Scottoiler Support Blood Bikes

We at Scottoiler are always keen to support good causes within the Biker Community. Once such group we have been fortunate to be able to help is Blood Bikes Manchester. They are a small voluntary group in their 7th year, based in Greater Manchester who offer a free of charge, on demand transport service to the NHS for Blood, Blood products, samples, medication and donated breast milk amongst others. The group operate a fleet of 5 Honda NC750X bikes but also have cars available for larger jobs or bad weather.

Blood Bikes Fleet Manager Steve Deakin told us “Being a small urban based group, we took the decision to operate smaller, lighter and more fuel-efficient machines to reduce costs, all of which are met by voluntary donations. The problem with this is that new mid-range shaft drive bikes don’t appear anymore, so our only option was to consider chain drive models.”

“Whilst this choice doesn’t impact on the service we provide, it did bring some challenges regards chain maintenance. Our bikes are out in all weathers with the bike fleet covering in excess of 40k miles per year and whilst each rider does daily POWDDERSS checks (Petrol, Oil, Water, Damage, Drive, Electrics, Rubber, Steering, Suspension), the bikes are kept with the rider on duty, with our fleet manager carrying out more in-depth checks every 6 weeks. Our riders are all advanced trained, but their mechanical skills and abilities vary wildly, and we were soon having to replace chains after relatively short mileages.”

“It was at this point that we contacted Scottoiler about their products, a deal was struck, and all 5 bikes were fitted with Scottoiler units, 2 x eSystem’s for our earlier models and 3 x vSystem’s for the later bikes. Almost straight away we noticed a difference when the bikes were in for their 6 weekly checks, the dry chains had gone and the amount of adjustment the chains were needing had reduced dramatically. Our current life expectancy of a chain on a bike used for stop start riding in all weathers is now well in excess of 12K miles with one of our bikes seeing nearly 18K miles before replacement was due. The cost of the units and the consumable oils have more than paid for themselves and it means the bikes spend less time in the garage having costly parts replaced.”

Blood Bikes Scottoiler

As a further gesture of support we have now sent the team at Blood Bikes Manchester x 5 of our new Scorpion Dual Injectors free of charge to upgrade all their chain oilers.

Steve added, “We have recently upgraded our units with the Scorpion Dual Injector, with more precise oil delivery to both sides of the chain, we are hoping to see additional benefit and cost savings. The likelihood of a manufacturer re-introducing a mid-range shaft drive bike is slim, but with the Scottoiler systems fitted keeping maintenance to a minimum, we see no issue with continuing to run chain driven bikes.

Blood Bikes Manchester is an entirely voluntary run organisation operating out of normal hours to provide a free of charge, on demand transport service to the NHS, blood banks and charitable hospices. All volunteer riders are advanced trained and offer their time freely. The purchase of bikes and the ongoing running costs is met entirely from generous public or company donations, BBM receive no funding from government agencies. Recently BBM completed their 7,000th job and during this time in service, estimate that they have saved the NHS close to £400k, money which can be better used for patient care.