£1,000 TRADE-UP BONUS ON A NEW KTM 1050 ADVENTURE
KTM UK has launched its ‘Trade-Up’ promotion to give riders of all machines an extra £1000* discount towards the exciting new 1050 ADVENTURE when trading in their existing bike.

The promotion runs from 1st May to 31st July at all KTM Street dealers in the UK, Ireland, Channel Islands and Isle of Man. The dealer assesses the present value of the trade-in bike to set this amount against the purchase price of a new KTM 1050 ADVENTURE and then pays an additional £1000 Trade-Up bonus on top of that.

To make the purchase of a new 1050 ADVENTURE even more manageable, KTM Finance has a range of finance packages available through its UK dealer network that include retail finance and personal contract purchase agreements.

The 1050 ADVENTURE - £10,999 on the road – is fast proving the perfect choice for those who demand a travel enduro that delivers pure riding enjoyment in comfort over long distances but with a chassis that can exploit twisty routes or simply out-manoeuvre traffic, without the need for neither excessive power nor equipment.

At its heart is the LC8 V-twin engine that is derived from the 1190 Adventure, but the reduction in outright capacity comes without a decrease in fun – matching its bigger brother for power and torque all the way up to its more than sufficient 95 hp. Top level braking and suspension components from Brembo and WP are matched to a sophisticated ABS and traction control system from Bosch. For riders on an A2 licence, the 1050 can also be restricted to meet these requirements.

As with all KTMs, a dedicated array of official PowerParts allows riders to customise the 1050 ADVENTURE with products that are developed side-by-side with the bike. The catalogue of these optional products includes a varied choice of luggage systems, options to personalise the ergonomics further, mounting brackets for adding GPS systems, right through to adding alarms, auxiliary lighting, enhancing the style or even a stunning lightweight Akrapovič exhaust.

For further information on the KTM 1050 ADVENTURE, visit www.ktmadventure.com

Peter Hickman and the Briggs Equipment BMW team are targeting the Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy after withdrawing from the North West 200 as a result of his injuries sustained in a crash at Oulton Park on Saturday.

Having sustained two broken ribs in the 150mph spill on the approach to Druids, the 27-year old has subsequently been diagnosed with two breaks of the C4 vertebrae in his neck meaning both he and the team will be unable to participate in the first International road race of the season, which gets underway on Tuesday 12th May.

The Louth-based rider enjoyed an excellent debut at the event 12 months ago, comfortably being the best performing newcomer and also recording the fastest ever lap by a circuit debutante and both he and the team are bitterly disappointed at being unable to return. However, the nature of his injuries mean it simply isn't possible to ride and the aim now is to be fully fit for the Isle of Man TT Races which commence on Saturday May 30th.

Lee Hardy, Team Owner:
"It's deeply disappointing for Peter and everyone connected with the team that we'll be unable to take part in the North West 200 but his injuries from the crash on Saturday are a little bit worse than we first thought."

"The goal now is to support Peter as best as we can and ensure he gets the best possible medical support with the aim of being ready for the TT. He needs to get as much rest and recuperation as he can and the final decision will ultimately lie with his surgeon but we're very hopeful of being ready for practice week at the Isle of Man. I'd also like to publicly thank the on-site medical team at Oulton Park for all their excellent treatment and support given to Peter after his accident."

Hickman enjoyed a sensational debut at the TT in 2014, finishing as the fastest ever newcomer in the event's history beating Josh Brookes outright fastest lap by a newcomer with 129.104 in the last lap of the 2014 PokerStars Senior TT which saw him finish in 11th place.

Geoff Duke's final lap of the TT will take place this weekend, ahead of a private family funeral next week.

Geoff, who won seven races on the Mountain Course in a stellar career that included six World Champion titles, passed away on the 1st of May at the age of 92. A hearse carrying his coffin willdepart the Grandstand at 2.30pm on Sunday (10th May) to complete a final tour of the circuit where he made his name, and gave so many fans such pleasure with his successes.

David Cretney MLC, a former MGP competitor, will wave the flag to start the hearse on its journey. Geoff's sons, Peter and Mike, will follow on motorbikes while other family members will join the lap in cars.

The family would welcome any fans who would like to pay their last respects to Geoff to join them for the lap*.

Speaking ahead of the procession Geoff's eldest son Peter said 'Mike and I think dad would have really appreciated a last run around the course. It's not going to be 10mph cortege, we'll stick to the speed limits but we're going to open it up a bit over the Mountain. Dad would definitely have liked that.' Peter added 'Anyone who wants to come and join us for the ride will be made welcome. It's not exclusively for bikes; Dad was as handy in a car as he was on two-wheels so if it's got wheels, bring it along!'

