March 2026 - An unexpectedly busy month but it's great to be riding so much again!

What a great month March turned out to be after the relatively slow start to the year. Here's what I got up to.

Training.

Craig was first up in March on his 1300GS. Craig came over from deepest darkest Lancashire, staying in York overnight prior to his session. Craig passed the IAM test in 2016, so felt it was time to have a refresher. His previous training was evident from the off, so it was a case of minor tweaks across various aspects to bring him right back to test standard. Cracking day, 110 miles covered.

Mark was up next on his GSX750F. Mark is back to biking after a 20 year break and his last bike, (20 years ago) was a Suzuki GSX750F. He had such fond memories of it, he bought another! Mark has joined his local RoSPA group, so we were able to build on those foundations. Overall, a cracking half day session.

Robert travelled up from London on his Honda 500X for his 4 days of training and stayed locally in York. Robert has some experience of post test training via the IAM, and he also completed the Motorcycle Roadcraft e learning course prior to his training with me, so was well prepared. What he/we wasn't prepared for, was the crazy black pig running amok on the A1079 at Shiptonthorpe on day 1!! It very nearly scuppered his/our day! I hope it survived to live another day! Over the 4 days we covered around 600 miles, and despite the varied weather forecasts, managed to dodge all the rain.

Here's a few of Robert and the various training routes.

Day 1

Day3

Day 4

Day 2

Olivers on the Mount at Scarborough.

Oink oink!!

Harry finished off the month on his Tracer 900. Harry is recently back to biking and I met him a couple of weeks ago at a BikeSafe event. We had a mix of weather for his half day. Gusting winds, rain, sunshine, dry roads, wet roads...you name it, we had it! But Harry was undeterred and battled on through it all. Great first session.

FireBike & BikeSafe.

On the 14th I had a fantastic day on the FireBike helping to deliver BikeSafe with Humberside Police. I was allocated biking mates Greg (1250RT) and Chris (Multistrada). Two really funny guys, lots of banter and obviously lots of learning too! The sun was shining and it never rained and it was also great to see my fellow volunteer observers from HERAM IAM and EYARD RoSPA, as well as catching up with a few ex colleagues. All in all a fantastic 153 mile day.

On my way to BikeSafe.

Gregg and Chris.

Final debrief and they're still cracking jokes!

FireBike, BikeSafe, IAM and RoSPA working together to achieve the same post test goals.

Advanced Riders North Yorkshire (ARNY).

I managed 2 training sessions with ARNY. On the first I was paired up with Miles on his BMW S1000XR, and on the second I was with Shaun on his 650 Vstrom. The group is really busy at the moment after the winter months when we had to cancel several Saturday training days due to the weather.

Miles and his XR.

Pre ride briefings.

Full car park of Associates and Tutors bikes.

Pesky Triumph in amongst all those beautiful BMWs....lol.

Starting to take over the whole cafe!

IAM Examining.

One IAM test conducted in March. The candidate was John on his BMW 1250GS. John rode really well, and passed his test successfully, achieving a First pass grade.

BMF Blue Riband Advanced Rider Award.

I made it into the BMFs Motorcycle Rider magazine in March. In their 'Meet the Trainer' feature. As National Lead for the Blue Riband Advanced Rider Award, I'm working closely with BMF HQ to give the award greater exposure through social media and magazine articles. Also made it on to the front cover with my mate Simon when he had his Ninja 1000SX and I had my K1600. If you want to know more about the BRARA, go to;

https://www.britishmotorcyclists.co.uk/bmf-blue-riband.../

Meet the Trainer.

Front cover, from when I had a K1600 and my mate Simon had his 1000SX.

Barrie Robson BMW - Customer Ride out.

I had another fantastic day on 22nd when I had the pleasure of leading the Barrie Robson BMW customer ride out, the first of 2026. Twenty two bikes and riders enjoyed approximately 200 miles of some of North Yorkshires finest roads. After leaving Clifton Moor, we had a meandering 70 mile route to a tea & Coffee stop at the excellent Ham and Cheese Pub in Scagglethorpe. From there, we continued on through Hutton Le Hole, Blakey Ridge, Rosedale, Pickering and on to Scarborough, where fish and chips were consumed (obviously!) We then headed homeward via Seaways Cafe at Fridaythorpe. Thanks to everyone who attended and made the day such a huge success.

Riders arriving at Barrie Robsons.

Coffee stop at The ham and Cheese.

Scarborough seafront before heading for the obligatory fish and chips.

The scenic 140 mile route from Barrie Robsons to Scarborough.

Social rides.

I managed a few social rides in between everything else. The first was on the 7th, when I I met my mate Daren who was picking up his new 1300GSA..... I'm not jealous at all! We went for ride, stopping at Anna's Happy Kitchen for 1 of their excellent sausage rolls. Daren then headed for home, and I met up with my Tutor colleagues from Advanced Riders North Yorkshire.

Daren collecting his new 1300GSA.

Amazing sausage rolls at Annas Happy Kitchen, Howden.

On the 13th, I met mates Ian and Andy. We met at the excellent Strawberry Fields cafe, then headed to Withernsea via Pocklington, Fridaythorpe, Driffield, Beeford and Hornsea.

