The BMW Club Journal November 2012 £2.50 Independant EST
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The BMW Club Journal November 2012 £2.50 Independant EST. 1985 suppliers of BMW parts & accessories It’sIt’s ourour 27th27th Birthday!Birthday! and as a thank you to all our UK mainland customers we are sending all orders over 50 with free delivery during this month livelive toto rideride rideride toto live!live! (offer excludes FREE 16 Surfleet Road, postcodes; BT, IM, DELIVERY Surfleet, IV, KW, PA, ZE, KA) PE11 4AG WWW.MOTOBINS.CO.UK 01775 680881 2 TheBMWClubJournal•November2012 The Journal CONTENTS November 2012 Regular/Occasional items The Official BMW Club within the UK and Republic of Ireland From The Editor’s Desk .................4 www.thebmwclub.org.uk General Enquiries: 0800 0854045 Club Officers..........................6 FREEPOST: THE BMW CLUB The BMW Club is the Trading name of The B.M.W. Motorcycle President’s Platform ....................7 Club Ltd; Registered in England; Registration Number 4261129 whose Registered Office: c/o Veitch Penny LLP 1, Manor Court Dix’s Field Exeter Devon England EX1 1UP Torque Reaction .......................9 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Star Letter......................15 For problems regarding distribution of The Journal, please contact your Section Secretary. Should there still be a problem then contact the National Membership Secretary whose contact German Jottings ......................51 details are listed on page 6. The Editor reserves the right to alter/amend any item or image Mutual Aid (Club member ads)...........75 submitted to The Journal. Such amendments will usually only be to make an item more readable or easier to understand. Submission of items/images will be taken as acceptance of this condition. Small Business Advertisments ...........79 We (The BMW Club) are the owner or licensee of all Intellectual Property rights in this publication. You may not copy or distribute its contents without the express written permission of ourselves The BMW Club - Out and About..53 or the original author. Articles/Features EDITORIAL TEAM A Motorcycling Adventure. ..............25 Correspondence on any Journal matter not covered by the officers listed below should be sent The Vintage Register - An Update ........31 to the Editor who will forward it as appropriate. For general Club administration and membership matters please see the list of Club officers on Page 6. What ARE brakes? ....................35 Editor: Stewart Lowthian, 29 Wagg Street, Congleton, Cheshire CW12 4BA. The 2012 Thatch Rally ................46 01260 279 126 [email protected] Features/Articles: Peter Wright. The Mercia Section Saltburn Weekend ....49 [email protected] DISCLAIMER Torque Reaction: Paul Nadin, 49 Berkshire Drive, The BMW Club Journal accepts for publication articles and letters written in good faith; however, Congleton, Cheshire CW12 1SB. 01260 279 443 the views expressed in articles and letters which are published are not necessarily those of the [email protected] Editor of The Journal or those of The BMW Club or its officers or members. The information, including advice and suggested modifications published in the The BMW Mutual Aid: Maurice Weldon, 21 Lawnwood Drive, Club Journal has not been approved, tested or otherwise checked by The BMW Club Journal Goldthorpe, Rotherham, South Yorkshire S63 9GD or The BMW Club. Before acting on information, advice or suggested modifications published 07752 904 334 [email protected] in The BMW Club Journal you should always obtain technical advice, and if appropriate have a professional motorcycle engineer carry out the work for you. Commercial Display Advertisements: Jim Bruce, The BMW Club Journal and The BMW Club cannot accept liability for any loss, damage or The Firs, Bayview Crescent, Broadford, Isle of claims occurring as a result of any modifications or work or other action carried out on the Skye IV49 9DB 01471 820 408 advice or based on the suggestions given in any article or letter published in The BMW Club [email protected] Journal and (save for death or personal injury arising from The BMW Club Journal’s negligence) all such liability is hereby excluded. Small Business Advertisements: Charles Knight, The BMW Club Journal is published for and on behalf of The B.M.W. Motorcycle Club Ltd. 4 Homelands, New Road, Porchfield, Isle of Wight, The BMW Motorcycle Club Ltd, The BMW Club Journal, it’s Editor and Officers accept PO30 4LS ,01983 520 847 no liability in respect of loss or damage occasioned directly or indirectly as a result of the 07521 695 992 [email protected] publication of any advertisement in The BMW Club Journal or Website. Section News: Steve Foreman 01536 722 