Biker News - Regularly updated

Welcome to our News section, where articles are listed below and if relevant within the categories on the right, just to make it easier for you to find what you wish to read...

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  1. INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, December 29th 2016 – Following the September 2015 IRISS Mission during which Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen first tested SkinSuit, Dainese is returning to space protecting Thomas Pesquet, who has been on the Proxima Mission since November 17th.

    The result of a partnership between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Dainese Science and Research Center, and developed to be worn inside the International Space Station, SkinSuit provides “loading” in the head-to-foot direction, in effect recreating gravity’s load on Earth, but in a weightless environment. SkinSuit aims to counteract the stretching of the spine in space, producing large amounts of vertical load without compromising comfort and movement. SkinSuit is completely made-to-measure by Dainese, requiring that over 150 measurements of the astronaut’s body to be taken.

    Dainese, which has always made protection in dynamic sports its mission, confirms its commitment to researching innovative solutions for the protection of humans and constantly looks to the future by exploring possible evolutions of the relationship between nature, art and science.

    Dainese has in fact recently supported SACI, Studio Arts College International, in the symposium “From Galileo to Mars: Renaissance of the Artsciences.” The exclusive event took place November 12 in Florence, Italy, with distinguished guests including NASA Deputy Administrator Dava Newman; NASA astronaut, engineer and artist Nicole Stott; Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli; architect and designer Guillermo Trotti and artist and professor Lia Halloran. At the event, Dainese showcased its two space suits: SkinSuit and BioSuit. More specifically, BioSuit is a space suit intended for the first human journey to the Red Planet expected around 2030 that applies the “lines of non-extension” concept, being able to apply the necessary mechanic pressure to the astronaut’s body, although without compromising movement.

    The Dainese design approach has always been inspired by nature and its structures, recognising the importance that innovation works at the intersection of design, engineering and science, aiming for the ideal balance between effectiveness, weight and ergonomics. The latest technology resulting from this approach is called D-air®, the wearable airbag that today protects the human body in sports and which is being prepared for the mobility of tomorrow, toward Mars.

  2. From the moment eight-year-old Henry Cole was welcomed into his great-great-uncle’s shed and ran his fingers through the dust on the tanks of the assembled old BSAs and Triumphs, he had a mission.

    As he pauses between the latest round of filming for one of the trio of television programmes hosted in his unobtrusive ‘guy next door’ style, he can still smell the musty cocktail of grease, oil and sweat.

    “It was very evocative, and to this day still makes me quiver at the memory of anticipation at what that stable of half-built British bikes might one day become when they were fully restored,” he says.

    The bolt-hole shed was old Uncle Dick Redbeard’s laboratory, a mystical place where magic happened. But with Henry’s father being far less enamoured by the lure of two wheels, motorcycles were put on the back burner.

    In his rebellious teens, when not confronting authority at English public school Eton, the self-confessed ‘black sheep of the family’ professed his love for bikes. The rest is well-documented and increasingly popular television history.

    Now a writer, adventurer and presenter of World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides (Travel Channel Worldwide) and The Motorbike Show (ITV4), he takes a schoolboy-type thrill in the fact that his mission born that day in the dusty shed has been achieved.

    And it’s that self-effacing manner, passion for riding and, above all, appeal to riders and non-riders alike that has seen viewer figures surge towards the million mark in the 21st series of World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides.

    Read more here

    Henry Cole on facebook

  3. On THE BIKER GUIDE facebook group people have been voting for their favourite Motorcycle event they attended in 2016. The winner is MT Heads Rally with 102 votes! And the winner is - Oscar award

    In 2nd place is You've Been Nabbed 25 with 90 votes | 3rd place - Caveman Bash with 59 votes

    Here follows the rest of the results...

