It’s been a great start to the year for EAMG with plenty of social rides and unusually good weather to enjoy them to the full
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to attend every ride that I would have liked due to bike issues. My stator failed (all wires shorted to earth) at a most inconvenient time. I discovered the problem when returning to my bike in the Excel car park and finding the battery flat. I was able to bump start it but the engine was faltering on occasions which is rather disconcerting when negotiating rush hour traffic out of London! With lights off to reduce drain on the battery, I made it although I didn’t dare stop for the groceries I had promised to pick up on my way home.
The Blackbird is old enough now that not even Honda dealers stock parts for it so everything had to be ordered and frustratingly, I received a gasket that was labelled wrongly so had another wait for the correct item. Fortunately, I got her running just in time for the EAMG trip to Wales. The shakedown run was to fill up with fuel the evening before!
My bike was ran fine for the trip although I had failed to seal the generator cover adequately and found my left boot slick with oil by the end of each ride. The leak looked worse than it was as the oil loss was insignificant so didn’t stop me enjoying the fabulous trip which you can read more about in this issue of TUG. If you haven’t been away on your bike to experience new roads and equally importantly, the company of your fellow riders, I can’t recommend it enough.
Graham Simpkins, Editor tug@eamg.org.uk
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COVER PHOTO
A coffee stop near Lake Vyrnwy during the EAMG trip to Wales.
No sooner had I returned from Wales and it was time to set off for Luxembourg, with one Eamg member and another friend of mine. This was Micks first ever trip abroad by bike, did not know what to expect and ended up loving it. Maybe my liking to stay riding all day with higher than average mileage was not ideal, but he did it and did it very well. Mick is busy contemplating his next trip.
Hello everyone.
Lots going on here at EAMG. We had a fantastic 4 day trip to Wales with a dozen members. The only complaint was the weather…too hot. It had been too long since we last did something similar and we want to do more soon! It is trips like this that really allow us to forge friendships with our fellow members, no doubt from this trip some members may go away together in the future. The days were long with high mileage. The scenery and roads were epic. Not everyone is used to doing 150-200 miles a day for 4 days, so it is also great training for those contemplating maybe trips abroad.
Picos maybe? Again, this was a great riding experience and invaluable to those never having done this before….just follow me please!
We have our first slow riding skills day soon. This sold out in record time, don’t panic, we have another one in September but it shows how popular our training offers have become, along with many liking the introduction of our date flexible FMT days out, which also represent excellent value. This also reflects on our growing membership and we now have a huge demand placed on our observer team. Quite simply we need more of you to consider being an observer, please do email me at chair@eamg.org.uk for a chat. I love being an observer, it is very rewarding.
Also coming up is our July BBQ group night at Notleys Golf Club. They will be putting on a lovely spread for us, and we don’t have to do the washing up this time. We have emailed the booking detail to you, please remember this is a ticketed event only. Naturally you are more than welcome to bring family etc along.
Our guest in April was Alan Murdey who is a volunteeer with The Commonwealth War Graves Commision. We all know of the large war cemetaries in France and Belgium but Alan explained that there are war graves and memorials all over the world and illustrated this by revealing war graves close to Notleys and finding some history associated with one of those lost soldiers who had been the son of a local farmer.
Alan also told us of other work done by The Commonwealth War Graves Commision including the burial of human remains that are still frequently discovered in the vicinity of old battle fields and ongong work to identify the last resting place of previously unknown solders. It was very interesting and probably encouraged a few members to research their own family as almost certainly, every one of us would have family members lost in one of the two world wars.
Guess who won a KTM flag in the raffle?
A Look Back at May Group Night
Our guest in May was Julie Emmitt from BikeTrac.
Obviously, Julie would like to see us all install BikeTrac devices to our bikes but gave a very balanced overview of the most popular trackers and locks available. She also explained the Thatcham and Sold Secure rating systems and described what each rating meant in terms of what level of security we could expect from rated devices.
The standout feature of BikeTrack is its use of RF as well as GPS tracking which enables a bikes location to be determined to within 1 meter. As seen in the press, this feature recently enabled the recovery of 25 bikes. Twenty of them were in a shipping container at Tilbury docks which was located due to one of the bikes being fitted with BikeTrac. GPS data from that bike also revealed the location of 5 other bikes in crates awaiting shipment out of the country. It was good to see so many bikes recovered but unfortunately there have not yet been any criminal charges relating to these thefts.
BMF Update May 2025
One of the Government's key missions is to make Britain a clean energy "superpower." With lower overall emissions from existing motorcycles, with zero emission models now increasingly establishing themselves in the marketplace, and with the motorcycle sports sector at the forefront of eFuels development, motorcycling has an important part to play both now and in the future in reaching Net Zero. But it is increasingly clear that for the Government to meet its Net Zero targets it needs to adopt an approach to decarbonisation that utilises all technological pathways, not just battery electric, to ensure a sustainable transition to a clean energy future whilst protecting rider choice. The world is changing and so must we, making the most of innovation and technological change to ensure that motorcycling is preserved, whilst delivering a sustainable transport option for future generations. Already in the 50cc moped sector over half of the top-selling mopeds are now electric models. However, continuing issues around cost, the limits of current battery technology in terms of range, and the UK's currently poor recharging infrastructure are likely to hold back development in the larger bike sector for some time to come.