048 [email protected] Diary of Events: Bob Barker. This month’s cover photo from Ted [email protected] Plaziuk shows his R1150R at the 12th Around The Compass: Bob Barker (see above). century Cistercian Convent at Trzebnica, Club/Section Display Ads: Piers Kurrein. Poland’ [email protected] TheBMWClubJournal•November2012 3 From The Editor’s Desk Back again reason for the problems I was having is the front brake lever touching the handguard, We’re back from France again having had (to the extent that BMW send me a pack of better weather in September stickers with a clearance than in June. A good holiday, setting on them to attach to with a couple of days where the guards) but that was fine. we had to find shelter from The bike will stop without the the sun, which seems to have servo but requires a mighty been conspicuous primarily grip on the brake lever so, in by its absence this year. It the rain, we set off for home. can’t have been too bad a year Leaving a McDonalds on the however as I seem to have A34, the problem reocurred clocked up about 5000 miles then went away, giving me since March without any the stopping power that commuting. The ride down I’m used to. The problem, to Gillian’s parents was as which I sorted a couple of dull as the M40 and A34 always are, with only days later (believe it or not but I don’t carry a red triangle of death at Chieveley services to a comprehensive tool kit with me), appeared add excitement to the proceedings. Having to be that where the front brake lever operates chatted for a few minutes with a gentleman the microswitch that controls the brake light who’d bought a new Tiger Explorer after 4 and servo was worn very slightly (alloy brake GSs of various vintages I fired ours up to be lever on steel microswitch lever) thus fooling rewarded with a brake failure warning and a the bike’s electronics into thinking that distinct lack of stopping power. The fault light the brake was on when it wasn’t. A smear of went away after I’d hauled on the front brake Vaseline to lubricate the lever and half an hour a couple of times, which also restored normal adjusting the position of the switch seems to stopping power. All was well for the next 700 have sorted the problem without the spending miles until, restarting the engine after waiting of terrifying sums of money. in the check-in queue at Le Havre, it started We’ve used the overnight boat from again. An intermittently working brake servo Portsmouth to Le Havre for both this is not good news when riding two-up with years crossings. The cabins aren’t the most luggage on slippery and steeply inclined steel comfortable place we’ve slept in but they’re decks. perfectly acceptable for one night. We had a Back at Gillian’s parents house, we told reasonable outward crossing as, unlike last them about the giant pandas and koala bears time, we were spared announcements about in the zoo at St. Aignan-sur-Cher where our shops and bars opening and closing every ten gite was, then next morning I tried to see what minutes. The return crossing seemed strange: was causing the problem. The most common we were loaded straight onto the boat on 4 TheBMWClubJournal•November2012 the lowest deck where there seemed to be in Northampton. It seems a long way away far more motorcycles than usual, including now but it’s the opportunity for every member the inevitable unsilenced Harley-Davidson. to have his or her say about any aspect of how When will these people learn that virility the Club is run, including the election of Club and noise are mutually exclusive rather than officers. You can read later on in this edition synonymous?. The ferry was packed and left why some of the current National Officers late. We later found out that the other ferry will not be standing for re-election next year. company serving western France was on strike If the Club is to continue then these positions so we were carrying as many of their passengers need to be filled, so if you’ve ever felt that you as possible as well as those originally booked. were brave/crazy/idealistic enough to stand, then now is the time. The process of standing Cover photographs for election is straightforward: contact David Cooper for a copy of the nomination form, Firstly, I need to reiterate: landscape format fill in your name and membership number photographs are unusable on the cover of The and find a proposer and seconder to support Journal. I’ve extracted a few pages of guidance you. In 2010 three of the six National Officers regarding covers from an edition of a couple (including me) were appointed rather than of years ago (a lot of which was taken directly elected. Let’s not have this unwelcome from Martin Ellis’s work on the subject) and situation happen again.