From-the-Chair-571x480

Welcome to March!

Hopefully we’ve finished with the flooding, and you and yours haven’t suffered too much. Now we can get on with a fun-packed year of events from Slipstream, and your local group’s activities.

The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) campaigns to protect and promote motorcycling and the interests and rights of all riders, illustrated last year by helping to stop the introduction of the ‘Super MOT’. However, like many organisations, MAG needs income, and to increase public awareness. One easy and quick way to help is to support one of their latest promotional initiatives.

In April, a song by Nikki Murray – who refers to it as ‘An anthem for MAG’ – should be released, and MAG gets half the proceeds. So log on to www.stranger-music.com, and for the princely sum of 79p you will be able to download it. They are suggesting you also get 3 friends to do this, in the same week, in an attempt to get a chart hit and therefore huge publicity. Admittedly not as exciting as riding your bikes, but potentially supports our freedom to ride.

Andy Wedge has kindly collated the feedback received on the IAM presentation to Observers regarding the local and national Observers qualification, and sent it on to Jon Taylor (Staff Examiner) and Amanda Smith (IAM Quality Control Manager).

The AGM is today (Sunday 16th March). Are you here? Then join us to hear the plans and questions that our club members have put forward.

Keep your eyes open for latest amusing surveys from the IAM in your email/forum box. I like the one that 26% of drivers were distracted by back seat drivers – it was a missed opportunity for the IAM to promote motorcycling and Skills for Life, and start a ‘Get a motorcycle’ campaign – and the one that 4 out of 10 drivers are not concentrating. You know what I’m going to say, ‘Get a motorcycle’, then try not concentrating. Ho hum – preaching to the converted, I know.

Have fun

Charon