Geoff's TT victories, first for Norton and later Gilera, helped to secure his place as a household name in the 1950s, becoming the first true superstar of motorcycle racing. Reflecting the importance of Geoff's place in post-war motorsport, national newspapers including the London Times, Daily Telegraph and The Guardian have all carried obituaries.

Further afield Fox Sports and CycleWorld in America, and Australian, Italian, German, Spanish and French newspapers, magazines and websites have carried tributes to 'The Duke'.

Spectators at the MotoGP round at Jerez paid tribute to the former champion during a minutes silence last Sunday, and TV coverage of the event showed a special film showing some of Geoff's career highlights. A further obituary with tributes from son Peter will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4's 'Last Word' programme at 4.00pm on Friday (8th May).

Locally, Manx Radio will air a special tribute programme featuring archive audio of an interview conducted by the 'Voice of the TT' Geoff Cannell from 1987

The Manx Radio tribute will be available to listen again on Manx Radio's website for a week after broadcast.

Douglas Borough Council have also confirmed that flags on buildings in the town will be lowered to half-mast on the day of the funeral. Geoff was awarded the freedom of the borough in 2003.

Geoff's family have asked that any donations in Geoff's memory are made to the TT Riders Association, c/o Frances Thorp, Mountain View, Glen Maye, IM5 3BJ

The Heritage Motor Centre is inviting visitors to join them for an exclusive out of hour’s free experience on Saturday 16 May from 5.30pm – 8.00pm as part of ‘Museums at Night’. For the first time, visitors can visit the museum in a completely different light and take part in special tours and family activities. ‘Museums at Night’, is a UK-wide festival which attracts visitors into museums, galleries and heritage sites by throwing open their doors after hours and hosting special evening events.

Visitors to the Heritage Motor Centre can explore the extensive collection of British cars, join an ‘object handling’ session with some intriguing items from the ‘behind the scenes’ collection and be part of the Car Stories project by sharing their motoring memories. Visitors can also travel back in time and join a 1920’s theory driving class with the ‘Honourable Mrs Victor Bruce’. Local percussionist Bo Davies, who will drum using car parts, will provide some interactive musical entertainment on the night.

Anyone who would like to visit on the evening of Saturday 16 May will need to book their place by visiting the website

For more information about the HMC please visit www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk or call 01926 641188.

For more information about Museums at Night

Our constant growth is due to a lot of elements, such as the distribution of promotional items (cards, banners, booklet, stickers, etc... ) across the UK, large interactive facebook groups and page, competitions, charity donations, Google ad word campaigns and in-print advertising such as the BMF magazine and some show guides.

To do all of this marketing there is a large cost and one which grows each year - we could of course stop this spend and 'presume' and expect that people will find the website by organic searches and word of mouth, however that can be a costly mistake.

In fact one that the heads of Slazenger thought in the early 80's, where they became complacent as many people were using their racquets and wearing their clothing, sweat bands and tennis shoes, so they stopped paying for advertising  - and look where they ended up (being bought as a cheap label and something we 'used' to wear).

When we created THE BIKER GUIDE website in 2009, it was to bring together a collection of information specifically for the Biker Community on a website that was free and easy to use. With many daily visitors (some days over 4,000), we are glad to see that this concept is one that has been much needed. As we include such a large amount of readable and relevant content (news, events, competitions, etc...), with the aim to captivate and keep those visitors interested, so that they trust THE BIKER GUIDE as a brand and with that they then trust, use and visit those clients that we include in the extensive business directory.

When we asked visitors to the website what their habits were when looking for anything Motorcycle related, we found that 89% of our visitors use only www.thebikerguide.co.uk when looking for anything Motorcycle related.

As the website is promoted to the Biker Community, through a variety of means, so our advertisers can gain new customers, we have no intensions of changing the business model to become a commission basis website. If we work this way it would then mean that the website became overloaded with adverts and listings, which could results in 'non-Biker Friendly' places being included, which would result in our visitors not being happy and/or having an unpleasant stay (and then not wanting to use THE BIKER GUIDE) and then we fear that what anything that is then free to be included on, yet enjoyed by so many people cannot last.

We are very aware (as we ask our visitors) that sometimes people will stay somewhere or use a website and do not even mention THE BIKER GUIDE, this is mainly down to the various marketing we do to promote a client.

For example a client might be included on the website, in an e-shot sent direct to people and also on the facebook pages and group. We hope this will see an interest in the clients website, an increase in facebook likes and of course bookings/sales. For accommodation providers we have also been told that many people will take the details of a place and pass by on their trip, rather than book prior, again this is hard to quantify from click throughs.

It is also worth mentioning that, if you go into a shop to buy a can of Coke do you say to the shopkeeper 'Hey I am buying this can  of drink because I saw the advert for the Christmas Coke Van on tv last night' - No we don't think so!