Thermal Mid Layer Clothing

Yes it’s getting colder now and at my tender years I am finding that I am feeling the cold more now. I did a run last Monday down to Grays in Essex, the wind was howling and plenty of rain to boot and I found once I had got cold I just couldn’t get warm again.

With this in mind I felt it was time to research some warmer mid layer clothing, the layer that goes between the base layer and the Gortex outer clothing.

I spent almost a day researching this, having looked at the Oxford Chillout range and the EDZ range but I the end I elected for the Sub Zero gear. I read various reviews about this clothing including a very in depth one at Web Bike World which can be read here:

http://www.webbikeworld.com/r3/motorcycle-underwear/sub-zero-thermal/



On further routing around on Sub Zero’s site I can across a special offer for this gear saving me £20 so I went for that, I don’t know how long this offer is valid for, but here is the link:

http://www.subzerostore.co.uk/special-offers/factor-2-zip-turtle-bloo-john-pack-save-20

Now I am looking forward to this thermal mid layer clothing arriving so I can try it out on the bike, I will report back after a few uses and let you know how it goes.

Cheers

Safe Riding

Dave

Short Notice Same Day to Paris

Yesterday we did a short notice same day delivery to Paris, quite simple you might think, a quick run down to the Channel Tunnel and then zip down to Paris, fine but let’s just take a step back for a moment and consider this weeks weather conditions, lot’s of high winds which do not make riding fun. We took a look at the weather in France and decided on safety grounds to travel by a different method.

So this is how we did it, took the bike to the pick up point for 08:30AM, then rode down to a secure car park on Pratt Street in London. At the car park I stowed the riding gear on the bike and got changed into different clothes. Next a short walk, about 15 minutes to the Eurostar station at St Pancras, hopped on the 11AM departure for Paris. At Paris we had prearranged a driver and car to take me to the delivery point, the package was delivered at 3PM local time and the client was chuffed.

The other good point about doing this trip in this manner was that I didn’t need to stay overnight in Paris, I took the 17:00 back to London and was home by 21:00.

Prospective Motorcycle Couriers

Over the last couple of years I have had many people contacting me to ask for employment as a motorcycle courier or to ask me how to become a motorcycle courier. Initially I was able to reply to everyone personally but as time has gone by I have become busier and am unable to do this on every occasion now. I am not happy about this because I am not an ignorant person so I have decided to put a few pointers together which might answer some of the more common questions. Not all active motorcycle couriers will agree with me but this is based on my own experiences in the business.

So first of all, do I have any jobs or vacancies for motorcycle couriers, sadly no I don’t because the flow of work is not steady enough to be able to guarantee employment for another courier. Some weeks are very busy, other are very quiet, it’s impossible to predict from one week to the next. Having said this, I do work with other motorcycle couriers by passing jobs on or recommending other couriers to clients who contact me. This can happen for any number of reasons for example, I may already be booked on another job, the geographic location of the pick up which may be so far away that my quote would not be competitive. However, I have my own standards and one of those states that any rider who I give work to must be properly insured and this must include goods in transit insurance to at least £10,000.

Our record over the three and half years of operation is 100%, no missed deadlines ever and we have never let a client down for any reason, we are proud of this and would not do anything to spoil it, reputation goes a long way in this business.

I get many request from guys telling me they have xyz bike and would like to earn some beer money at the weekends by doing courier work, I am sorry I won’t entertain this simply because there are many guys out there riding in all weathers at all times of the day and night trying to make a decent living. This is not a hobby or part time job, it requires a high level of dedication and commitment to do it properly. I would rather see the work go to these guys because it’s their full time occupation.

For those looking for part time work I would suggest you contact your local courier companies and investigate the prospects of them taking you on their books as a subbie.

I also hear from people who think this a very glamorous way to earn a living, yes it’s great doing what you enjoy, riding your bike but let’s take a reality check for a moment. If you are a pleasure rider you get to choose when you are going out on the bike and this may not involve getting up at 4AMfor a 5AM pick up or even riding 500 miles in freezing cold and pouring rain, well this is what full time couriers do on a regular basis dayin and day out and at times it’s not fun believe me!

