February was a very mixed month. The weather was pretty rubbish, meaning training for both my own customers and my local RoSPA group had to be cancelled or rescheduled. Never the less, some biking activity was still achieved. Read on to find out what I got up to in February.
Training.
Dave came along on his Vstrom 650 and wanted a general assessment of his riding, with particular attention to slow speed control. Once fully briefed, we headed to my favourite slow speed location and I'm pleased to say that Dave was soon successfully mastering feet up U turns and 'figure of 8s'. We then hit the back roads for some pointers on forward obs and positioning and all in all had a great session. We were even blessed with some decent weather. Dave will be back again in the future.
RoSPA Examining.
Helen came along for her advanced test and it's fair to say it was touch and go whether to or not it would go ahead. I had been in touch with Helen several times over the previous days discussing the weather forecast. The day before we decided we'd go ahead, but would confirm for definite the morning of her test, which we did.
We met at 10am at a local café, but shortly after arriving it began to snow! Not good!
More tea was consumed, it stopped snowing, and an hour or so later, Helen decided she wanted to go ahead. Fortunately, Helen had come well prepared for the weather, wearing good quality textiles along with heated gear. So off we went. It wasn't the wettest test I've ever conducted, but it was probably the coldest, with temperatures struggling to maintain 5c! Undeterred, Helen rode exceptionally well, making all the correct adjustments for the conditions, and roughly one hour later, I was very pleased to inform her she had passed with a well deserved Gold grade.
IAM Roadsmart Examining.
I conducted one car test during February, but unfortunately the candidate didn't reach the required standard but will hopefully return in the future and go away with a better result.
IAM Roadsmart - free merch!
Who doesn't love a free Tee shirt? And after a fairly long wait, my new IAM Roadsmart arrived.....and here it is! It's even got my name on it. I look forward to wearing it.
RoSPA Tutor Training.
As a lot will know, I have been involved with my local RoSPA group (Advanced Riders North Yorkshire - www.arny.org.uk) for the last 12 years and every year I assist with the training of potential new Tutors. This year, there were 4 candidates for the initial training weekend, Helen, Steve, Phil and Ian. Day 1 was 'classroom' based theory, and day 2 was out on the road with role play scenarios based around the previous days theory. It was a really good couple of days, only marred by the fact that the sun shone all day whilst we were in the classroom on day 1, and it chucked it down most of day 2!
In the classroom, whilst the sun cracked the flags outside!
Dodging the rain on day 2 but still smiling. L to R me, Steve, Helen, Steve, Phil, Ian, Phill, Bev, and John.
Role play before the rain came.
All the new Tutors will now shadow experienced Tutors for a set period of time as part of the training process.
Social Rides.
With not much training or Examining to conduct, I did manage a few social rides with friends. Here's a just few photos, one of which made it into Motorcycle News.
The guys arriving at the meeting point for a catch up. L to R - Dave (Ducati V4), Mick (Africa Twin), John (Pan European). I'd gone in my car....oh the shame of it!!
Out with another Ian on another GSA!
A visit to Miles Kingsport Honda in Hull.
Out with Andy, Jade and Dave to Olivers Mount cafe.
MCN
MCN
The 2025 Honda X-ADV 750. I really liked mine, but wished it had a better screen, and TFT dash and cruise control. Guess what Honda have done to the 2025 model.....answers on a post card to......
Januarys puncture incident also made it into MCN in February.
Nurburgring ends bike laps in 2025.
The Nurburgring is a bucket list location for many riders. Even if you don't do a 'lap', just being in the car park can be a great experience. I've been fortunate to have ridden the 'ring' about a dozen times over the last 30 years, but it looks like an end to an era of 'just turn up and ride', with only 4 days a year now for bikes, and they are guided laps and will be even more expensive than the current price.
Here's me looking awesome (lol) on my S1000R on the 'Ring from a few years ago.
My GSA.
Like January, there's not much to report on the GSA front. Some training, some social rides and a few more miles that January, but only just!
Here's my GSA mileage figures for February 2025.
01/02/25 - 24573
28/02/25 - 24906
GSA mileage in February - 333.
FireBike mileage for February - 0! (which is even worse than Januarys 14 miles!!)
Total mileages for the year to date;
GSA - 653
FireBike 14
Total for the year as of 28/02/25 - 667.
And that my friends, ends February 2025. Thanks for reading and ride safe.
Ian S
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