July 2025 - Another fun filled month of all things motorcycling!

Ian Speight
Aug 5
5 min read

Updated: Aug 6

Another great month of all things motorcycling. Here's what I got up to in July.

Training.

Paul kicked off the month on his very nice Triumph Street Triple. Paul is a relatively new rider, looking to build up his skills and confidence. Really good session, concentrating on forward observation and road positioning.

Next up was Ian on his 1250GSA, and the weather was much kinder than his June session, when we had 4 seasons in 1 day! Ian had two sessions in July and then took his RoSPA test. See below for his result.

Craig followed on from Ian on his Africa Twin. Craig trained with me over 3 years ago when he completed the Enhanced Rider Scheme and then went on to pass the RoSPA advanced motorcycle test. Craig recently had a short break from bikes, but now he's back on 2 wheels, he decided it was time for a refresher as he was due to take his triennial RoSPA retest. See below for his result.

Rachel came along on her Ducati Multistrada. Rachel had a day with me last year, having come back to biking after a long break, and decided to build further on last year's session. Rachel had 2 sessions in July, resulting in her successfully completing the Enhanced Rider Scheme.

Richard booked a day at the end of the month on his VFR800. Richard already holds an IAM Advanced pass and is currently training with his local RoSPA group, but as part of his own CPD, fancied having someone else take a look at his riding. Obviously, given his current status, we worked on the finer details of his riding. Cracking day, 130 plus miles covered .

Customer test passes.

As mentioned above, Ian and Craig both took, and successfully passed their RoSPA advanced bike tests. A great result for both guys, and I'm sure their riding will go from strength to strength.

RoSPA Examiner duties.

Only one advanced test conducted in July and that was with GSA riding Jez. Jez put in a smooth, safe, legal, well planned and progressive ride, resulting in a successful pass at Gold grade. Great result and well deserved.

Advanced Riders North Yorkshire (ARNY).

Various interactions with my local RoSPA group in July. It was another very busy month for the Tutor team as they work hard to deliver top notch training to the membership. I've been involved with ARNY since 2012 and I am proud to continue to be associated with them.

A typical sunny training Saturday.

Tutors and Associates going through their pre ride checks and briefings.

FireBike lurking in the car park...

IAM Roadsmart - Meet the Examiner.

I had a great evening on Monday 7th, when along with Area Service Delivery Manager Steve Ellis, I attended the monthly meeting of York Advanced Drivers for an evening of 'Meet the Examiner'. Great turn out, some great questions, and great to meet members.

IAM Examiner duties.

Only one IAM advanced test conducted in July, which was a car test. Unfortunately, on this occasion, the candidate was unsuccessful. Hopefully, the candidate will reflect on the debrief and come back in the future with a more favourable outcome.

FireBike.

Very busy month for Team FireBike, with every volunteer committed to one or more events. Karl, Stuart, Jade and Mark delivered various Biker Downs, and attended other events and open days, while I attended Bikes and Burgers at the NY500 cafe with Andy and Cops and Cars at The Motorist on my own.

Here's a few photos from various Biker Down events during July.

Stuart overseeing safe helmet removal.

Jade with 'Annie' explaining CPR.

Practice, practice, practice.

Just one of Karls groups who attended BikerDown events in July.

Bikes and burgers.

On the 29th July, myself and Andy, grabbed a couple of FireBikes and attended Bikes and Burgers at the NY500. It was their first such event and it was a great success! Thank you to all who came along, and took away some information and advice on improving their riding skills and the courses available. We hope to see you on a BikeSafe and/or Biker Down UK soon. Thank you to Fletchers Solicitors for sponsoring the first 100 burgers, NY500 for hosting us and all the organisations that gave their time to support.

Lots of stands and stalls, and it was a well attended event.

BikeSafe and the unmarked Kawasaki.....be careful out there.

Me and Andy about to leave for the event.

All in all, a great month for the team.

BMW Club magazine.

Great to see the FireBike project featured in Julys BMW Club magazine. Every article published gets details of the project out to more people and hopefully encourages riders to take post test training and improve their riding. The photos are of me and project leader Andy C and were taken on a VERY wet and cold day at Mallory Park last year and not during the recent heat wave, which is why we're so 'wrapped up'!

It was so cold that day, hence, neck warmers, thick gloves etc.

Social Ride.

There was no planned training on the 8th, so along with 5 mates, I went for a 'social ride' instead. We went York, Ripon, Pately Bridge, Grassington, Ribblehead (photo), Hawes (lunch), Leyburn, Masham, Boroughbridge, Helperby and back to York. Total miles for the day was 173. Bloody brilliant day.

L to R - Me, Pete (1250GS) Dave T (Multistrada), Dave H (1200GS), Mark (1250GSA) and Steve (Triumph Tiger).

My GSA.

Like June, July was another busy month which saw a new biking milestone for me.

Over the last 45 years of riding, I've been fortunate to have owned over 65 bikes, often owning more than 1 at a time. However, I've never really been one for hanging on to any of them for very long, so despite always doing a fair few miles per year, I never own them long enough to rack up 'bigger' mileages. The only exceptions to this, has been the BMW GSAs I've owned. I bought my first one, new in 2016, had it 30 months and covered 30,000 miles. At that time, that was the most miles I'd ever covered on one bike. I part exchanged that bike in 2018 for my second GSA. I kept that bike 31 months and covered 32,000 miles....a new record! After that, I tried a few other bikes, before buying my current 1250 GSA in May 2023. However, in July, I beat that mileage record, when my current GSA clicked past the 33,000 mile mark. I've also managed to do it in a shorter period, just 25 months. You can go touring on it, meander round the back lanes on it, run errands on it, or 'rag it' round your favourite B road. It's all day comfortable, has great luggage capacity, a huge fuel tank, and the mpg very rarely drops below 50mpg. It really is the Swiss army knife of bikes........And of course, it makes a great training bike.

Despite having a demo on a new 1300GSA, at the present time, I have no intention of swapping it, so it's also likely to soon hold the record for the longest I've ever owned a bike! Current record is 31 months. As of the end of July, I've had this one, 26 months.