With just under a month to go until Motorcycle Live 2013 opens its doors, the tally of major motorcycle manufacturers showcasing their brand new machinery at the UK’s biggest bike show has risen to 30 with the addition of off-road, trials and enduro brands Gas Gas and Husqvarna.

Over 150 other exhibitors and retail stands will also be at the show offering the very best in motorcycle kit, accessories, products and services, and if that’s not enough to keep visitors busy, the ‘live’ in Motorcycle Live certainly will.

This year, there are 17 FREE features and zones – including nine opportunities to ride – ensuring that motorcycle fans of all ages are kept entertained. Kids as young as two can get their first balance bike taster on the Kiddimoto Children’s Fun Track, while those aged five and up can experience a powered two-wheeler in the safe surroundings of the Honda My First Licence, the Try a Kuberg – Children’s Electric Motorcycles and the Red Bull Pro Nationals MX Experience features.

11-16 year olds are catered for with the all-new Silverstone Rookie Rides experience while anyone aged 15 and over looking to get a taste of life on two wheels can take part in a free 20-minute session with the industry-backed Get On campaign. For those already in possession of a full motorcycle licence, the Test Ride Zone sponsored by Shoei, Sidi and Spada and the ACU Try Trials feature are the places to be, while the Yamaha Off-Road Experience offers visitors aged 14 and over an introduction to dirt riding.

If you prefer watching the experts do their thing, the all-new Crank’d live action show threatens to rip the roof off The NEC, while Behind Bars: The Movie will give visitors an insight into the lives of the UK’s top motorcycle racers. The Nick Sanders Steampunk Cinema will add to the cinematic offering with an intriguing glance into the world of long-distance adventure riding.

The British Eurosport Entertainment Zone featuring the Blackhorse Stage will provide non-stop entertainment in the form of game shows and Q&As with a daily dose of famous biking faces and racing stars from MotoGP, World Superbike, British Superbike and the Isle of Man TT. The Classic Zone sponsored by the Coventry Transport Museum, the Custom Xtreme Zone sponsored by BSH and the Retro Zone sponsored by Brittany Ferries will each be displaying a stunning range of impressive machinery.

For more information on all the live features and zones and view promo videos of selected features, click here.

Advance tickets for Motorcycle Live 2013 are just £17 per adult, £11 for Seniors and £7 for children aged 6-16** (kids five and under accompanied by a paying adult go free). Bike parking is free of charge and subject to availability. Reduced car parking costs of £8 – subsidised by Motorcycle Live. To book your tickets, call 0844 581 2345 or visit www.motorcyclelive.co.uk

Sunday 3rd November  9am - 5pm    

"If there's one thing that I like, it's a burn up on my bike", released on 7" vinyl, at 45rpm, by Parlophone, R4974 and charting in 1963, written by Charles Blackwell, produced by Robert Stigwood and famously sung by Mike Sarne, "Just For Kicks" is the Ton Up anthem!    

Celebrating this seminal song daytime at the cafe on Sunday 3rd November, occasion of the cafe's annual Ton Up Day, with raffle prizes up for grabs to include the cafe's 70th anniversary CD album "Bikes n' Leather Rocking at the Ace!" which features the song at track 10.    

Other prizes include 2 pairs of tickets to attend the cafe's annual Johnny Kidd Tribute Night with the band The Fireballs on Saturday 9th November together with the books "Classic British Motorcycle", "How To Build A Cafe Racer", "Building Budget Brits" and an Ace 75th anniversary goody pack.    

Spend £5 or more over the counter at the cafe on Sunday 3rd November from 10am and receive a raffle ticket.  Draw to be held at 3pm.

www.ace-cafe-london.com

We have recently completed a re-vamp on our website. You can now easily view all projects by category, read reviews on our blog and see the many varied projects on the galleries throughout the website. We also have plans to introduce a product shopping section soon..

Should you wish to include any of your projects within the website to include a mention of yourself and any appropriate links, please feel free to send us photo's and information and we will look into organising this for you..

