Job, money, family, commitments … As of now, there are no more excuses when it comes to making the dream of an adventurous time-out coming true.

The Adventure Country Tracks (ACT) by Touratech combine the most interesting motorcycle routes, breathtaking landscapes, and the pure joy of riding. They are perfectly worked out and can be done within the timeframe of a normal holiday

The project introduced by Touratech at the INTERMOT in Cologne, Germany allows individual adventure trips even with a short time budget. It starts with a five-day adventure tour across Portugal, which is also available on DVD.

Carefully worked-out routes lead through the most beautiful regions of Europe. 

It starts with a five-day adventure tour across Portugal: 1,200 kilometres with 65 percent off-road tracks, suitable for big adventure bikes and for all kinds of riding skills. The route leads from Bragança in the North down to the Southern coast near the town of Tavira and follows curvy tracks connecting the most interesting places with regard to landscapes, culture and history. That way, riders can experience the country and its people not only individually, but also most intensively.

This has also been the intention of Filipe Elias (Touratech Portugal), who contributed his whole insider knowledge to the planning of the first ACT tour. “I believe that ACT Portugal will enthrall many motorbike riders”, says Martin Wickert, Touratech’s marketing and sales executive, being justifiably proud of his new project.

The Adventure Country Tracks have been inspired by the Backcountry Discovery Routes, a pioneer project by Touratech USA. However, it wasn’t possible to copy the entire concept as it had to be adapted to European conditions; the planning goes on for more than twelve months now. In the future, there’s going to be a new ACT tour every year in another European country.

At www.adventurecountrytracks.com, everyone interested can download the GPS data for ACT for free from this specially set-up website. The data simply needs to be transferred to a navigation device with suitable map software, that’s all you need to explore the route on your own. “Discovery is an important element of adventure riding, to find things on your own, to open your eyes to the world”, Martin Wickert describes his philosophy. “With ACT tours, you can do all this. Only the route is fixed; what you do with it is your own choice.”

A nice attunement to ACT Portugal is the DVD about this project (article number 01-202-2300-0), available at shop.touratech.com. There, you can also purchase a tour map with all stages and selected highlights.

• Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali presents, in Cologne, the first of a series of new bikes from the Bologna-based motorcycle manufacturer
• The SuperSport is a versatile sport bike: agile in town, comfortable on the motorway, smoothly effective on countryside bends and on the track
• The SuperSport range also includes the SuperSport S version
• The SuperSport will be available in Ducati Stores by March 2017

The Intermot motorcycle show today hosted a special event for Honda and the motorcycling world: the unveiling of the new 2017 Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP and SP2 models.

Honda Endurance Racing’s Freddy Foray was joined on stage by Nicky Hayden (Honda WorldSBK team) – who tried it out for himself at Valencia’s Circuito Ricardo Tormo last month – to reveal the latest chapter in Honda’s epic 25-year-old Fireblade history.

The development of the 2017 Fireblade has remained true to the ground-breaking spirit of the original 1992 machine, with a relentless focus on power to weight ratio. A 15kg weight reduction and 8kW top end power boost combine to give a 14% improvement in power to weight, making the 2017 Fireblade the sharpest in its 25 year history. A new electronics package includes semi-active Öhlins Electronic Control suspension, Honda Selectable Torque Control, Selectable Engine Brake and Power settings, Quickshifter, and Downshift Assist.

A video of today’s launch is now available for viewing 

For more information on the 2017 Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP and SP2 models visit hondanews.eu

Freddy Foray and Nicky Hayden unveil the brand-new 2017 Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade to the world in Cologne

Saturday 05/11/16 will see the museum host the 3rd annual free open day when everyone will be invited to visit the museum collection free of charge. There will also be a host of other free attractions including our amazing “stars on stage” feature which is presented in association with wheel builders to the museum, Central Wheel Components Ltd.

Meet The Experts: In attendance will be some of the museum’s specialist suppliers, craftsmen, and related personalities (including our own restoration team) who will be available to chat and answer questions. Also unveiled at the event will is an exciting new permanent display “the history of wheel building” presented by wheel builders to the museum, Central Wheel Components Ltd.

Meet the following -

The Museum Restoration Team.

Brian Crighton & Dave Hickman (Rotary Norton Race Machines).

Ivan Rhodes (Velocette Guru).

Fred Walmsley (2016 Goodwood Revival Winning Classic Race Tuner).

Les Williams, John Woodward, Arthur Jakeman & Norman Hyde (Triumph Race Shop).

Ken Sprayson (“The Frame Man”).

Central Wheel Components Ltd (Wheel Builders To The Museum).

Calibre Customs (Machine Painters To The Museum).

Redditch Shot Blasting (Machine Component Preparation & Coatings To The Museum).

