Wakefield MAG July 2022 Newsletter

Wakefield MAG Website Banner

Dear Wakefield MAG Member,

Welcome to the Wakefield MAG Newsletter. If you can't attend our Tuesday meetings regularly, it's the next best thing to keep you up to date with what we are up to.

CONTENTS

1) FYP Report
2) New report shows motorcyclists face disproportionate risk of theft
3) Evening Rideout to Sheffield Speedway
4) YPR Rally Tickets
5) Don't waste your money on fake motorcycle gear
6) Ferg's World
7) YPR Marshal Registration
8) Campaign for default bus lane access
9) Contact your MP
10) South Yorkshire and Huddersfield MAG present the Market Top Box Sale - Saturday 23rd July
11) I Will Survive
12) Crime and Policing Survey
13) Forthcoming Events (for July and beyond)

1) FYP Report

Check out the event report Here

2) New report shows motorcyclists face disproportionate risk of theft

A new report from the Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) shows that motorcyclists face a disproportionate risk of theft. Motorcycles were eleven times more likely to be stolen than cars in 2021. Motorcycles made up over 25% of all motor vehicle thefts in 2021. MAG will call for increased focus on motorcycle theft at the National Vehicle Crime Conference.

MAG's analysis of reported motorcycle theft data for 2021 shows the disproportionate level of theft faced by motorcyclists in the UK. The report relies on Freedom of Information data from the nation's 45 territorial police forces. Additionally, the report reveals that in 2021 a little over 3% of all vehicles on UK roads were motorcycles, but they represented over 25% of all stolen vehicles.

Across the country, thieves stole an average 20 in every 1000 licenced motorcycles in 2021. In stark contrast, a mere 1.9 in every 1000 cars were taken by thieves. MAG is seeking redress. Colin Brown will attend the National Vehicle Crime Conference in London on Thursday 30th June. The event is billed to be opened by Kit Malthouse MP, Minister for Policing. Colin will ask why all the focus is on car and van theft when a minority group are facing the highest exposure to the crime.

Report author, Colin Brown, commented: "The analysis will come as little surprise to anyone that rides. As motorcyclists we have to deal daily with the threat that our vehicles will be stolen. I am disappointed that the National Vehicle Crime Working Group still openly states that its priority is cars and vans. Any other minority group exposed to such a disproportionate level of crime would see rigorous action. We don't receive a level of interest by the authorities that matches the scale of the risk riders face."

MAG is working with the Motorcycle Crime Reduction Group (MCRG). Also, it regularly lobbies Police and Crime Commissioners, Local Authorities and the Home Office on the issue. The response to the lobby has, so far, been patchy at best. MAG asks that all riders lobby their local PCC and MP. As Colin Brown says: "Motorcycle theft cannot continue to be treated as a minor issue."

3) Evening Rideout to Sheffield Speedway

We are hosting another branch visit to Speedway racing, on Thursday 14th July, at Owlerton Stadium in Sheffield, home of the Sheffield Tigers Speedway Team, where they are facing the Peterborough Panthers. It has to be said, Speedway Racing is pretty exciting stuff - Each race of 4 laps of the track lasts just over 60 seconds ... YES that's 15 seconds a lap!!! All this on fixed gear, 500cc single cylinder bikes which run on methanol and can accelerate from 0-60mph in under 2 seconds (faster than an F1 car) .... oh yes I nearly forgot .... they don't have ANY BRAKES!!!!! Four riders participate in each race (two from each team) with the winner taking 3 points, 2 for second, 1 for third and 0 for last, this is a team sport with the team accumulating most points over 15 races being declared the overall winners.

Speedway Racing at Owlerton
Speedway Racing at Owlerton

2022 ADMISSION PRICES
Adults £19
Concessions £17
Children (12-16) £6
Children (Under 12) £1
Children (Under 5) FREE

Admission is now pay-on-the-day at the turnstile by cash or card (no pre-booked tickets available).

We are meeting at Woolley Edge services on the southbound M1, leaving at 18:30, to arrive at Owlerton in plenty of time, with the first race starting at 19:30. Come on the bike, or if the weather is inclement, come in the car. Meet at Woolley Edge or direct at Owlerton Stadium itself (Owlerton Sports Stadium, Penistone Rd, Sheffield, S6 2DE).

Hope to see you there.

Check the Sheffield Speedway website: www.sheffield-speedway.com

4) YPR Rally Tickets

Now the FYP is out of the way for another year, we have the splendid Yorkshire Pudding Rally to look forward to, held at Estrick Estate, Estrick, nr Selby/York, on 5th - 7th August.

