Editorial

This month's edition of eNEWS@EKAM would have been majoring on changes within EKAM and, more widely, the IAM itself.  News of these things though has been tempered by news of the sad demise of one of the stalwarts of the club, John Hull.  He will be badly missed by the many in EKAM who knew him.

We were to have had Stuart Haythorne visiting for the October club night but unfortunately this has had to be cancelled.  That said Stuart has provided our Chairman with written responses to questions members were intending to raise with him.  We aim to use those responses to kickstart an open discussion at October’s club night.  Coincidentally the IAM are in the process of holding a series of Forums looking at the future of IAM from which I hope to be able to cascade some feedback from this weekend’s session into the same discussion.  One anticipates a lively evening which will be fully covered in next month’s newsletter.

The big thing for EKAM at the moment is the launching of Tracker.  There is information elsewhere in this newsletter and on the website on Tracker but suffice to say it will vastly improve how we manage ourselves.  The word exciting is often over-used, and it always sounds a tad excessive when applying the term to a bit of admin software however this is going to be a step change improvement for us. Please do look at it and sign yourself in, it’ll take minutes and over the rest of your time with the club will save hours.  Instructions are on the website and there is a link in the newsletter.   Do it soon!

Contributions to the newsletter should be forwarded to the editor Barry Ricks.

Newsletter Articles

IAM Autumn Forum 2024

Details

Last year the IAM conducted, and is about to repeat again, a series of Forums aimed at cascading information to the membership of local IAM affiliated groups such as EKAM.  Unfortunately, Tariq and others couldn’t attend so it falls to me to try and summarise a little feedback on the event I sat in on this last Saturday morning, 12th October 2024.

Read more: IAM Autumn Forum 2024

A Tribute to John Hull

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Regrettably, but inevitably, my dear friend John Hull passed away after a protracted and debilitating illness on 25th September 2024.

John had been a stalwart member of EKAM for very many years and held various positions during that time, including that of Chief Observer.  During my own 26 years of membership, John has always been there, not only as my friend, but also as a mentor to myself and many other members, past and present.

Many members will also remember him for planning and leading the early Midsummer Madness jaunts into Northern France – an area he knew extremely well.  His legacy is that these exciting trips are still happening.

Rest in peace John, you are sorely missed.

EKAM Tracker

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EKAM is moving to a new online system called Tracker. This will allow: -

Read more: EKAM Tracker

MSM II

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My overwhelming memory of the Club September France trip was sitting in the beautiful Saint-Valery-sur-Somme. It was so hot that a few of us had to search for shade to eat our sandwich lunch. Sarah Brown, Tony House and I left the group after lunch for a three-night stop at Amiens for some extra riding.

Read more: MSM II

Midsummer Madness II

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Midsummer Madness 2 or Midnight Madness

At 5 am, 30 people on 27 bikes met in the subdued darkness in lane 192 of Dover docks.  By the sounds of it quite a few members had to get up in the incredibly early hours to meet up in time for the ferry.  The usual issue of not enough serviceable straps to hand was sorted and we all met aboard one of the new P and O ferries.  It was a very smart ship and a very smooth journey, the only difference was the food available was in the form of hot rolls, cakes, and sandwiches instead of a hot plate and good old fry-up.  Probably a good thing – health wise.

Read more: Midsummer Madness II

Last of the Tuesday Evening Rides

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Last of the Tuesday Evening Rides – 10th September 2024

Everything was a bit last minute and a little uncertain as we approached the day but in true EKAM style (in the event) it all worked perfectly.  The problem was a ride leader.  As Tuesday approached, we hadn’t got one.  But Nigel Stevens kindly stepped up the plate and offered to lead.  The TeC was Alan Horton still running in his new KTM but that wasn’t going to be a problem and so, despite the rain and the closing evening, we were in business.

Read more: Last of the Tuesday Evening Rides

Auction Night - 20th November

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EKAM is holding an auction of motorcycle paraphernalia at the club night on 20th November  

The items up for auction will be placed in the following categories: -

  1. Jackets
  2. Trousers
  3. One-piece items
  4. Waterproofs
  5. Gloves,
  6. Boots
  7. Body Armour
  8. Luggage
  9. Maintenance
  10. Books & Adhoc Items

    Read more: Auction Night - 20th November

MSM - Prepping for a Trip to France

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Mid-summer madness but, of course, it was not mid-summer. September to be exact.

Someone explained to me that the name was referring to the crazy time when you have to get up to join the mad dash to Dover. Ah yes, I remember the madness also included all day riding. Now that was going to be a challenge for someone who thinks riding to Ashford from Sandwich is virtually going to a foreign country. Starting at the crack of dawn (4am in my case) and arriving at 5am at the entrance to Dover docks was going to be weird. Now, let’s be honest for most of us 4 o’clock is in the afternoon. You know, when we used to get home from school. Well, it was for my generation.

Read more: MSM - Prepping for a Trip to France