Stars on Stage In Association With Central Wheel Components Ltd: Racing legends CARL FOGARTY MBE & JAMIE WHITHAM will again host two special FREE TO ENTER “stars on stage” features at 11am & 2pm

Held on the stage in the museum’s magnificent Britannia suite these free 1 hour chat shows will feature Carl & Jamie as well as other motorcycling personalities. Appearing courtesy of Phil Morris Racing two very special guests will include TT superstar IAN HUTCHINSON and Moto GP star & British Superbike front runner JAMES ELLISON. All our guest stars will also be making personal appearances to sign your favourite memorabilia. Motorcycle journalist and author Frank Melling will also be giving a talk on his life in bikes and his two recent autobiographies.

Our star riders will be “riding” & posting their fastest times our new Manx TT arcade machine! Can you beat them?

Full Star Rider line up now confirmed

Carl Fogarty, Jamie Whitham, Ian Hutchinson, John McGuinness, James Ellison, Maria Costello, John Cooper & Chris Vincent.

NEW FOR 2016!

Museum Live “Start Up” Feature: See & HEAR some of the most famous race machines in the world started up in our special LIVE START UP area. Bikes old and new will include the Hislop “White Charger” Rotary Norton, NVT Cosworth Challenge, Vincent “Super Nero” sprinter, the Phil Morris Racing owned 2012 ART GP12 Moto GP bike (ex-James Ellison), plus many others including genuine Moto GP Ducati’s and WSB/WSS machinery-not to be missed! See attached images.

Just some of the guest machines that will be on display with a number being fired upas part of our new “Start Up” feature-

2012 ART GP12 Moto GP (ex-James Ellison),1972 TZ700 Yamaha, 2003 Honda 1000 TT Superbike (ex- Ian Lougher), 1975 MV Agusta 500cc Triple,1969 Paton 500cc (ex-factory), 2012 Moto2 FTR (ex Ratthapark Wilairot), 2011 Moto2 FTR (ex- Karol Abrahams), 2008 Ducati Desmosedici MotoGP (ex-Casey Stoner Silverstone GP Winner), 2003 Ducati Desmosedici 990cc (ex- Troy Bayliss), 1963  Bianchi 498cc Twin(ex-factory) , 1996 Ducati 916 Old Spice BSB, 1996 Castrol Honda WSS (ex-James Toseland) , 2000 Vimto Honda SP1, 1969 Benelli 4Cyl. 

Museum Bikes That You Can Hear “Fired Up”-

Senior TT winning “White Charger” rotary Norton (ex-Steve Hislop) , NVT Cosworth Challenge, Vincent “Super Nero” sprinter.

Catering & entertainment: The Museum shop and restaurant will be open throughout the event. A wide variety of catering will be on offer including breakfast, lunch, a range of hot meals & snacks.

In addition to the museum restaurant, this year’s event will feature

The Bracebridge Suite- Licensed bar with entertainment from jazz band “The Moonlight Trio”.

The Ballacraine Suite- New Food Hall with lots of great dishes freshly prepared by our chefs including our famous Katsu curry!   

BBQ-There will also be a BBQ with lots of delicious favourites prepared by our own chefs.

To assist visitors, everyone arriving on site will be given a free timetable with a full list & timings of all the day’s exciting, free, events.

This timetable will also be available to view on the event webpage

Paolo Grassia (Chiodo Moto Racing) has come out victorious at the end of the enthralling 11-lap, sixth-round race of the Wil Sport European Junior Cup, powered by Honda, which was contested today at the Magny-Cours circuit in central France. This is a crucial maiden win in the series for the 16-year-old Italian, who not only denied Mika Perez (Granshagen Racing Team) an early title win, but also dramatically improved his own chances for the ultimate prize.

The opening of the race saw Hungary’s Richard Bodis (H-Moto Team) and Mika Perez swapping positions between themselves several times, with a nine-way pack locked together at the front. The battle for the win continued with Grassia trying to dictate the pace on the five rivals left for the win. It wasn’t until the penultimate lap that Grassia managed to pull away, eventually crossing the line with a two-second advantage over team mate Alfonso Coppola. Dorian Laville (Team Laville Mi&Do) completed the podium in third place, ahead of Perez and Lausitzring race winner Harun Cabuk (KNN54-TMF).

Early leaders Bodis and Giuseppe de Gruttola (SK-Racing Team) crashed out at turn 13 on lap 10, while fighting for the win. Avalon Biddle (Avalon Biddle Racing) successfully retained the FIM Europe Women’s Cup title courtesy of today’s 11th overall finish.

With only the doubleheader at Jerez left in the season, Perez still holds a healthy 25-point lead over Grassia, with Laville (-38) and Coppola (-46) still mathematically in contention for the title.