The Most Chilled Rally on the Calendar:

The Yorkshire Pudding offers a friendly chilled atmosphere with great weather (usually !!!). It has two marquees for entertainment, one hosting a big stage with bands playing both nights and a comedy show during the day on Saturday. The other smaller marquee is a more chilled real ale marquee with a small stage with artists playing both evenings. A great selection of traders selling bike related stuff and food vans selling top notch food from pizza, fish and chips, burgers and curry, to donuts. As with all our rallies we make sure the best toilet providers work twenty four hours a day to keep everything clean and fresh for you. All our rallies have twenty four hour litter pickers so none of our sites have a litter build up.

Wakefield MAG still have tickets for sale but these will sell out shortly. Remember, the Yorkshire Pudding Rally is a Pre-Book only event, with no 'On the Gate' ticket sales, therefore, if you want to go to this most splendid rally, you have no option other than to get your tickets in advance (and don't leave it until the last minute as this event always sells out once the dust has settled from the FYP .... Don't say you haven't been warned !!!

Tickets (which are actually barcoded wristbands this year) for the YPR are £30 (or a Saturday Ticket Option of £22) and available at our Tuesday meetings (for the time being anyway) ... Be quick if you want some.

Remember, if you buy your tickets directly from us, you save on the on-line booking fee and postage (£2.50 per ticket !!!) .... more money in your pocket = more beer money .... what more of an incentive could you possibly want !!!

See the Yorkshire MAG Events site for more details of the fantastic Yorkshire MAG rallies: www.mapevents.co.uk

5) Don't waste your money on fake motorcycle gear

How do you recognise fake claims from sellers of motorcycle gear when you are shopping online? It's easier than you think. The Federation of European Motorcyclists' Associations (FEMA), of which MAG is a member has published some useful guidance.

Check out the FEMA report Here

6) Ferg's World

In 2005, a well-loved maniac and staunch member of the Motorcycle Action Group, one Fergus O'Connell, started a series of columns for MAG's new bi-monthly magazine 'The Road'. These columns became one of the most popular items in the magazine and the page which was turned to first by many readers. Fergus O'Connell was an eccentric, a rider in all weathers, a raconteur, a MAG member to the core, former National Club's Officer and National Vice Chairman. His rice wine was notorious. His columns for The Road were hilarious and following his death in 2012 a Kindle Book was published with a posthumous anthology of his Road columns, which ran from Issue 1 in November 2005 to Issue 44 in December 2012 (the Christmas Edition). So, Fergus left us with the Christmas message 'I never realised just how dangerous Christmas could be' ... Goodnight.

This book is now available for the first time in paperback, priced at £5.99. All royalties from the sale of the book go to MAG.

Search for Fergs World in Amazon

7) YPR Marshal Registration

Marshal Registration is now open for Yorkshire Pudding 2022. Please click on this link: www.magmarshals.co.uk to access the forms.

If you have marshalled at a previous event, then you can just go straight to the Marshal at an Event section and use your email and password from previous years. If you cannot remember what the email address you last used was, then you can email us at marshals@mapevents.co.uk and we should be able to tell you your email username. If you have changed your email address since last using the registration forms and you wish to use the new email, you can Re-Register with your new email before registering to Marshal at an Event. If you cannot remember your password, then go to the Get Help section to reset it.

If you wish to register to marshal at an event for the first time, please complete the Registration page, then go to the Marshal at Event Section to sign up for Yorkshire Pudding 2022. It is helpful if you can state which is your local MAG group when you register and you can tell us a bit about any relevant skills and experience on the special requirements section, such as an SIA badge holder or marshalling at other events. Someone may contact you to find out a bit more about what would be a suitable role for you, whilst we will try to accommodate everyone's request to marshal, it is always at the Event Manager's discretion. Please also ensure to let us know under special requirements if you have any disability or health condition that limits what you can do, we need to know to ensure everyone's health and safety.

Also, you should receive a confirmation email for every form you fill in and submit. Should you not receive the confirmation email, again, please email us at marshals@mapevents.co.uk so we can get you fully registered on our system.

You can go back into your form and update it at any time until the closing date, which is Friday 22nd July 2022 at 1pm. Please ensure you press the submit button at the bottom of the form if you do this.

The shift confirmation email will be sent to you within the week starting Monday 25th July.

Please remember to bring your own re-usable drinks bottle as we are continuing with our quest to reduce the amount of waste at our events so there will be no water in bottles again this year.

If you have requested to be on the build up crew, then it is at Pete Walker's discretion and you will receive a separate email to the shift rota email, letting you know what time to arrive on site.

If you require a car pass, please email Pete Walker at pwalker@mapevents.co.uk putting 'CAR PASS YPR 2022' in the heading and your name and car registration in the request.

