Free bacon or sausage bap for all who attend the Bikers' Breakfast this Sunday @ The Winking Man Pub​

One of a program of biker meets with biker-related stands and interesting info.

date: 5th July
venue: Winking Man, Buxton Road, Upper Hulme, Leek, ST13 8UH. 10am - 3pm.
price: free

www.staffsbiker.co.uk/events

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Ensuring you have adequate motorbike insurance is as essential for a biker as having a helmet and leathers. However not all policies are the same so how do you know the policy you have provides all the cover you need?

Know what to look for…

Motorbike insurance is a legal necessity in the UK however many bikers just opt for the cheapest deal they can find. However, this can be a mistake as the cheapest deal may not offer the level of cover you require.

Choose from:

• Third party only: This covers liability for injuries to others and damage to their property.
• Third party, fire and theft: All the protection of third party cover plus cover for your own bike against theft, attempted theft and fire damage.
• Comprehensive: Everything that’s included in third party, fire and theft cover plus repairs to your own bike in the event of an accident (subject to policy exclusions). What’s offered under comprehensive motorbike insurance will usually vary between companies but typically includes medical expenses, accidental damage cover and personal accident cover.
• Third party and third party, fire and theft policies are best suited to riders who are inexperienced or who have claims and convictions on their record as premiums for comprehensive insurance may be too high. A third party deal may also be suitable if you ride a relatively inexpensive bike.

However, generally the more cover you have the better, which is why if you’re comparing comprehensive insurance you should examine the terms and conditions carefully to see exactly what is included in the policy – what is offered as standard by some insurance companies may not be included in other policies and there may also be optional extras to choose from – cover features for which you can pay an additional premium. Some of the policy options to look out for include: breakdown cover; legal expenses cover; a temporary replacement bike while yours is repaired; cover to ride other motorbikes (with the owner’s permission) in emergency situations; and travelling in Europe.

What else should you consider?

While the level of cover available should be your primary concern there are several other key factors that are worth considering while you shop around:

• Excess levels: An excess is the amount you pay towards a claim. Usually this is split into a compulsory excess established by the insurance company itself and a voluntary excess, which is an additional amount you agree to pay, when taking the insurance out, in case a claim is necessary.
• No-claims discounts: Making claims on your insurance costs your provider money – and so they rewards bikers who don’t make claims. Avoiding claims for four or more years could even reduce premiums by as much as 60 per cent.
• Other discounts: There may be additional incentives offered by an insurer – for example you may get a discount for insuring more than one bike with the same company; and there may be discounts for buying online.
• Policy exclusions: Read the terms and conditions of any policy that interests you carefully, and be on the lookout for exclusions (these are circumstances in which you will not be covered).

So which company offers the best deal?

There’s no set answer as to which motorbike insurance provider offers the best deal, or indeed which is the cheapest. This is because premiums can vary widely between insurers due to the assessments they make of how likely you are to make a claim – this can be influenced by factors including your riding history; your address – such as if you live in a busy traffic or high crime area; your annual mileage; your personal circumstances – do you use your bike as part of your job, for example; and the bike itself.

Due to the contrasts in the way these factors are evaluated it makes sense to gather as many quotes as possible before settling on the best deal. A comparison website is a great starting point as the leading websites can compare policies from as many as 25 insurance companies. The key however, is to look beyond price alone (the cheapest deal is listed first) and also consider the level of cover you’re receiving.

There are steps you can take to reduce premiums too – here are some quick tips:

• Agree to a mileage limit: The fewer miles you travel, the lower the risk of an accident occurring.
• Choose a suitable bike: Older bikes with smaller engines usually qualify for cheaper premiums as they are cheaper to repair/replace and less likely to travel at fast speeds.
• Increase excess: Agreeing to a higher excess can lower premiums but keep it at a level you can comfortably afford.
• Increase security: Consider adding electronic and mechanical security to reduce the risk of theft and park in a locked garage overnight.
• Pay annually: By paying premiums upfront you can avoid interest charges.

See our insurance section

Born July 1st, 1965 in Blackburn, Lancashire and the son of former motorcycle racer George Fogarty.