    The Underworld Rally - Avernus MCC - 54 votes
    Rally with a Chalet - 41 votes
    Tiger MCC Soggy Moggy Rally - 41 votes
    One Aim Rally - 37 votes
    Tees Riders Rusty Nut Rally - 36 votes
    Perverts in Leather Rally - 26 votes
    Drink Drop and Doss - 20 votes
    Kamikaze Run Rally - Mobile Chaos MCC - 19 votes
    Cumbria Custom Show - 18 votes
    Stormin' the Castle - 18 votes
    Big Barn Rally - 18 votes
    Raganock - 17 votes
    OGRI - 16 votes


    Roughleys Bike Show - 15 votes

    Bulldog Bash - 15 votes

    Twisted Sprockets - 13 votes

    Farmyard Bikers Party Helmsley - 13 votes

    Woz Wolf - 10 votes

    Isle of Man TT - 10 votes

    Chase the Ace rally - 9 votes

    Dead End Rally - 9 votes

    Adventure before Dementia - 8 votes

    Kent Chrome & Cruisers - 6 votes

    The North Manchester Custom & Classic Bike Show - 6 votes

    Bum in the Mud Rally - 6 votes

    Rat & Survival Rally - 5 votes

    Buttstock - 5 votes

    Classic TT - 5 votes

    Moddey Dhoo Mcc Xmas Party Isle of Man - 5 votes

    Calne Bike Day - 5 votes

    Dragon Rally - 5 votes

    GPO Rally (Barrel Bikers Mcc) - 5 votes

    Oddballs - 4 votes

    Rat Pack Rally - Bridgerats MCC- 4 votes

    Reading Toy Run - 4 votes

    NW 200 - 4 votes

    Prescott Bike Festival - 4 votes

    Over The Edge Rally - 4 votes

    Motorcycle Live - 4 votes

    St Ives Festival of Motorcycles - 3 votes

    Cernunnus MCC Mabon Rally - 3 votes

    Oxleathers Summer nulls up - 3 votes

    Pheasant plucker - 3 votes

    Cowpat Rally - 3 votes

    East Leeds Lions - 3 votes

    Rock & Blues Custom Rally - 3 votes

    Manchester Bike Show - 3 votes

    Yorkshire Rock and Bike Show - 3 votes

    Copdock Bike Show - 2 votes

    Redskin Rally - 2 votes

    Calstock Bike Show - 2 votes

    End of the Road Rally - 2 votes

    No Bull - 2 votes

    Into the Valley - 2 votes

    Barfly Rally - 2 votes

    Billy Goat Rally - 2 votes

    Kent Custom Bike Show - 2 votes

    Matlock Bath Protest Ride - 2 votes

    Twats Rally - 2 votes

    Thunder in the Glens - 2 votes

    Distinguished Gentlemans Ride - 2 votes

    Also
    Twister Iron The Happening
    Scottish Road Rally (Ariel Owners Club)
    Snowjoke
    Fat Skeleton Blues and Bikes
    The Archers Rally
    Rorkes Drift rally
    Norsemen mcc one day bike show
    Medway Natives MCC Broken Arrow
    Drove t drink
    Cock Out Rally
    Heart and Soul Rally
    The Lee Rigby memorial ride
    Firebird Rally
    Blackpool mag rally
    Penmarlam Caravan & Camping Park - Bike Weekend!
    Wsm show bikers/trike
    The Kilt Ride
    TRF ICENI weekend
    Wakinyan Rally
    Ace Cafe Reunion, Brighton

    Thanks to all that voted. 

    The above results are from a poll ran during November and December on THE BIKER GUIDE facebook group

  4. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has launched a consultation asking for views on proposals to improve motorcycle training.

    Motorcyclists are among the most vulnerable road users. They account for around 1% of traffic on Great Britain’s roads, but 21% of deaths or serious injuries.

    The proposed changes aim to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured by making sure new riders are better prepared for the realities of riding on modern roads.

    The main points are

    Improving training
    Improved instructors and training schools
    Skills and knowledge to ride safely

     

    Karen Cole, Director of Safety and Training for the Motorcycle Industry Association, said:

     

    We’re delighted to see DVSA has launched this consultation. We’d urge anyone interested in motorcycle training to respond.

    Have your say on the proposals by 17 February 2017.

    Read more here

    Improving training to help you through a lifetime of safe riding

  5. What is the difference between hits and visitors?
     
    It is a common mistake and in some cases, one which is used to misguide you into thinking that a website has more actual people looking on the website than there actually is.
     
    There is a lot of terminologies that are quoted by the SEO Professional and sales people, trying to get you to place a listing on their website, and some unscrupulous people (and goodness knows, there's plenty of those around!) will be quite happy to take advantage of your ignorance of the terms they are using.
     