We also now have a Facebook page exclusively for all marshals called Yorkshire MAG Marshals Page. Please ask to join and invite all the marshals you know to join. It's for you to air your views. We do accept constructive criticism as this allows us to adapt and move forward but any kind of nasty or unacceptable comments will be removed.

Thank you very much for your continued involvement with the Yorkshire MAG events, without you they wouldn't happen. If you have any queries, please reply to marshals@mapevents.co.uk, we will try to reply by email but it will help if you include a phone number.

Carol and Jayne
Marshal Admin

8) Campaign for default bus lane access

MAG is asking all members to act now by signing the 'Bikes in Bus Lanes' petition. The petition is on the official Parliamentary Petitions website and will take up less than a minute of your time to complete.

Link to the petition: Here

  1. Click on the green 'Sign this petition' button.
  2. Enter your details and then click the green 'Continue' button.
  3. You will then receive an email with a link that you must follow to confirm your signature on the petition.

In addition to signing the petition yourself, please ask someone else (e.g. a family member, friend or work colleague) to do the same. They don't need to ride themselves; they just need to support your request to have default access in bus lanes. It may help to point out the advantages of bikes being in bus lanes (i.e. not taking up space in other lanes).

Why?

Signing this petition is important and can make a real difference. Colin Brown is pushing for a meeting with the Department for Transport (DfT) to discuss the detail of how such a policy can be introduced. Colin will be highlighting the Petition and noting that the Government will be obliged to formally respond when we break the 10,000-signature target for a Parliamentary response. We are looking for a meaningful result, rather than a formulaic brush off.

What about Wales and Scotland? Wales and Scotland could not be specifically listed on the petition due to the devolved nature of transport policy. Northern Ireland already permits access to all of their bus lanes. If we get a positive result for England, it will assist our case in making the same arguments in Wales and Scotland.

Please sign the petition whether the outcome will help you as an individual or not. We need to get this petition over the line for the collective benefit of all riders.

Thank you for your support.

9) Contact your MP

Just a reminder to contact your MP if you haven't already. Now the by-election for the Wakefield constituency has concluded, those living in that constituency may want to contact their new MP, Simon Lightwood.

MAG is pushing hard for National Government to promote shift away from single-occupancy car usage, especially for urban uses such as commuting, in favour of powered two wheelers (PTWs). As well as pressure at the top we are encouraging all riders to add pressure from the community as well. To this end a specimen email has been prepared for you to use (in adapted form if you prefer) and send to your own constituency MP. Please copy and paste the following and send asap to your MP:

Dear [Your MP]

I am writing to you as a constituent with some pro-motorcycling policies to help tackle congestion within urbanised areas. The Motorcycle Action Group has a long history of promoting the environmental benefits and lesser congestion with a modal shift from single occupancy cars to motorcycles.

The Government is refusing to listen to motorcyclists like myself in terms of future transport challenges and this message has been consistently resisted and/or overlooked by policy makers. The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) has written to Secretary of State, Grant Shapps with four simple cost free and yet effective policy requests. These policies, if acted upon, could greatly ease our national transport issues and support my personal transport preferences as a effective way of travel. The proposals will generate no extra cost implications beyond the funds already pledged by the Government to help local authorities reallocate road space and provide space for active travel.

The four policies are:

  1. Specifically recognise and encourage the role of motorcycles and scooters as a congestion busting, and sustainable transport mode in all Government transport messaging. MAG has conducted simple analysis of NAEI and DfT data that clearly shows that, on a mile for mile basis, motorcycles historically and in the present produce lower carbon emissions than cars. MAG's analysis of the data extends to show that with declining numbers of motorcycles (due to poor policy and simple prejudice) the overall carbon emissions from transport has unnecessarily increased. The analysis clearly shows that the fundamental concept of reducing the size and weight of the vehicle fleet currently used on the roads will, in turn, reduce carbon emissions. The direct benefit of reduced energy demand to propel a smaller vehicle also has the secondary co-benefit that reduced congestion significantly reduces emissions from other vehicles that would otherwise be idling in queues. The standard quoted study carried out by TM Leuven in 2011 showed that a 10% modal shift from single occupancy cars to motorcycles would yield a 40% reduction in congestion. More recently, these results have been reinforced by studies commissioned by the Motorcycle Industry Association for its 'Route To Tomorrow's Journeys' report.
  2. Mandate all local authorities to immediately allow motorcycle and scooter access in all combined bus and cycle routes.
  3. Mandate all local authorities to immediately provide secure two-wheeler parking facilities that can be used by both motorcyclists and cyclists
  4. Motorcycles and scooters to be exempt within the UK from all additional road charging schemes such as bridge and road tolls, congestion and clean air zones.

Modal shift from single occupancy cars to motorcycles provides benefits for air quality and congestion and should thus be incentivised by being exempt from all such charges.

