Shiny new machines !

Another great day out at Motorcycle Live on Saturday, a welcome Birthday treat from my son Will, we both enjoy spending what would otherwise be a boring rainy November day looking at the shiny new machines instead and visiting the exhibitor stands while hunting out a few bargains to spend my birthday money on. 

Most of the usual manufacturers were there, but surprisingly no Harley Davidson stand this year but the big news was always going to be the new BMW R1300 GS. I’d seen many of the launch videos last month so time to see it in the flesh and make my own mind up about that weird looking headlight. A few other bikes did take our fancy though, for me I really do like the retro Kawasaki 900 RS cafe racer. I think as a second bike it would be a lot of fun on a sunny day. I was out yesterday on a club ride and coincidentally the exact same model pulled up next to my bike at the Cafe in Herefordshire, so kudos to the owner who took on those wet mud splattering roads!     

The ‘Kwaka’ aside this Norton V4sv won the retro racer category for us though. Just look at the build quality. Beautiful! The Norton’s latest re-incarnation of the famous marque is better than ever. I didn’t get to see the price tag, I think it was an ‘ask’ list on the spec’ sheet and enquire but with all of that carbon fibre and nickel coating it’s going to be top-end of the price bracket. A 1200cc 185 bhp machine I think I’d go for this over the Panigales for sure (in my dreams). 

I did quite like this new Triumph Tiger Rallye Pro, the 900 model, but some oddities do amaze me with this CFMoto NX I think it was with what looks like a re-purposed Amazon Kindle used for the clocks, and just seems like a cost saving exercise to me, but having said that the KTM 790 based Chinese model is really good value. So on to the BMW stand to see the new GS and we watched the demo ride on the new Rallye model by two guys from the BMW Off-Road Skills school doing donuts, burn outs and the jump demonstrating braking control in the very limited space. We were introduced to the low speed auto suspension height adjust feature designed to lower the centre of gravity and no doubt to assist riders with a shorter leg flat foot their stops. The suspension adjust has far more fine-grained manual control now and as well as the bigger motor the frame has been stiffened up too and the whole bike has lost some weight. I’m still unsure about aesthetics of that new headlight and radar plate on the front though, but having looked around the different model options now and listened to the presentation interview with the chief designer I look forward to a proper test ride - in a year or two of course!

After the demo we signed the waiver and entered the arena for a closer look. I got to sit on one and start the engine and play around with the settings, and we both took part in the ‘pick the bike up’ challenge. I put my back out picking up one of my GS’s in the past, so the technique taught by the instructor using full lock and pushing up in the direction of the front wheel made much lighter work of it - without panniers though. Of course Will was much better at it than me, he got the technique straight away and quite pleased with himself  in showing me how to do it. I really was quite proud and impressed considering the state of his arm after having a rod fitted through his humerus after that Snowboarding accident last February. 

Of course Will was more interested in the ZZR Ninja H2 and the BMW M1000 RR sports bikes, who can blame him? I grabbed a few bargains from some of the accessory stands on the way out, and stopped by a visit to the ABR stand where the young lady twisted my arm into attending their Rally next June at Ragley Hall with a 20% discount voucher, and I bought their 2024 calendar. Time to head back home to eat our 20% off M&S Chinese meal washed down with a nice drop of cider. A really good day out … Cheers Will 👍😁.

 

Advanced Rider…a thinking rider !

Last month I put in for my IAM Advanced Rider Test, an observed ride by a retired Police Rider/Trainer over in Warwickshire on a test route unfamiliar to me designed for the examiner to gain good insight and assessment of my ride. It was a very challenging 75 minutes, with a pre-ride talk beforehand and a post ride de-brief detailing the examiners observations with additional questions after. After some initial nerves at first, I settled in to the test well and really enjoyed demonstrating my new found skills and ability as taught on the IAM Advanced Rider Course. I’m now very happy to report I achieved a Pass, taking me from IAM Associate status to Full Membership. 

Over the last 12 months my assigned Observer Patrick (Kidderminster Advanced Bikers) has been a great help on many Sundays and at other times to offer excellent advice with regular run-sheet reports and video footage coaching me on where I could make improvement as laid out in the course. Other ride Observers from KAB helped too with additional advice given to gauge my ride consistency, and increase my overall knowledge and skill level.

As mentioned in previous posts I found the course quite challenging at times. My test pass was a second attempt, the first back in June though disappointing did make me realise I needed to be more consistent in applying what I’d learned. When I started the course my overall awareness of hazards needed improving, rear observation was minimal, and overtakes were often untidy and unsystematic without sufficient planning. The first test highlighted a few of these areas where my ride was still not quite up to standard, but thankfully Patrick and Derek (KAB Chief Observer) worked with me over the summer months to get me there. The IPSGA system as used by the Police and taught by IAM, RoSPA and BikeSafe really does require a much more heightened level of concentration than I was used to.

A goal of IAM and Kidderminster Advanced Bikers (KAB) has always been to make us more of a ‘Thinking Rider’ at all times, and maintain that going forward. I now feel much more at ease riding to the system with much better hazard awareness and understanding of how to mitigate for potential dangers. It’s well understood that achieving an Advanced Level of riding has to be maintained though, and because I found the whole learning experience enjoyable I intend to meet up with other KAB members and friends on the ‘free rides’ days in the future to help improve further and continue. It really has been a lot of fun so why wouldn’t I ?

Recently I found it interesting to recall that way back in 1982 I managed to pass the old RAC Star Rider course to Silver standard while riding my first ever motorcycle a Suzuki GP 100. Back then I wanted to challenge myself further and try for Star Rider Gold (an early form of an Advanced Rider qualification) but alas the years passed by and despite attending an excellent BikeSafe course in 2008, I never got around to achieving that level until now. Forty years on from my Star Rider Silver pass there is evidence no matter what your riding is like you can still learn and improve, gain more skills and maintain or revise those skills that are often lost over time through complacency, with the added benefit of learning while having fun and making new friends along the way! 

Many thanks to Patrick, Derek and the rest of KAB for all of their help. 😎🙏