You’ve seen the teaser and now Honda Racing is pleased to bring you the full version of new team-mates John McGuinness and Guy Martin; available on Facebook or by visiting YouTube.

What happens when two TT legends talk about being team-mates, tea, running and who is fastest over the mountain? Well, this is the result.

John McGuinness and Guy Martin – team-mates talk business is available now. 

Twelve of the greatest names in motorcycle history have been shortlisted for this year’s Motor Sport Hall of Fame Awards. The prestigious event takes place on 7th June in the spectacular surroundings of the Royal Automobile Club’s Woodcote Park in Surrey, and its down to motorcycle fans to vote who will be the next to join legends such as John Surtees, Giacomo Agostini, John McGuinness and last year’s inductee Valentino Rossi.

The nominees for 2017 are…

• Soichiro Honda: as founder and president of the eponymous marque, Honda had a seismic impact on the world of motorcycling.
• Casey Stoner: the Australian star dominated the 2007 season with Ducati, then switched to Honda for 2011 to become a two-time MotoGP champion by the age of 26.
• Barry Sheene: motorcycling’s answer to the swashbuckling James Hunt during the 1970s, Sheene won consecutive 500cc titles in ’76 and ’77.
• Wayne Rainey: a fierce rivalry with fellow nominee Kevin Schwantz lit up the top division of Grand Prix racing, and inspired him to take a hat-trick of championships in 1990, ’91 and ’92.
• Mike Hailwood: few could forget the victorious late-1970s TT return of ‘Mike the Bike’, a fabulous encore for a peerless career that resulted in 14 Isle of Man wins and nine Grand Prix world championships. 
• Geoff Duke: the Isle of Man legend was a household name in the 1950s, winning three world titles for Norton before repeating that success with Gilera.
• Kevin Schwantz: 25 times a Grand Prix winner and the 1993 500cc world champion, the hard-charging Schwantz was part of a golden era for motorcycle racing.
• Freddie Spencer: the versatile ‘Fast Freddie’ scored a historic double in 1985, claiming both the 250cc and 500cc world titles.
• Kenny Roberts: America’s first world champion and a fierce safety campaigner, Roberts secured his third and final title in 1983 after a memorable season-long battle with Freddie Spencer.
• Joey Dunlop: a genuine icon of road-racing, ‘Yer Maun’ still holds the record for the most TT wins – a remarkable 26 victories over the course of 23 years.
• Eddie Lawson: as part of an incredible group of American racers who starred during the 1980s and ‘90s, Lawson won four 500c world championships.
• Mick Doohan: the dominant force during the 1990s, Aussie Doohan won five consecutive 500cc titles from ’94. 

Motorcycle enthusiasts can choose who among those great names will inducted into the Hall of Fame by going to www.motorsportmagazine.com/hall-of-fame. You can also vote by visiting the Motor Sport stand at Race Retro on 24-26 February, where Freddie Spencer will be taking part in autograph sessions and interviews on the Live Stage. The latter will host an unmissable blend of motoring heroes and industry experts over the course of the show, which takes place at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire.

You can hear Spencer discussing the 11 other nominees on a special Motor Sport podcast (www.motorsportmagazine.com/hall-of-fame/hall-fame-2017-motorcycling-podcast-and-voting), while everyone who casts a vote will be entered into a free prize draw for the opportunity to win tickets to the exclusive Hall of Fame Awards Dinner – where you will able to rub shoulders with famous faces from the worlds of two- and four-wheeled motor racing – plus Motor Sport books, luxury luggage and much more.

To cast your vote or to buy tickets, visit: www.motorsportmagazine.com/hall-of-fame

BikeSafe

We have had the BikeSafe unit from the police forces in Lancashire, North Wales, Yorkshire and Humberside with us for the last couple of years and each year their display gets better and better. This year we have just arranged for their fully liveried BikeSafe trailer and van be at the show on stand 369 along with the Ducati Multistrada’s provided by Highways England.  You can’t miss the stand, just through into Hall 3.

Exhibitors List

The exhibitors list is now up on the website (see here) and shows 40 clubs who have already confirmed their stands.

Advance tickets

Advance tickets continue to sell incredibly well, staying 95% up on the same time last year, so we are confident of a record attendance at this year’s event.

Clubs

This week we have welcomed the following club stands Marshalls NW, The Trotter Collection, LCM racing, Early Stocks Racing Club all of whom will be in the ACU area plus The Manchester Eagle MCC who have been with us each year displaying a fabulous array of classic bikes. We are around two thirds there with regard to club entries so if you are intending to come get your forms back to us.

Private Enthusiasts

So last week we had two private entries from Oxon but we can eclipse that this week as David Hooper will be bringing his 1996 Honda CB500 all the way from Plymouth, a round trip of 600 miles! Trevor Bostock will be showing his 1936 Calthorpe Ivory Major that won bike of the show last year and Wilf Vokes will be bringing a 1959 Sun Overlander so we have a wide spectrum as always. We are about half way there with private entries so again get your space booked with us.