In terms of government transport decarbonisation plans, there is no planned legislation as yet to end the sale of petrol-powered motorcycles. The 2021 Transport Decarbonisation Plan mentions a 2035 target date (subject to consultation) to end the sale of new petrol-powered motorcycles and scooters as part of a broader plan to decarbonise the UK transport sector. However, a 2022 government consultation about the proposed 2035 date, launched by the previous government, did not progress before the calling of last year's General Election. And despite the NMC and BMF pressing the new government for clarity on its own motorcycle decarbonisation plans, Ministers are yet to express any views on specific decarbonisation dates for motorcycles.
In April 2025, the Government did confirm that they were maintaining their manifesto commitment to phase out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030. There was however no mention about any proposals or planned legislation from the current government with regard to motorcycles. Whatever date the Government eventually settles on for phasing out the sale of new petrol motorbikes, it should be remembered that this date will only apply to new bikes. There has never been any suggestion that legislation will be retrospective, so whatever date is eventually firmly proposed for petrol powered phase out, motorcyclists will still be able to buy and sell used petrol bikes after then. Everything motorcyclists are used to doing, from filling up their tank at a petrol station to having their bike serviced, is likely to continue for years to come.
But the BMF is not complacent on this issue. At some point the Government will come forward with firm proposals, be this for 2035 or another date. We and the NMC have already lobbied strongly on this issue, given the very real issues with a battery electric only approach and its lack of market suitability. We continue to press for clarity from Ministers on this important issue and will update BMF members as and when further information becomes available.
Paul Morgan CBE.
BMF Government Relations Executive.
paul.morgan@bmf.co.uk
EAMG Trip To Wales by Graham Simpkins
Earlier in the year our chairman had the foresight to book 10 rooms in the Premier Inn, Oswestry which is just 5 miles from the Welsh border. That was enough encouragement for a group of us to join him for a 4day drip at the beginning of May.
Clive Tooby was riding his classic BSA Goldstar. Concerned he may hold us up, Clive offered to be back marker. He needn’t have worried as the old BSA is a surprisingly quick motorcycle, especially in Clive’s experienced hands.
Our first ride in Wales took us over a dam at the end of Lake Vyrnwy to the café, nestled in the trees on the other side.
The route there was a tried and tested one used by our training team so took in a great variety of interesting roads, passing through towns and villages, using dual carriageways only where there was no practical alternative but certainly no motorways!
There is a petrol station conveniently within sight of the hotel so each days riding was started with a full tank. Why does no petrol station in Wales appear to have a full compliment of working pumps? And if you find E5 then you got really lucky.
Roads around the lake are slow and narrow so refreshed, we retraced our steps a little to get onto some better roads and headed for Snowdonia (as non Welsh speakers will continue to call it). There are some fabulous roads in the national park and being a weekday, traffic was light so we were able to enjoy them on route to our next destination.
Lunch was planned to be in the café at Zip World Ffestiniog but the road was being resurfaced across the entrance just as we arrived so after a few U-turns we found our way to a café by the reservoir. Food was good and it was very pleasant sitting with a view across the reservoir on such a lovely day.
EAMG Trip To Wales
another glorious day to sit outside.
After lunch we made our along more beautiful roads to Devils Bridge.
After refreshment at the Woodlands Cafe, we decided on a detour to enjoy the picturesque B4574 to Rhayader. This road is otherwise known as National Cycle Route 81 but we didn’t encounter too many cycles. The biggest hazard was sheep!
For our second day we ventured into mid Wales in the hope we would find less of the weekend traffic there.
The roads are excellent and mostly in very good condition so it was no wonder we encountered so many other riders.
Our lunch stop was at the very popular Owls Nest Tea Room Diner at Llandovery. Obviously very popular as there were more than a hundred bikes parked. We even met another EAMG member there! Despite the crowd the food was served quickly and we enjoyed the generous portions. It was yet
We did encounter a group of American hot rods closely following some other motorcycles but fortunately we met them at a wider point along the route so were able to quickly pass and enjoy miles of fabulous roads, rarely seeing other vehicles before reaching Rhayader.
EAMG Trip To Wales
Following each day of fabulous riding it was nice to spend time together chatting over dinner and later, in the bar. I’d like to say we enjoyed a good beer as well but the hotel bar was rather like the Mony Python cheese shop. The hotel was due to be closed for refurbishment so nothing was being restocked. By our last evening, I was reduced to drinking gluten free Peroni!
The final day started like all others, with a good breakfast before we assembled for departure. On this occasion I was back marker so Clive could have some fun.
The return route was pretty much a reversal of our route out but managing to avoid a couple of the accidental detours we previously made. Somehow, even though we shared routes on our sat navs, we were amused at how often we got differing directions. There were quite a few roadworks so we concluded it must be the live traffic updates that caused the discrepancies. But we continued to blame Michel’s mapping skills none the less.
After one journey we had a long discussion about whether we would have got away with passing a police car that was driving close to but not at the speed limit. We had no such worries on the return with one obviously holding back, making space for the whole group to pass. I thanked the driver with a wave.
We passed again through lovely Cotswold towns then on to our final refreshment stop at Baldock. We said our good byes at Baldock as some of us were splitting off from here to take the most convenient route home.
It had been a wonderful few days and we all agreed we should do more trips like it. We find plenty of good roads in Essex and surrounding counties but it is lovely to ride new or less familiar routes sometimes. Maybe we’ll do some shorter trips with just one overnight. Not everyone can or wants to commit to a longer trip but one night away would be enough to venture onto new roads and enjoy an evening in the company of fellow members. Hope to see you on the next one.
