Chair’s Chatter

Hello fellow LAMkins, I hope this chatter finds you all well.  The weather has improved a bit as the Banstead group meeting was able to take place, although the weather wasn’t great, it was wet and blowy but it wasn’t cold, admittedly the road conditions were pretty poor, but we had a good turn out.

Back in September at the Wales training weekend, our ex-Chairman announced that the first person to pass their test after the Wales weekend would win themselves a Go-Pro.  If you remember at the AGM, it was announced that Pawel Kozlowski was that person.  Finally after several months the two of them were in the same place at the same time and at the Banstead group meeting Pawel received his prize, well done, I hope you get lots of footage of your adventures.

I hope by now you have all been made aware of the new Highway Code regulations, I’m not going to go over them again as if you’re anything like me, you’re fed up with reading about it but I would strongly suggest you all treat yourself to the latest copy of the Highway Code and make sure you’re up to date and don’t get caught out by anything.

If any of you have wandered through the LAM calendar, you will have seen that there is a residential weekend to Norfolk coming up in April.  This event is not open yet but keep an eye out for an advert that will be coming out soon, again, it will be on a first come first served basis, so obtain that pass and book that day off work!

Are you aware that the fees for the IAM are going up from April?  They say they have not had a price increase since 2014 and are now making up for it.  A one year membership to the IAM, which you would have paid is going up from £149 to £175. What does this mean for you?  This membership price is valid for one year, if you have not passed your Advanced Test within that year, you will have to buy the course again.  It is perfectly reasonable for an Associate to pass within that year, the IAM have stated that an Associate should need between 6-8 OR’s to be test ready. If you have not reached test standard within that time, look hard at yourself and try and work out what is lacking in your training, is it that you are not putting in the practice miles? Don’t understand something or in some cases, the Advanced is just not for everyone.  If you take your test and are unfortunate enough not to pass, the re-test fee is going up from £39 to £45 from April. Are you aware that LAM has incentives for you to pass your test? If you are under 30 and pass your test within 6 months, LAM will give you a course rebate of £80 and if you are over 30 and pass your test within 6 months you can get a rebate of £40. Don’t be shy, take that test and claim some money back! There’s a link on our website under “special deals” to apply for the rebate.

I know some of you recently attended the Motorcycle Show at London’s Excel, I hope you managed to grab yourself a bargain if that is what you were after.  I have however seen a disturbing article that Trading Standards shut down 11 stands at the show for selling uncertified goods and even selling some with falsified labels and fake armour. Since 21st April 2018 motorcycle clothing has been deemed PPE and therefore has to be tested and certified.  If you got yourself an absolute bargain, that seemed too good to be true, maybe it was? Be careful what you buy, do your homework and buy the best you can afford.  When getting dressed to go out on your bike always think to yourself “if today’s the day I’m going to have an accident, what would I like to be wearing?” in some instances we sacrifice position for safety, here we sacrifice fashion for safety!

Ride safely and I’ll see you soon.

Jane x