    A clever (and dishonest) sales person or SEO specialist will proudly proclaim, "We will get you a thousand hits per day," trusting that you are unaware of what that actually means. A non-savvy website owner will think to himself, "Wow! A thousand visitors per day! That's a lot!"

    But here's the trick. Let's say your home page has a header image, 5 menu images, a couple other pictures somewhere on the page, plus a style sheet that gets called by the page. That works out to a total of 10 hits per page: the page itself, the style sheet, and eight images.

    Now let's suppose that your site is interesting and well designed, so every visitor who comes to it sticks around long enough to read five pages. That's a total of 50 hits per visitor.

    So when the SEO company brags that they're going to get your 1000 hits per day, they really mean that they're going to give you 20 visitors per day.

    All of a sudden their promises don't seem so golden, do they?
     
    What is important

    Simple... The number of visitors to the site, and to be pedantic, not just the visitor, but the  unique visitor.
     
    What is a Hit, Visitor and the Unique Visitor?
     
    A "hit" is counted every single time your website sends a page or graphic to a visitor. So, if one visitor looks at your homepage, that counts as one hit. If your homepage links to nine graphics - logos, photographs etc. - that counts as nine more "hits", giving a total of 10 hits overall. If your visitor leaves your site at this point without looking at any more pages, they have still registered 10 "hits" - this means that hits alone don't give you a very clear idea about how popular your website is. 

    A visitor is every time a person (computer terminal) visits your website.
     
    A unique visitor is how many times that person (computer terminal) visits your website.
     
    Counters

    The problem with using counters to track visitors is they are set up to measure page views, not unique visitors. Every time someone views your page, whether it's the first time or the twentieth, that visitor is counted. And if the page times out for some reason and they "Reload," it counts them again. And if someone just wants to have fun with your counter, they can exit and enter the site several times and are counted as a visitor each time... even if they never look at product.

    So if you cannot count hits and you cannot use a counter, how do you track the traffic on your site?
     
    Install visitor tracking code on your website, such as Google Analytics (see link in Resources at the bottom).
     
    A web traffic analysis program will give you vital information about the traffic coming to your site, including where visitors are coming from, including which keywords they used, which search engines, what countries they are situated in, what paths your visitors are taking whilst on the website and which pages are the main exit points of your site... In fact it is full of all sorts of information... and for Google Analytics it is free.
     
    This information is private and only available to you, the account owner. It is best to install the tracking code as soon as possible to start building history. If you are using Google Adwords (you pay to advertise your website) or Google Adsense (you place advertising on your website for profit) then you may already have access to Google Analytics.
     
    How do I find out how many visitors a website gets if I am not the owner?
     
    There are many cases where you may not be the website owner, but want to find out how well another website performs. However, since you do not own the site then you will not be able to see the full-blown traffic stats displayed by Google Analytics. Now it is time to do some investigation...
     
    You may be curious about how much traffic any website generates, or you want to find out how well your competitor's website is performing. The first place to go is TrafficEstimate which is free (see link in Resources at the bottom). Search for a website address to see the estimated number of visitors to the site in the last 30 days, along with a simple graph. Keep in mind that the estimator tool is just that, an estimate, however at least you can get a ballpark figure. An interesting graph is shown for facebook.com which sees a steady climb in traffic and visitors, however more recently by comparing the two you can see that the visitors are spending a longer amount of time on the website.

    SimilarWeb offers a free and easy way to check (not always upto date, however a good guide). See here for THE BIKER GUIDE

    Alexa is another (now paid for through Amazon) for website ranks compared to all other websites in the world. 

    You can search for any website address that you are interested in finding its traffic rank. Alexa also provides other neat graphs and handy info. Although it does not show you the exact number of visitors, you can get a general idea of the website's performance. By comparing the traffic rank of your website to your competitor's website, you can estimate who gets more traffic. For example, YouTube.com ranks higher than Weather.com. Please note, although this is another great tools to use they are sometimes a bit behind with keywords and the amount of links, linked in.
     
    THE BIKER GUIDE summing up...
     
    We hope this article will help understand the difference between hits and visitors and hopefully to help you choose wisely where you place any advertising or your business on the World Wide Web!
     
    If you would like any further advise of hits, visitors and anything else included in this information, do not hesitate to ask.
     
    If you already knew all of the above, please accept our apologies and welcoming you to our world of seo geekness!

    Resources