VisionBee, a dynamic research company are conducting some research and development for a famous motor bike manufacturer.

They are currently looking for touring bike riders which were bought from new since 2013, to give their views and opinions on future generation bikes and accessories.

The motorbike models they are specifically looking for are: 

BMW F 700 GS | BMW F 800 GS | BMW F 800 GS Adventure | Honda VFR 800X Crossrunner | Honda CRF 1000L Africa Twin  

KTM 1050 | Mv Agusta Turismo Veloce | Yamaha MT-09 Tracer | Yamaha XT660Z Tenere

This will be held in London for around 2.5 hours on Friday 17th or Saturday 18th June. Those who qualify and take part will be paid £100 for their time, which includes travel expenses.

If your Motorcycle fits the criteria and you fancy being part of this, contact Simon on [email protected] letting him know which model you own, the year you bought your bike, your name, your age along with your telephone contact details and email.

If you cannot make this date or you do not have these specific adventure bikes, do not worry as there are another few projects coming up over the year held in both London and also in the Midlands.

Just send Simon your details and he will contact you when other projects are commissioned.

 

The Henry Surtees Foundation has teamed up with The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award for a special online Auction. 

Prizes include My Incredible Life on Two and Four Wheels, signed by John Surtees CBE, Signed Ferrari F1 Rear Wing, Private VIP Dinner for 8 people in Benihana and lunch with John Surtees CBE. 

Visit the online auction to browse the array of exciting prizes of offer. The auction runs until 16:00 on Thursday, 26 May 2016.

100% of all money donated will go directly to both charities.

To place a bid on any of the auction lots, or to make a donation to either charity, visit www.insideferrari.co.uk

Honda WorldSBK Team’s Nicky Hayden and Michael van der Mark are ready to tackle the seventh round of the 2016 FIM Superbike World Championship, which takes place this weekend at Donington Park. The circuit, located in the heart of UK on the border between Leicestershire and Derbyshire, hosted the very first event of the series back in 1988; this year will be the twenty-fourth time that World Superbike racing has been staged at this iconic venue.

Two weekends ago, Nicky Hayden claimed his maiden WorldSBK win after what was a perfect display of riding skills and race craft in wet conditions at the Sepang International Circuit in race two. He is now looking forward to riding again at Donington Park for the first time since 2009, when MotoGP had its last event at the track. His best result around East Midland’s hills is a fourth place scored in 2004. With the great feeling shown onboard his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP #69 in Malaysia, Nicky is eager to keep the momentum going as the season reaches its halfway point.

Michael van der Mark has had contrasting fortunes at Donington Park in recent years. He was victorious in World Supersport 2014 in a close last-lap battle with title rival Jules Cluzel, while in his debut World Superbike year last season he had to pull out from both races. The 23-year-old Dutchman is aiming to return to his early-season form, which saw him on the rostrum three times in the first four races, and to improve on his current tally of four podium finishes in 2016.

As the weather gets warmer and the roads drier, so the time of year approaches where the leathers are dusted off, a new shine put on the helmet and the motorbike is dusted off ready for another year of glorious riding in the sun.

With it though comes the inherent danger posed when on the road with only two wheels. Whether it is the latest sports Yamaha R1, a tourer like the KTM 1290 Super Duke or a classic such as the BSA A7, no doubt at one time or another a bike rider has come across the car driver who either doesn’t see them, or worse, sees them and does all they can to make things difficult.

Often collisions can be avoided by a rider’s own awareness but there is only so much that can be done by a rider to protect themselves. For the unlucky ones injuries can be severe.  Serious injuries to the head and limbs, permanent disability or, unfortunately, death,  are all far more likely for those who ride a motorbike than for those who are driving a car. Statistics from Think! suggest that motorcyclists are around 38 times more likely to be killed than those driving a car and MCN suggests that recent years have seen over 5,000 serious accidents per year with around 330 of those riders being killed per year (statistics for 2013 and 2014).

If you are injured as a result of a motorcycle accident then contact the specialist personal injury team at Trethowans who will be able to advise you as to how to bring a claim.

Author: James Gleisner, Trethowans LLP

I used to like the idea of being spontaneous and also did not fancy using a sat nav however once you have tried to get a room somewhere to find you cannot get one as they are full due to a local festival, over priced (Italy circa 2001, 11 pm in a roadside motel style @ €175 comes to mind) , you cannot find one (sounds strange I know but there are miles and miles of nothing in parts of Germany - well apart from excellent scenery) and to book into somewhere and find it awful, we now do as above - i.e. find a final destination and plan route around it. 

We use a combination of Biker Friendly accommodation on www.thebikerguide.co.uk and if there is nothing in the area we want we also look on booking.com.

We did a trip a couple of years ago with the final destination being Colditz Castle, which you can stay in. Went in July for 3 ish weeks with everything booked, set into sat nav and you know what - thank goodness as it rained everyday but one. We would set off with the next place in the sat nav - take off route when we wanted and arrive at destination stress free.

We stayed at some great places, travelled fantastic roads and routes, ate well, found our way easy even with the many roadwork diversions and would pass by others at the side of the road battling with a big wet soggy map to find their way. We did also pack a map as back-up or to look at a vaster area on a larger scale, however we are happy to say it return dry and not soggy. 

I think once you have used a sat nav on a big trip which gets you to destinations easy, gets you out of a diversion and back on route, helps you navigate/find food and petrol, you wonder what you did before the United States military released the technology for GPS!