Meanwhile, should you have any questions regarding any future projects, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Best regards,

Trevor Lodge.

www.ctc-powder-coating.co.uk

Chaz Davies and Davide Giugliano destined to race in Ducati colours for 2014 World Superbike season

Riders and technicians to immediately start pre-season testing 30-31 October at Jerez

Borgo Panigale (Bologna, Italy), 28 October 2013 – Following the announcement of the mutual decision to conclude early the partnership with Team Alstare, Ducati today confirm its participation in the 2014 World Superbike Championship and its agreement with the riders who will compete aboard the Ducati 1199 Panigale motorcycles.

Welsh rider, Chaz Davies, and the Italian, Davide Giugliano, are both now officially confirmed to compete for the Italian manufacturer during the 2014 and 2015 World Superbike seasons. This is an important decision for Ducati, determined to bounce back after a year of disappointing results for the 1199 Panigale, which failed to deliver the results expected in World Superbike despite its considerable success in many national championships and the highly-competitive FIM Superstock Cup.

The new Ducati Superbike riders will immediately join technicians of the Ducati development team to start work 30-31 October at Jerez de la Frontera (Spain), carrying out the first of three test sessions planned for the winter break.

More detailed information concerning the organisation and management of the team will be available in the coming weeks.

Rider profiles:

Chaz Davies  was born 10 February, 1987 in Knighton, Wales (UK) and first started racing in minimoto in 1995, winning the championship title in this rookie category the following year and retaining it until 1998. From 2002-2006 he competed at World Championship level in the 125GP category, moving up to 250GP soon after. After additional experience in the AMA championship he was selected to take part in the World Supersport Championship and in 2011 became World Supersport Champion. The following year he moved up to World Superbike, a category in which he scored his first victory in 2012 and three more in 2013.

Davide Giugliano was born in Rome on 28 October, 1989 and started his racing career in 2005 by competing in the European Superstock 600 championship, finishing third in the championship the following year. After a year in the World Supersport Championship he switched to FIM Superstock 1000 Cup and in 2011 rode the Ducati 1098 R to championship victory competing for the Althea Racing team. Giugliano made his Superbike debut in 2011, riding as a wildcard at Portimão immediately after clinching the Superstock Cup title. In 2012 he became an official rider for the Genesio Bevilacqua team alongside Carlos Checa, taking two podiums and closing the season 10th overall. In 2013, he achieved one pole position and two more podiums in the World Superbike series, finishing the championship in 6th position.

The Bournemouth based Quattro Plant Kawasaki team are mounting a concerted effort to gain more road racing podiums and wins in 2014 with the news that BikeSocial.co.uk Lightweight TT winner James Hillier will again ride for the team.

Announcing the renewal of the successful relationship, the team has also secured the endorsement of Kawasaki Motors UK as their Official entry for The TT Races as well as the North West 200.

Having climbed to the top step of the TT podium by winning the 2013 Lightweight TT on his ER-6f based machine, Hillier has declared his intention to pursue other classes including the Senior TT on the awesome Ninja ZX-10R with equal vigour and determination.

Already the Ringwood based 28 year old has become a member of the elite “131mph average lap” club at the TT and, in doing so, became one of the names that many teams had on their wish list for the coming season.

Quattro Plant Kawasaki Team Manager Pete Extance explained the importance of having James leading the team assault in next year's campaign: "To keep James for our roads assault was always the number one priority for us. I am pleased to say that he is really happy where he is and we have already started work on plans to step up our approach yet another gear in 2014. We are also delighted to retain our loyal sponsor Quattro Plant who’ve been fantastic in their support for us."

For KMUK, Racing Coordinator, Ross Burridge explained what the deal meant to Kawasaki. - "It's great news that the team have signed James for 2014. They really are coming of age as a roads team and I have no doubt that they will achieve more podium success with such a popular and proven winner next year."

Paul Phillips, TT and Motorsport Co-ordinator, Isle of Man Government, commented: "James really came of age last year, not only with his win in the Lightweight TT but also his performance in the Senior TT when he lapped at an impressive 131mph and followed John McGuinness. He is now firmly established as one of the leading TT riders and I expect him to build on his success last year and challenge for a race win in the Superbike class next year."