.
It could
also be offered to older members, (does this mean old people or people
who have been in the club a long time?) or anyone who has not tried
advanced driving before.
Peter Milner - 1st Aid course – Is this going to be run again next year?
Response:
it is run every three years. If there are enough people for a course
then we happily run another one next year.
Last time a lunch was
provided at Liddington Hall and it was an enjoyable and informative day.
AGM closed at 8.20pm
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Important Note from Chair
An email from the Chair was sent out to the whole group on the 21 October after we received the sad notification from HQ of a death of a member whilst out on a RoADAR training ride. A report on the rider is also carried in the most recent "Care on the road".
HQ have asked we let them know as soon as we can if there is any such incident in our Group.
We
have put a form together for use by those involved in RoADAR events
should there be the unlikely event of an injury to someone involved. We
will put this on the website so any changes can be made once and all
will be able to see the latest version.
Please
note this is only required for RoADAR activities only and includes
Tutoring, Ride outs, trips, training and recruiting events. If there is
an injury which needs treatment please record as much information as
possible and send it to the Chairman ad Secretary within 24 hours.
I hope never to receive any but at least
we have a first we can use if required.
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Christmas Meal
In lieu of January's monthly meeting we will be holding our annual meal on 10 Jan 2020, from 8pm at the Cross Keys Pub in Rowde SN10 2PN
(http://www.crosskeysrowde.co.uk/index) in the Skittle Alley so be prepared for some gentle competition.This was a great success last year with some "friendly" skittle play going on!
Mary Southgate has offered to organise the event for which we are all very grateful.
To keep the administration easy and to aid mixing during the evening we are proposing a buffet and some skittles.
Details are being finalised so we can advise on the buffet in case there are some other preferences or dietary requirements which need addressing
A £10 per person deposit sent to the Treasurer using our Barclay's account will secure your place; please include your name and Xmas as a reference.
Sort Code 20-84-58, Account Number 80006998.
An email reminder will be shortly forthcoming as a reminder.
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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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October Speaker – Gavin Mills – Thatcham Research Engineer
Assisted Driving & The Autonomous Car
Intro to Thatcham – not for profit organisation since 1969 funded by car motor insurance industry based at Thatcham near Newbury; test track is near Bicester.
“50 years of Driving change”
In the UK, there are an estimated 27 million vehicles on the road which means safety is paramount and testing becoming more and more sophisticated. The 5 Star Euro Ncap rating is important to manufacturers as are increased security standards tackling theft.
Today, 75% of new cars receive an NCAP 5 Star rating,16% receive 4 star and 3% receive 3 star. Some models do not apply for NCAP rating, such as low production models eg any supercar!
Safety testing, two methods:
Active – prevention of accidents
Passive – airbags which react to accidents or impact
Thatcham joined NCAP in 2007 which has been around since 1997.
A test to compare the safety of cars from 1997 and 2017 was conducted. The changes in safety are incredible. For the test a 1997 Rover 100 was used; and a Honda Jazz from 2017.
Not surprisingly, the Rover 100 was written off!
To avoid crashing, manufacturers are developing and improving new active methods, two examples noted below
ADAS – Advanced Driver Assitance System – aims to prevent a crash; this includes blind spot assist and lane assist.
AEB – Autonomous Emergency Braking – camera sees a threat and slows the car
Cars fitted with AEB have 40% less chance of hitting a cyclist or pedestrian; though interestingly, driver assist devices do not form part of the MoT – yet.
Thatcham sponsor What Car? Safety award each year, and the winner for 2019 was the Mercedes A Class.
A fully autonomous car won’t be available until
around 2040 as one of the criteria for applying fault in the case of an incident must be fully defined. Was it the car or the driver?
For example, what happens if a sensor is blocked? Or a bumper was changed, then the sensor may not be seeing everything due to a change made on the car. A blocked sensor may take 4-5 minutes to react to a change in circumstance.
Systems today assist with going round corners, warning for lane drift, or helping through an ‘S’ bend, however, tests on the
track shows manufacturers have different results, some purposley, to the effectiveness of their systems.
Cars can cope with simple scenarios and are being developed to cope with more complex.
EG roadworks.
There are 12 categories to apply to autonomous vehicles, which can be found here https://www.thatcham.org/what-we-do/automated-driving/
Summary: ADAS is there to assist drivers and not take over full control. Some manufacturers, such as Tesla, are overselling the capability of ADAS and as such the public expect too much.
Its not automated yet!!
Thanks to Gavin for a thoroughly enjoyble and informative talk.
The website noted above is extremly interesting and also shows the videos Gavin presented too.
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Lone Ride to Malta - by John Mckellar - part 1
John, a long time member of our group and Senior Bike Tutor, has recently retired decided to move to Malta, lock, stock and Honda Blackbird too!
I was out of bed early on Sunday 3nd June.
With a mixture of excitement and trepidation, I ate breakfast, then completed the final checks on my Blackbird.
Malta lay a couple of thousand miles to the south and I had never ridden on the continent before.