For those who are really serious about making this their profession I wrote a couple posts a while ago on this blog which would be of interest:

You want to be a motorcycle courier

Being a subbie

I will help anyone I can as long as they are serious about making this their full time job, weekend warriors, sorry I can’t help you, go and check out the prospect of becoming a subbie.
Talk to any full time motorcycle courier, you will soon find they are passionate about what they do, yes we all love the riding aspect of the job but delve a little deeper and you will soon learn that there is a dedication to the client which is more important than just riding the bike on sunny summer’s day.

If I have offended anyone with what I have written here I am not sorry, I prefer to tell it as it is and not create illusions for anyone, this is hard work that demands a very high level of dedication and tenacity to see each and every job through to a successful conclusion.

Best regards

Dave

International Shipments

Recently we were requested to collect a UK inbound shipment of data from a shipping agent at Heathrow airport, we were provided with the correct documentation by the shipper abroad. We then just had to go and collect the shipment from the Heathrow based agent and then carry the shipment onto the recipient.

This was all carried out without a problem and both the sender and recipient were very happy with the service and we did provide the most cost effective solution even though we had to travel some distance to get to Heathrow in the first place.

This service could be provided at all UK airports to ensure secure onwards delivery once your item gets into the UK.

Similarly, the service can work in the reverse for shipments going abroad from the UK. We can collect your item and deliver it to your chosen shipping agent for onward transmission abroad, however, we do not arrange the International shipping part of the job, unless we are delivering it personally ourselves meaning we hand carry it to the ultimate destination.

Regardless of which way the item is going you will always receive a telephone call to confirm delivery and a copy of the signed proof of delivery document.

For any of the above services to work we do need the correct paperwork to be sent to us by e-mail.

We do offer a same day service to many areas within Western Europe provided the collection time allows it, we use the Eurotunnel service as the fastest method of getting across to the Continent.

If you find yourself needing such a shipment please do get in touch for a quotation, you may be pleasantly surprised especially when you consider that you would be getting a dedicated motorcycle courier service.

Back on the road again

Well I am pleased to announce I am back on the road again after a long 2 month layoff while the collar bone healed and yes, it’s good to be back.

This week so far, I have had two motorcycle courier jobs, one to London and one to Cambridge and the replacement bike “Amethyst” (because she is purple) is running just fine.

Over the last two months my friend Chris from Northampton Motorcycle Couriers has been covering my work for me and he has been kept quite busy. There have been a number of new clients making use of our service and many return clients coming back to us as well. The best thing is that I have not had to say NO to a client once in this period of recuperation so a big thanks to Chris, you have done absolutely sterling job.

Being back on the road again has also given me a chance to gauge how other road users perceive the new BikeVis lights that I fitted. I have purposely been riding with the headlight off during the day and I am happy to report that other road users seem to be more ware of my presence than they were before when I only had the head lamp on. This maybe because the BikeVis lights showing a more concentrated and focused light and because of the fitment, an unusual pattern of light as well as opposed to the not so bright light produced by the headlight during day light, so the BikeVis lights get a big thumbs up from me.

If you are interested in a set of these for your bike, you can get them at a slight discount through this link:

http://www.bikevis.com/ridetheworld.html


Anyway, as I said it’s good to be back.

All the best and safe riding

Dave

Postal Delays

It is becoming increasing apparent the present disruption to the Royal Mail postal services is causing businesses increasing headaches. Important documents are getting caught up in the huge backlog at the sorting offices which means long delays in deliveries.

SDSA Motorcycle Couriers can help alleviate this problem by offering our dedicated document delivery services throughout the UK and if you need the document signed and returned to you on the same day we can provide this service to you.

Of course this service is not only for documents, it is available for anything that needs a guaranteed same day delivery with a signed proof of delivery.

Because our service is dedicated, you run zero risk of your items becoming lost or delayed.

The service described would be best for businesses in the Greater Peterborough area, but we will happily travel further if required.

Ready For work Again From Monday 21st September 2009

I had my X-ray on the broken collar bone last Monday and I happy to report that it is fully healed, so I am ready for work again.

As you may have already read on the blog in a previous post, the bike is fully prepared and ready for the road.

Tomorrow I will arrange my goods in transit cover with my insurance broker so everything will be in place for next Monday.

Also as a footnote, a big thank you to Chris of Northampton Motorcycle Couriers, Chris has been kept busy for the last two months covering my work for me while I have been recovering from the accident.