November was busier than last year, with the mild weather allowing few riders to get some end of year training in. Read on to see what I got up to in November.
Training.
Tom came from Scotland, yes Scotland! on his SV650. Tom is a relatively new rider, having only passed his test in January 2023, but is keen to improve his riding. Tom had booked 3 consecutive days, but unfortunately due to events outside of his control, only completed the 1st day. However, Tom will be back again in the new year.
Paul came along on his 1250GS for 2 days training. Paul travelled down from the North East and stayed locally for his training. Paul came back to biking last year after a long break and decided to have a couple of refresher days. When he booked, we weren't sure what the weather would be like, but we just hoped it wouldn't be too wet or too cold. What we didn't expect was wall to wall sunshine and being able to enjoy our lunch sat outside! Bloody brilliant!
Rob was up next on his Honda CB1000R. It was another lovely day, the sun was shinning, the roads were dry and we covered lots of miles. Another fab day. Rob has already completed the Enhanced Rider Scheme with me and is now hoping to take the BMF Blue Riband Advanced in December (subject to the weather). I'll keep you posted with how he gets on.
Tom already holds a RoSPA Gold qualification which is up for renewal next year, so he decided to ride up on his 1250GSA from Chesterfield for a refresher. Cracking session with only a few tweaks needed here and there to get him back on track.
Customer test pass.
Peter trained with me in October, when he successfully completed the Enhanced Rider Scheme. On 6th November, Peter successfully passed the BMF Blue Riband Advanced Rider test. A well deserved result, for the work Peter has put in to reach the required standard. Here's Peter getting a congratulatory handshake from BMF Examiner Alf (AG Rider Training).
BMF Rider magazine.
Great article in the latest edition of the BMF Magazine, 'Motorcycle Rider', featuring one of my customers, Kate. The article outlines how new rider Kate trained with me on her 900 Triumph and successfully completed the Enhanced Rider Scheme. Not wanting to rest on her laurels, Kate then decided to take the BMF Blue Riband Advanced Rider test, which she passed successfully. A great result, and even more impressive when you consider that Kate only obtained her full bike licence in July 2022.
BMF Magazine - Motorcycle Rider.
Kates 'story'.
Kate with BMF Examiner Alf AG Rider Training) who conducted kates BMF test.
RoSPA Examining.
Only one RoSPA test to conduct in November. The candidate was Mark on his KTM 890SMT. We managed to miss the downpours and keep to (mostly) dry roads, and after approximately 1 hour of riding, I was pleased to inform Mark that he'd passed successfully.
Garmin/Motorrad Navigator 6.
As some of you may know, the Navigator 6 sat nav has not been without its problems. When it works properly, it is a seriously impressive sat nav. Unfortunately, it has suffered with some (well documented) issues around the problem of 'ghosting'. This is where the screen keeps swapping pages and menus because it 'thinks' someone is pressing on the touch screen. Unfortunately, once this starts, it only gets worse, until it literally never stays still. Which as you can imagine, makes following a route, just about impossible.
I had 4 previous devices swapped through my local (excellent) BMW dealer (Barrie Robsons - York) but in October last year the problem happened again, but this time I decided to go directly to Garmin, and I was very impressed with their response.....'send it back, we'll send you another one'. And true to their word, that's exactly what they did. The process took 5 days and my current unit has performed faultlessly.......until mid November! so, On Monday 25th, I contacted Garmin, and just like last time, they said 'send it back, we'll send you a new one'. They emailed a returns label and the next day I packaged it up and dropped it off at my nearest UPS collection/drop off point. On Wednesday Garmin confirmed they had received my unit, and had dispatched a replacement unit. On Friday 29th, the replacement unit arrived. It was then just a case of registering the new unit and doing a software and map update.
That's great service by anyone's standards. Obviously, I haven't had time to use it yet, but hopefully it will be ok! I'll keep you posted.
My GSA.
Not as busy this month as last month, resulting in a lot less miles miles ridden. In fact, I only managed 700 miles. Here's my GSA mileage figures for November.
01/11/24 - 23228
30/11/24 - 23928
GSA mileage in November - 700
FireBike mileage for November - ZERO.....again!!....I must try harder!
Total mileages for the year to date;
GSA - 13,184
FireBike 3072.
Motorrad Tours 2490.
Total for the year as of 3o/11/24 - 18046.
Well, that November covered, hope you enjoyed the read. Until next month, ride safe.
Ian S
Kommentare