In this issue TT EXPERIENCE BAM WELSH WEEKEND RIDE OUT REPORTS THE LAST EVER VIEW FROM THE SIDE B R I S T O L A D V A N C E D M O T O R C Y C L I S T S 2 S U M M E R I S S U E 4 8 A U G – O C T 2 0 1 5 R E G U L A R S R I D E R E P O R T S 5 Kipper’s Komments 14 Last of the Autumn Sun 2014 7 Chairman’s Chatter 16 First Ride, First Report With Chips 8 Super Sundays 22 You Take The High Road 10 The News At BAM 43 Associates Group Ride Taster 18 CONGRATULATIONS – TEST PASSES 45 Jurassic & Chips 19 Useful Contacts 51 The Long Way Round 30 BAM Events Calendar F E A T U R E S 31 2015 Super Bike Race Calendar 21 DWDAM – Ladies Day 44 Puzzle Time 24 View From The Side – The Last Time! 54 Kessi’s Kapers 33 Tales of an Isle of Man TT 58 Retail Therapy 46 Rhayader There & Back On A Bike Articles may also be published on the group’s website and in other IAM group newsletters. The opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily form the views of the editor, BAM or the IAM B R I S T O L A D V A N C E D M O T O R C Y C L I S T S 3 B R I S T O L A D V A N C E D M O T O R C Y C L I S T S 4 Phew it’s been warm out there and the roads have been much busier with motorcyclists taking full advantage of the conditions, which includes me getting out onto the group rides and the Wales weekend in Rhayader. We have seen a lot of new faces joining the BAM group to do their Skill for Life so hope you are enjoying finding out what you and your bike can do. You have all been busy riding and as a result there are some great stories in this edition of our various trips and visits to other group events, plus some sad farewells to a few of our BAM buddies. Thanks everyone for continuing to support what we do as a charity and the commitment put in by the Green Team and others to help run Super Sunday and Coalpit Heath. Let's keep up the good work and continue to expand through the rest of the year. Enjoy the newsletter and we welcome feedback for future editions of the Chain Link Mag. The deadline for the next edition is Friday 16th October so please send all items to [email protected] Enjoy the season ahead! Martyn S.M.A.K I’ll be back for breakfast. B R I S T O L A D V A N C E D M O T O R C Y C L I S T S 5 B R I S T O L A D V A N C E D M O T O R C Y C L I S T S 6 Sadly, over the last few months we have lost, through illness, two of our BAM colleagues plus a close friend of many BAM members. Billy Our Observer Gregory Haddock passed away as did Green Team Burns stalwart Phil Boobyer. Many of you would have known Gregory, especially his former associates. Phil would have made many of you your tea & coffee. They were both characters adding to that essential mix and commitment that makes up BAM which contributed to the success it now enjoys. They will both be sadly missed. Our hearts go out to their widows, family and loved ones. A special thank you to Liz Haddock and the family for the kind donation to BAM collected at Gregory’s funeral. Paul Minton, who ran JtheBs biking weekends at his B&B in Normandy, sadly lost his battle with illness. Simon Jarvis will share more with you, as will others, as we pay tribute to these guys. The IMI qualification process continues to dominate our lives. Could I take this opportunity to make matters clearer? The National Observer “NO” qualification is simply that. The role within BAM is “Senior Observer” which is much more than a qualification. Eventually ALL our “Senior Observers” will be “NO” qualified and new “Senior Observer” will be required to hold “NO” qualification before we, BAM, appoint them as “Senior Observer”. BAM decides who they wish to put forward for NO training and IMI assessment, with successful candidates being appointed as “Senior Observer”. SO’s are an essential part of our training programs for both BAM Associates & BAM Observers, ALL training is delivered “in house”. Last month stacks of us had a great weekend away in Rhayader in Wales hosted by Adrian & Mandy Pearce. Cracking Countryside, cracking roads, cracking rides, cracking food, cracking drink, cracking company. All together cracking. Thank you Adrian & Mandy & Mel, an interesting time in many ways? Summer seems to have arrived, enjoy your biking and get your bike mates to get their finger out and come to see us at Super Sunday Best wishes Billy B R I S T O L A D V A N C E D M O T O R C Y C L I S T S 7 The first Sunday of every month, except January, a wide variety of bikes and bikers meet up in Kingswood, all with the same intent – to get the most from their biking. There are the first timers who come along to go out on an assessed ride. This is free and carried out by a team of trained volunteer observers. This is a great way to find out if you could get more from your riding by signing up to complete the Skill for Life course. This course will improve your biking skills and the safety of you and other road users. Once you have enrolled, you are known as an Associate and you will need to turn up for Super Sundays right through your training. Associates are allocated an Observer to take them through their training, but at Super Sundays all Associates will get the chance to meet the Examiner, attend a class room session on bike techniques or ride with a different Observer for a cross check of your progress. The last Super Sunday you need to attend is when you get presented with your IAM Certificate! B R I S T O L A D V A N C E D M O T O R C Y C L I S T S 8 But this is just the beginning. Bristol Advanced Motorcyclist is a club with an active calendar of social events, talks, ride outs and trips away. It is also the route for further training if you’d like to learn how to pass on your newly acquired skills to others. Who? Whether you want an assessed ride, a refresher ride for current members, or just to meet up with friends, then;- • Arrive between 9-9.15am and register your name first, ready for a 9.30am start • Grab a bacon butty and/or a cup of tea • Get allocated an Observer for your assessed ride and off you go • Enrolled Associates to attend the “Meet the Examiner” or the theory session before you set off on your observed ride. Where? King’s Oak Academy. Brook Road, (off Tennis Court Road), Warmley, Bristol BS15 4JT When? Every 1st Sunday of the month (except January) Wonga? It’s FREE on your first visit to a Super Sunday event. The Skill for Life course costs £149. There are offers available for individuals under 30 - sponsored by South Gloucestershire Road Safety B R I S T O L A D V A N C E D M O T O R C Y C L I S T S 9 A ROUND UP OF THE NEWS AFFECTING OUR REGION Farewell to BAM Budddies Over the past few months we have said goodbye to three colleagues who have passed away through ill health. Greg Haddock who led several BAM ride outs and also gave a talk to the club in 2013 on ‘Releasing the riches of your why’ Greg had a fleet of bikes which were all lovingly looked after, so you may be the proud owner of one of these is you have recently purchased a second hand bike from Fowlers. Greg was passionate about his biking and a member of several clubs with his final wishes being that a donation was made to those clubs. BAM has received £405 and this will be put to good use in Greg's honour. Philip Boobyer was a regular member of the Green Team turning up at every Super Sunday to welcome newcomers with a warm smile and a cup of tea and always had a good story to tell from his life experiences, this included a BAM trip to Normandy with JtheB's biking weekends. He was also a regular on ride outs on his Ducati and certainly put the bike through its paces resulting in a big grin. Several BAM members were able to attend his funeral which had a memory table proudly displaying his motorcycling history including his IAM certificate plus IAM and BAM membership cards.