Bike Wise August 2008
Your DAM Committee would like to thank all the volunteers who staffed the DAM stand at this year’s Bike Wise. Glorious weather and a huge number of visitors made for a great day. There was plenty of interest in DAM with quite a few signing up there and then. Even more took the application forms away with them so lets hope they have signed up by now. Generally, this has been a good year for new associates, well up on previous years.

First Aid
At the February club night we had an presentation by Mark Harris from ITC First Aid Training for Bikers. This was excellent and gave food for thought, bringing home the need for first aid training especially if anyone was unfortunate to have an accident. Over 17 members agreed to sign up for the course. The myths of being sued are highly unlikely and one is more likely to be reprimanded by simply ignoring the situation.

The course fee would be £45.00 to members and it will probably run on a Saturday. The dates and venue have still to be arranged. The venue would be local with a possibility of having it at Aykely Heads. If there were enough people interested then it may be possible to run two courses on different dates. A minimum of 16 are needed for each course. If any more members are interested please contact Bill McCready (or any other member of the committee) as soon as possible.

A few things that you ought to know…….
Some local councils have become involved in a major new initiative to promote safer motorcycling.
They have joined up to a “Report a Road” scheme, joining forces with the Highways Agency and other councils in the region. The scheme is aimed at riders who feel that the design or maintenance of a particular stretch of road contributed to a crash, near-miss or scary moment in which they were involved.
Motorcyclists can report defects by logging on to www.handleitorloseit.com , clicking on to “Report a Road” from the menu and then following the on-screen guide.
The remainder of the web site is also worthy of mention, especially to those wanting take up advanced riding.

If you drop your bike (not that Durham Advanced Motorcyclists do) and have trouble starting it, then it may be because of a new gizmo being fitted to some bikes. To prevent the engine igniting spilt fuel when the bike is on its side, manufacturers are fitting a mercury switch to the bike’s ignition system which acts like the kill switch. Even when you have picked the bike up, the switch needs to be reset before the engine will start. The method of resetting may vary from one type of bike to another but usually involves turning the key to the fully off position with the kill switch and back to the run position. Better read your bike manual after all and find out exactly what to do. Better than a flat battery.

Now that a lot of garages resemble small supermarkets and include self service food preparation areas, there seems to be a problem with their microwave cookers interfering with modern vehicle electronics. If, after filling up with fuel, your bike refuses to start even though everything is set right, it may be the microwave cooker being used in the garage shop. Try moving your bike a few yards and see if that cures the problem!

As most people carry a mobile phone with them these days, the emergency services are promoting a new way of obtaining life saving information if you are hurt in an accident. The idea is that you create a new name in your list of phone numbers on your mobile and use the name ICE. This stands for “In Case of Emergency”. In the details section, you should include the name of someone who can be contacted and asked if there is any medical information about you the services should know about. The person should be someone who is unlikely to be out on the bike with you (and possibly injured too) and they should also be informed that they will be an ICE contact. Let them know of any important medical information relating to you such as blood group type, allergies, previous significant medical history (heart attacks etc.,).
The services will be able to give you the most appropriate medication and may save your life.

Talking of accidents and mobile phones, most mobile phone operators use the number 112 IN ADDITION TO 999 for the emergency services. You should be able to dial this number even if you have no minutes left on a pay as you go mobile.