To summarise, motorcycles and scooters are an effective way of travel through urbanised areas due to their smaller foot print in size which makes them agile so to manoeuvre through traffic too.

I would like to ask you, as my representative in Parliament, to support me by calling on the Government to take heed and implement these policies as soon as possible to increase the percentage of motorcycles used on the road.

I hope that you will take urgent and positive action on this and look forward to hearing from you with any progress made.

Yours sincerely,
[Your name]
[State if you are a MAG member here]
[Your address]
[Your Postcode]

10) South Yorkshire and Huddersfield MAG present the Market Top Box Sale - Saturday 23rd July

Market Top Box Sale

South Yorkshire MAG are pleased to announce they will be hosting the renowned Huddersfield MAG Top Box sale at the market on Saturday 23rd of July. In addition there will be burgers and hot dogs available, plus Claire Mercer from the Smart Motorways Kill campaign will be in attendance promoting the campaign and raising funds so please donate generously to this worthwhile and potentially life saving cause.

Major thanks to the Market owners who have also helped in securing a band for us, Jagged Rocks with Wakefield MAG's own Steve 'Jagster' Jagger on drums, in addition they are also putting on a guest ale, Trooper by Robinsons and Iron Maiden.

P.S. Wakefield MAG are planning to attend this event, either a rideout, or by train so foaming goblets of ale can be quaffed - watch this space for further announcements

11) I Will Survive

I never knew the 1978 song 'I Will Survive' by Gloria Gaynor was all about learning to ride a motorbike until I read the lyrics .....

At first I was afraid, I was petrified
Kept thinking' I could never even ride a 125
But then I spent so many hours wobbling round in second gear
And I grew strong
And I learned how to ride along.
And so I'm back, CBT was ace
I just rode home all on my own with this big grin upon my face
I should have changed the gears much more
I should have braked much more smoothly
But all I need is 2 more modules and then I will be free
Go on now go, ride down the black
Just do your slaloms
And manoeuvres, there's no turning back
Weren't you the d**khead tailgating me today?
Did you think I'd fall off?
Did you think I'd just get in your way?
Oh no not I, I will survive
Oh, as long as do shoulder checks, I know I'll stay alive
I've got all my life to live
And I've got no more F**ks to give
And I'll survive
I will survive
Hey, hey
It took all the strength I had not to drop the bike
Kept trying' hard to do my hill starts and a smooth turn right
And I spent oh so many hours trying to corner without fear
I used to stall, but now I hold myself up tall
So you see me, somebody new
And I am already checking out some bigger bikes too
And so my confidence grows more as I loose that novice fear
So now I'm rolling back the throttle to kick up another gear.
Go on now go, ride down the black
Just do your slaloms
And manoeuvres, there’s no turning back
Weren't you the d**khead tailgating me today?
Did you think I'd fall off?
Did you think I'd just get in your way?
Oh no not I, I will survive
Oh, as long as do shoulder checks, I know I'll stay alive
I've got all my life to live
And I've got no more F**ks to give
And I'll survive
I will survive
Hey, hey

12) Crime and Policing Survey

The mayor of West Yorkshire is running a crime and policing survey to decide what the priorities should be. This is West Yorkshire-wide. It's a chance to point out that bike theft isn't just a low impact property crime but which has much greater repercussions for public safety and community cohesion. Theft of your pride and joy most certainly isn't a trivial matter, and many stolen PTW's are used in further crimes and anti-social behaviour. Be sure to complete the survey, it will only take a few minutes of your time.

Link to the survey: www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/YourViews22

13) Forthcoming Events (for July and beyond)

TBC - July Rideout

Thursday 14th July - Evening Rideout to Sheffield Speedway

See Above.

Saturday 23rd July - South Yorkshire and Huddersfield MAG present the Market Top Box Sale

See Above.

Tuesday 26th July - Wakefield MAG Social Night - Event: TBC

20:00 in the Thatched House

Friday 5th - Sunday 7th August - Yorkshire Pudding Rally (YPR)

See Above. www.mapevents.co.uk

Wednesday 10th August - Yorkshire Region AGM

Squires Cafe Bar, Newthorpe Lane, Newthorpe, Leeds LS25 5LX at 19:00. Current MAG membership card required to vote. www.squires-cafe.co.uk

Saturday 24th September - MAG Annual Group Conference

Venue: Edward VII Working Men's Club, 65 Leeds Road, Allerton Bywater, Castleford, WF10 2HE

See the events page for further details and more !!!

That's all for this month, hope to see you all soon.

Ride Safe .. Ride Free
Steve Travis
Chairman
Wakefield MAG
0772 078 4734

Wakefield MAG meet at the Thatched House, Stanley, Wakefield at 8:00pm every Tuesday. New (and Old) faces are always welcome.