In the previous two weeks, I'd had the bike serviced and a new front tyre.
I replaced the battery.
The stator, I had changed myself after a breakdown a few years ago, so I figured the main reliability issues were covered.
Nevertheless, I had taken out comprehensive breakdown cover for the trip.
The weather window looked good, so it was all systems go.
About seven years ago, I was diagnosed with moderate arthritis in my left hip, hence riding more than 50 miles or more in one stretch became very painful.
I didn't know how far I would be able to ride each day, so my plan was to keep going while I could, then find a hotel.
The previous week, I invested around £130 in an Air Hawk Cushion, which turned out to be some of the best money I've ever spent.
DAY 1
(458 miles)
And so, the ride began.
I waved goodbye to my wife Julie and began the first stage of the journey, to Folkestone.
The plan was to get the bike to Malta as quick as possible, so I wasn't planning on going off course to take any scenic routes.
Julie and our son Tom were flying to Malta on the 4th June so would be there when I arrived.
To save time, I decided on the tunnel rather than the ferry.
I remember the woman in the booth being quite surprised that I was buying a one-way ticket.
“Are you sure you don't want a return ticket for when you come back?”
“I'm not coming back.”, I said with a smile.
John and Blackbird
Once in France, I quickly found the right road and began heading south.
We had previously done the journey when we brought our car out to Malta in March, so although I didn't have a sat nav on the bike, I roughly knew the way.
The weather was very hot, so I kept having a stop every now and then to rehydrate.
The thing that struck me about France was that although there were plenty of places to stop, there were no motels.
I reached Reims around 7pm, so decided to get off the autoroute and look for a hotel.
The bike was suddenly not liking the slow moving traffic and began to overheat, so I had to pull over and let the engine cool down.
90 minutes or so later, having not found anywhere to stay and with the overheating becoming more of a problem, I decided to get back onto the autoroute.
I revised my plan to push south until the sun went down, then just find somewhere to sleep rough.
John en-route
After darkness fell, I found a rest area and a concrete bench to lie down on, then settled for the night.
At least that's what I thought!
At around 2am, a coach pulled into the rest area and out piled around 30 or so drunken football yobs who were chanting at the top of their voices.
They then began setting off ground-based fireworks only 20 metres away from me and my bike.
Next, they were inside the metal housing of the toilets, banging the walls as hard as they could to make even more noise.
I could see the situation was rapidly deteriorating, so I decided to move on.
The important thing in such situations is not to make eye contact, and don't look as though you're in a rush to get away either.
Just slowly get ready and slip away.
I arrived at the next rest area around 3am and found a path leading down into the woods.
After reversing my bike down the path, I lay down on a park bench to spend the couple of hours left before dawn.
The only thing to keep me awake here was the noise of the wildlife, with rabbits hopping around and the cry of a fox somewhere.
DAY 2
(358 miles)
At the break of dawn, I was on my way again.
By early afternoon, I was beginning to feel tired, so found another rest area with a secluded parking area, where I could have another nap.
I lay down on the grass, only to be disturbed by the sound of bees and wasps visiting the flowers near my head.
A short move, and I was asleep on the tarmac next to my bike with my head resting on the kerb.
An hour later and feeling more refreshed, I headed south again.
I was soon in the foothills of the Alps and the beauty of the scenery was all I needed to keep me alert.
Later that afternoon it began to rain as I approached the Mont Blanc tunnel.
I'm not often pleased to see rain when riding, but on this occasion it was a welcome relief from the heat.
After the 11 km ride through the tunnel, I was finally in Italy.
The ride down through the the Italian Alps is tunnel after tunnel and I was quite glad to find a hotel by early evening, the first one I had seen since crossing the channel.
The hotel had a garage so I could lock my bike away for the night.
I messaged Julie and asked her if she could get me a booking on the Genoa ferry for the following evening.
I had hoped to ride down through Italy, but the bike still wasn't coping very well with the heat.
I decided to shorten the ride as much as possible.
Julie also booked me a hotel in Palermo, so I could rest the night before the journey across Sicily.
Days 3 and 4 continue in next month's newsletter
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Ride to Europe - by Steve Hyde
The last few years my wife and friends have gone on a motorcycle holiday to Europe. This year only 27 days before we left I picked up a new bike, plenty of time to run it in, first service at just over 600 miles. As much as I like CW at Dorchester the team at Dick Lovett were significantly more efficient and the bike was ready when they said and serviced much more quickly.
During these trips Clare (wife) operates the suicide clothing system, leaving dirty laundry as we go, potentially creating a bit of space for a few produits régionaux along the way.
We used the Eurotunnel and spent the first night at Nieuwpoort, which is close to the motorway and between Dunkirk and Ostende, the second day we rode to Düsseldorf to catch the Nightjet train to Innsbruck. Clare caught someone in our cabin, whilst I slept, so the door was locked after that.
Day three and for the third consecutive day we rode in three countries to get to the hotel, stunning location but sadly our friend’s Triumph was vandalised and he had 3 indicators snapped, luckily they all still worked.