Trade Exhibitors

An impressive 84 individual trade exhibitors have booked in with us so far including nine alone since last week. Trade exhibitors who have confirmed this week including KCS Honda who will be bringing the Honda race truck with all the new 2017 models and you can meet the staff of the local Honda dealer, Hunts Honda who will be manning the stand along with staff from  KCS. Bike Torque Ltd are coming up from Frome to exhibit performance parts and will be on site 403 just inside the main doors. A special mention for Jaws Motorcycles of Warrington who will be with us for the first time this year on stand 321. Returning exhibitors include Leather Genie, Birmingham (stand 455) Biker Tidy, Northampton (435 & 436), VMax bitz (420), Motus Bikewear, London (335 & 336) plus Bretton Motorcycles from Chester. A special mention for Boom Trikes from Chorley who always bring half a dozen top quality trikes which always attract a good deal of interest.

So there we are... I have just done an interview with Classic Bike Magazine to go on their diary pages for the next issue.  We are looking forward to seeing what next week brings as the event moves closer.

Andrew Greenwood - Instantfocus Ltd

MANCHESTER BIKE SHOW 2017

SATURDAY 25TH & SUNDAY 26TH MARCH
9:30AM-5:00PM
EVENTCITY

www.manchesterbikeshow.com

Whatever motorbike you ride, the thrill of riding at high speed is undeniable, but so are the risks:

• Blood rushes to the heart, giving an intense feeling of exhilaration
• Blood drains from the brain, leaving you light-headed
• Internal organs get squashed, the neck and spine come under intense pressure, blood capillaries in the eyes can burst even!

To help motorcyclists understand these risks and ride more safely, Bikesure – one of the UK’s leading motorbike insurance brokers - has created an exciting new animation:

• www.bikesure.co.uk/science-of-motorcycling-infographic/

More about Bikesure.co.uk

Bikesure recently sponsored Dirt Quake V, which saw racing royalty Carl Fogarty and Guy Martin compete on the same track across two days in July 2016 at the Adrian Flux Arena in King's Lynn. Now in its fifth year, the event has inspired dozens of similar races worldwide, including Dirt Quake USA.

www.bikesure.co.uk/science-of-motorcycling-infographic/

Castletown based Butchers Radcliffe’s formally launched its team at the Castletown Civic Centre on Saturday night. The team has confirmed that it is supporting Jamie Coward at the 2017 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy as well as the other major road races.

Coward, a 25-year-old bricklayer from Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire finished runner-up in last year’s TT Privateers’ Championship and is a well-respected competitor on the pure road courses.

He made his Mountain Course debut in the 2010 Manx Grand Prix meeting, finishing fourth in the Newcomers A race which he followed up with a fine fourth place in the Junior MGP the following year.

He first appeared at the TT debut in 2013 and has a fastest lap of 126.54, which he achieved in the 2016 PokerStars Senior TT race. He has a career highest placed finish of 7th from last year’s Bennetts Lightweight TT and also recorded a pair of 12th placed finishes in the Monster Energy Supersport Races in 2016. His only Mountain Course podium came in the 2013 500cc Classic TT Race and he has achieved nine top twenty finishes in his TT career to date.

The Radcliffe Racing team, run by Chris Lennon, has secured ex-PTR high-spec CBR600 Honda for the two Monster Energy Supersport races and a 2015 superstock spec BMW S1000RR which they will run in the RST Superbike and PokerStars Senior TT Races as well as Monday’s RL360 Quantum Superstock Race. The team also has backing from IEG (International Energy Group) and Motul Oils.

Coward has signed a two-year deal with the team and the 2017 campaign will include the TT Races, post-TT and Southern 100 at the Billown circuit as well as the North West 200 and Ulster Grand Prix in Northern Ireland and the four meetings at Oliver’s Mount in Scarborough.

Billown is very much the local course for the Radclffe’s Racing team and Coward will no doubt be looking to improve on last year’s races and bring the laurel wreaths home to the Malew Street-based shop, a few hundred yards away from the start and finish straight.

As a warm-up to the NW200, Coward will also contest a round of the British championships (BSB). Lennon, who sponsored Chris Palmer in his latter years, has a good team around him and is particularly thankful to spannerman Dave Clarke and John ‘Pee Wee’ Preston.

Commenting on the season ahead, Chris Lennon, team boss of Radcliffe’s Racing, said:

“We’re delighted to have signed Jamie and with a two year deal we think that we can help him to break into the top ten at the TT given his consistent top twenty results on the island. He’s a really talented rider with a proven track record around the Mountain Course and he’s definitely ready to make the next step up.”

He continued:

“I feel the team has the passion for what we are doing and we all have the same goal of winning races. We are really keen to talk to potential partners and sponsors who share our vision.”

Jamie Coward said:

“Having known Chris for a number of years I was thrilled when he approached me to ride for Radcliffe’s Racing. When he told me about the team he had put together and the plans they had for 2017 and 2018 I knew it was a great opportunity for me to further my road racing career. I can’t thank him enough and I hope I can repay his faith by getting good results on the bikes he and the team have lined up.”