After a brew (and cake obvs), at Castle Cafe Withernsea, we headed to Miles Kingsport Motorcycles in Hull for a little looksee. If you've never been, you really should pop in and meet the guys there, and then we headed back to York. 131 miles door to door and it stayed dry the whole day.

Piers Towers, Withernsea.

Castle cafe, Withernsea.

On the 18th, I met up with mates Simon (1300GSA) and Phil (M1000XR). It was only supposed to be a catch up over a brew, but the weather was so nice, we decided to head to Blakey Ridge for a spot of lunch at the excellent Lion Inn. Only 90 miles in total, but a great impromptu ride.

Looking back from Blakey Ridge towards Hutton le Hole. What a great road.

MCN.

Back in February, I sent details to MCN of our very wet trip to Scotland from last November. I didn't think they'd use it as it certainly wasn't a glamorous trip. However, it made one of the weekly editions of MCN in March. It was a great trip, despite the rain. Thanks go to Lee for the digital image.

BMW R1300RS.

On 9th March, I had an excellent day riding the BMW R1300RS with Option 719 pack. I'd been invited by Barrie Robson BMW to put some running in miles on the bike as it is the latest bike to be added to their demo fleet. The 1300RS follows on from the previous 1250 and 1200RS models but has had a substantial makeover for this latest 1300 version. New engine, new frame, new styling, more power, more gadgets, too much to list, so here's the link for full spec and configurator.

https://www.bmw-motorrad.co.uk/en/models/sport/r1300rs.html

So how did I find it?

To start with, I love the colour and the stance of the bike. The 1300RS, like the 1250 and 1200 before it, is deemed to be a 'sports tourer', and I think those previous models pretty much nailed that remit. I've ridden both previous versions, and they offered enough wind and weather protection to tick the 'tourer' vibe, but were still reasonably good fun in the twisties, but lent more towards tour than sports. However, this latest version definitely looks more sport than tour, and that theme was emphasised when I threw a leg over and sat on the bike. The bike felt very narrow, and the bars are placed so that you lean slightly forward. Not sports bike forward onto your wrists, but definitely more than the previous versions.

The ride.

The ride didn't start well. As I pulled out of the car park at Robsons, and lifted up my feet to put them on the pegs, I couldn't find them! I pulled over to check where they were, and they were higher and further back than I was expecting. I set off again, feet successfully on the pegs and then.....arhhhh cramp in my hips! I stopped again, had a little leg jiggle and tried a 3rd time. This time, it was all good.

Obviously as the bike is brand new, the riding was quite gentle. However, the engine picked up well, feeling very strong in the mid range gears. The throttle and clutch felt very light to use, the quick shifter was smooth both up and down, and the reach to the bars and foot pegs felt sporty but not cramped. The seat was comfortable, and the TFT dash is a good size and very easy to read. It's the same size TFT as on my 1250GSA, but the layout is slightly different and the buttons do different things. I did get lost on the menus a couple of times, but by the time I returned to Robsons, I was already starting to find my way around it quite easily. The heated grips and heated seat also worked well, and as the temperature didn't get above 10c, their efficiency was appreciated.

If I had a gripe, it was probably the mirrors. The never blurred, but despite fiddling with them, the view in them was half what was behind me, and the other half was my elbows. I would think that with more time, you could get them in a better position.

The bike was fun to ride, even at reduced speeds, and rolled very nicely into the bends, and pulled cleanly out of them, and when I did have to brake, they were very strong. There was some fork dive, but I've been spoilt with the GSAs tele-lever front end, so if you're used to 'normal' forks, you probably won't notice it. The screen has 2 positions, and is only manually adjustable, not electric. When I first wanted to move it up, I stopped and did it 2 handed, but after that, I found you could easily and safely move it up or down one handed whilst riding.

I was out on the bike for about 2 hours, and covered 95 miles, and never stopped, other than for junctions etc. The hip cramps reappeared a few times after stopping and setting off again, but never whilst riding. I think that's more to do with my aging body than it being the bikes fault!

I've always liked the RS models, and although I've never owned one, I have ridden them on European tours, and I would say that this new bike is more 'sporty', but I don't think it suffers for it, because it still offers enough weather protection for those longer rides too.

If you're in the market for a bike that is comfy, has shaft drive, cruise control, heated grips, seat etc and offers panniers and a top box as extras, then I suspect it hard to beat. I suppose the Kawasaki Ninja 1100SX is a similar themed bike, and gets great reviews, but it's not shaft drive, and Kawasaki suggest you don't fit a top box. (although many owners do).

Would I have one? Well yes and no. Yes because it was a fun bike to ride and ticks lots of boxes, but no, because I still love my GSA! Which I suspect will be replaced with another GSA when the time comes. But in the future, who knows?

My GSA.

As you have read, it was a busy month in March. In fact, much busier than I expected, although I'm not complaining! My GSA went in for its 600 mile service on the new engine, and now servicing reverts back to the normal every 6000 miles schedule.

So here's my mileage figures for March.

28/02/26 - 41207.

31/03/26 - 43132.

GSA mileage in March - 1925 miles.

FireBike mileage for March - 153.

Total mileages for the year to date;

GSA - 2739

FireBike - 153.

Total - 2892.

And that my friends rounds off for March 2026.

Ian S