The Sock Problem

of the Ford Test Track at Dunton. Apologies to those who had planned to attend. Hopefully, things will be back to normal for 2022!

Associate Member Training / Full Member Training

Bookings are still very low for the AMT/ FMT day scheduled for Sunday, 24th October. AMT/ FMT days offer a great way to fast track your training and/ or help you develop your riding skills (for example if you wish to prepare for a test/ retest or a Trainee Observer Assessment ride). Further details outlining the format of the day and how to book, including John Tipper’s contact details, should appear elsewhere in this issue of TUG.

Extension of Ultra Low Emission Zone

This is not really training related but just in case you ride an older bike you need to be aware that Transport for London will be expanding the existing Central London Ultra Low Emission Z one (ULEZ ) to create a single larger zone up to, but not including, the North Circular Road (A406) and South Circular Road (A205). The ULEZ is operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year except Christmas Day.

This change will take effect from 25th October and a bike like my 1997 VFR750 will be liable for a £12.50 daily charge. You can check if your vehicle is compliant via the link: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ check-your-vehicle/

E10 Fuel

Fuel is a touchy subject at the time of writing, no sooner had the Transport Secretary said that there is no fuel shortage and ‘don’t

panic’ than a lot of drivers reacted by panicking and creating a shortage! EAMG even had to postpone the Observer peer to peer ride planned for 26th September because there was a strong possibility that we would spend more time queueing to refill rather than riding.

Anyway, from the beginning of September new ‘greener’ fuel has been introduced containing 10% bioethanol and 90% petrol, which it is claimed will reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the UK by as much as 750,000 tonnes a year.

Newer vehicles should be compatible with E10 fuel but it could cause damage to older ones. It is believed that the higher bioethanol content in E10 petrol could lead to problems with ancillary systems, fuel lines, pumps and rubber seals.

There is a government website which allows you to check your vehicle via this link: https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-e10-petrol

When I tried to check my VFR I was advised that ‘All Honda motorcycles and mopeds produced for the EU market since 1993 can use ethanol-blended gasoline up to 10% although carburettor-equipped models could experience poor driveability in cold weather conditions.’ On this basis for the VFR I will stick with E5, which is likely to only be available as a premium higher octane fuel.

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Should any members have any training related queries then please contact me via e-mail to training@eamg.org.uk , or on 07570 992801 or speak to the most relevant member of the Training Team.

Chris Johnson

There have been various knotty mathematical problems, such as Fermat's Last Theorem and the Four Colour Problem, which were unsolved for centuries before yielding to the latest complex techniques . Unfortunately these are not applicable to a curse which afflicts us all, namely the Sock Problem. You may ask what socks have to do with motorcycling, other than our wearing them under our boots, and the answer is nothing. However until people send me some content for T.U.G. I have to pad it out somehow.

You know how it is with socks; an eternal cycle of wearing them and then washing them. Inevitably there are occasions when a wash results in an odd number of socks. You put the odd sock in a drawer and hope that its companion will turn up. It seldom does, and I have a drawer containing around 40 odd socks. Where did the missing ones go? Nobody knows and, since I am not an amputee, the odd sock drawer represents a triumph of hope over experience. This always irritated me and I came up with what I thought was a smart idea; I would only buy black socks. Socks would still disappear but matching odd socks would then become straightforward. This worked at first, but I should have bought several dozen identical pairs in the same material and from the same dye batch. I didn't, and as repeated washing took its toll they started to shrink at different rates and there were many different shades of black. Matching them up became a total nightmare and in the end I was relying on people not examining my socks too closely; at least they were all blackish, except for the ones which had turned dark blue.

.An interim solution I tried during this period was to use sock clips, small plastic fasteners to hold a pair together in the wash. They are a good idea in theory but in practice they are too flimsy. The socks slip out, and the clips break and distribute sharp little pieces of plastic amongst your wash. Not a success and soon abandoned. My major problem was that I had transformed

an occasional odd sock irritation into a massive one in which I had enormous difficulty making matches.

I backtracked, abandoned the 'black' socks, and started buying multipacks from Marks & Spencer. These were substantially black, but had different patterns and coloured embellishments. Once again, after initial success, repeated washing took its toll. In socks with the same pattern reds and purples, and blues and greens began to look distressingly similar. You needed good light and a Pantone chart to distinguish them. I wasn't back in the worst of the black sock era but it was a confounded nuisance. I think that as soon as socks look too similar I am going to have to ditch them and buy fresh multipacks. This will be bad for the environment, and my wallet, but what choice does one have? Throughout all this the fundamental mystery of disappearing single socks remains unchanged, inevitable, and insoluble.