The former World Superbike racer won four World Superbike Championships (1994, 1995, 1998 and 1999). His greatest success came with the Ducati team.

He also won the fourteenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2014.   

Generally it can be said that a motorcyclist’s lot is a happy one. Out on the road being observant and looking out for our own skin while interacting with other vehicles, however one observation that always crops up from riders is the use of mobile phones by other vehicle users.

There doesn’t seem to be a week from Northern Ireland or Europe or even globally that on the internet especially the social media of Facebook and Twitter, there is a campaign launched to highlight the dangers of using a mobile phone whilst driving.

The use of the mobile phone whilst driving – talking or texting is an ongoing scourge – with riders’ continued observance of their use with some very high profile court cases of riders killed by drivers whilst using mobile phones.

Advice – Rules – Regulations – Guidelines

Advice and rules and regulations and guidelines for not using mobile phones whilst driving are at every turn in road safety messages and campaigns, featured on the news, police stop camera type programmes, social media, specific police enforcement campaigns and the High Way Code.

The Northern Ireland Department Of The Environment (DOE) – Road Safety Education – has produced an advisory leaflet which highlights the dangers of using a mobile phone whilst driving.

Although they say that, “Having a phone with you on a journey can be smart for personal security and to help in an emergency.” The main message is that, “If you use a mobile phone while driving, you’re one call from being a killer, one text from being in prison.”

One of the latest campaigns, with an accompanying video, is from Kent County Council’s road safety team, who found that a third of drivers in the county use their mobile phones while driving, including texting or accessing social networks, despite knowing it is dangerous and illegal.

Another one from England is my red thumb which has travelled across from Colorado, USA, originally called Red Thumb Reminder it was a reminder for people not to use their phone whilst driving; through painting their thumb nail red. So every time a driver saw their red thumb they were reminded of the message.

We could go on picking these campaigns and videos out from all over the world but what we want to see is actually how prevalent mobile phone and distracted vehicle user use is.

If you want to help, then you can go to our Mobile Phone Scourge – Mark It – Map It! online map were you can add a “marker” if you have spotted a road user on their mobile phone talking or texting “illegally” or some other distraction so you can then gauge the ongoing scourge of mobile phone usage on the road.

Read The Full Article

The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) is very concerned at the alarming increase in road deaths in Britain, following the publication of the latest accident statistics from the Department for Transport today.

Figures released this morning show that overall casualties have risen for the first time in 18 years.

The IAM urges the government to take radical steps to reverse these worrying figures before they become a trend, in particular that pedestrian protection must not be ignored and moved much further up the agenda, and the decline in numbers of police traffic officers must be reversed.

The figures show there were 1,775 reported road deaths in 2014, an increase of 4% compared with 2013. The number of those killed or seriously injured in Britain increased by 5% to 24,582. There were a total of 194,477 casualties of all severities, an increase of 6%, the first increase in overall casualties since 1997.

Pedestrian fatalities increased by 12 per cent from 398 in 2013 to 446 in 2014, and vehicle traffic levels increased by 2.4 per cent between 2013 and 2014. In addition, the numbers of people killed on roads with a 20mph limit increased by 367%.

Last week, Key Reported Road Casualties Scotland 2014 figures showed a total of 11,240 road casualties reported in 2014 and there were 200 fatalities - 6% more than 2013 (reference 2).

Neil Greig, IAM director of policy and research, said: “These figures are greatly concerning and show the time for action is now.

“We are clear on what needs to happen. We call again for road safety targets to be reintroduced – they are the only clear way of ensuring reductions are measured and achieved.

“There also must be a greater focus on driver and rider quality and incentives for companies and individuals to continuously develop their skills.

“There also needs to be a focus on tackling pedestrian deaths, an area which is often ignored. We believe that car technology and design should now shift from occupant protection to protecting the vulnerable outside cars.”

Neil suggested manufacturers should pursue developments like pop-up bonnets, pedestrian airbags and detector systems.

He added: “We also need better pedestrian facilities to segregate traffic and vulnerable users where speeds are high, and campaigns to educate pedestrians themselves as they are most often at fault in crashes.”