Days four and five saw us ride famous passes including Susten, Grimsel and Furka the latter famously used in the film Goldfinger where our hero used his DB5 to stop Jill Masterson after she had tried to shoot Auric Goldfinger. One of the best roads I’ve ridden.
Switzerland is every bit as beautiful as you can imagine and as expensive as you have heard.
Day 6 we left Switzerland and rode to Colmar in the Alsace, a beautiful town but extremely popular with tourists.
Day 7 we headed to Auto Technik museum at Sinsheim, an incredible selection of transport including a steam engine from Dorset, both Concorde and Concordski, mounted on the building roof.
Day 8 was a ride to Frankfurt airport to drop one of our number of to fly home for family and work commitments, followed by sight seeing in Heidelberg, a nice city.
Day 9 we rode to Maastricht via the Nürburgring, although it was a lucky find, there was a classic car 24 hour race. The roads and countryside around around the famous circuit were really enjoyable. At Maastricht we met our daughters.
Day 10 we rode home, the first rain of the whole journey started at Clacket Lane and continued all the way back to South Wiltshire.
Thanks Steve - there are a lot more photos at the above link showing the route too.
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Update from Regional coordinator – Martin Powell
Hello for October.
The weather has now turned, but it does give me a chance to write this when the rain is putting paid to outside pastimes.
I would like to thank you for all the replies I have received in relation to my last newsletter. I have got the feeling that some people when they are being tested feel that the pressure sometimes gets to them. Some of the comments were that candidates were asked to use radios or perhaps look for the examiners indicators for directions or asked questions on Roadcraft prior to the ride. I also got positive replies when candidates stated the examiner treated the test just as a normal ride out. I will bring your comments up at next month’s regional coordinators meeting to see if we can try to get a more standardised test procedure. I did not receive any negative comments from people who had done the car test?
I also had
comments about the need to make progress, I think that an advanced driver/rider should be able to make progress but at the same time a driver/rider may decide for themselves what speed they wish to travel at (within the speed limit). The speed limit is not a target. As an examiner I would expect a candidate to be able to safely achieve the speed limit when it is suitable. Also remember being skilful is also evident at slow speeds? I think this issue of progress will continue to be interpreted in many different ways.
I attended the Wiltshire group to see the good work they are doing with the skill share events that they provide for the public on Saturday mornings for both cars and bikes. The groups chair Bob Fram was particularly interesting to talk to as he has a very good knowledge of the science of motorcycle control and is very good at explaining it in simple terms.
None of the tutors took me up on the offer to go out for a ride/drive in the local area, I hope it was not because they were afraid; I would have led and would appreciate feedback, perhaps next time?
I look forward to any comments and will bring them up at the coordinators meeting in November.
Thanks Martin Powell
mpowell@rospa.com
07542 174899
Any Spare Motorcycle clothing?
The Blue Knights England 18 Young rider safety initiative started as the result of comments made about seeing young riders on the roads dressed inappropriately. We've all seen the young L plated riders - shorts, T shirt, trainers and we've all commented on it; but the question remained-Why are they dressed like this?
So, with this in mind contact was made with a Devon based training college called PETROC that has campus sites at Barnstaple and Tiverton. Conversation with the young riders there revealed mopeds and 125's were transport to and from college for these riders as there were no other options available. In most cases, extended family members e.g grandparents, had purchased the bikes and a helmet, insurance and MOTquite often funded by parents or aunts and uncles. Disposable money being limited meant jackets, gloves, leggings etc just could not be afforded. We found that it wasn't unusual for these young riders to be covering 20 to 45 mile round trips daily to attend college in all weathers, totally ill protected against the elements.
A collection of unwanted but still serviceable motorcycling clothing was made in my chapter and in September 2018 we attended the freshers’ week at the Barnstaple campus, this resulted in us kitting out 26 young riders.
Since then we have received further donations from local MC clubs. The only thing that we do not take is previously used helmets as we cannot prove their provenance.
We continue to engage with these young riders who have shown us they know they should be wearing kit, they understand the importance of doing so and they genuinely are appreciative of receiving donated items. We receive positive feedback from the riders, the parents, other motorcycle riders and other clubs.
We would not be able to offer this service if it were not for the generosity of fellow bikers for which we are extremely grateful. Please could members contact Andrew Peaple if they have any kit spare they are willing to donate.
Thank you
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Skillshare - Back in April 2020
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Geeks Corner - Membership
Membership stats for October
- Membership overall – 139 on database;
- 2017 AGM - membership was 115 after out of date members were removed.
- 2018 AGM – membership was 135
- 2019 AGM – members was 141 (September)
- There were 30 new joiners in the year.
- Tests have dropped this year, with only 17 that GF knows of.
- Car Members - 55
- Bike Members - 70
- Dual membership - 7
- Tutors 17 in total;
- 4 Advanced Bike; 4 Advanced Car; 8 Approved Bike;5 Approved Car
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Committee minutes
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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.
Forum
Please could all Members use the 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.
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.
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RoADAR Head Office facebook Page |
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