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...

Please note that the content within our News section (text and images), follows the same copyright laws/notice as all other content on the website - ie not to be reproduced (including slightly amending) without prior consent. 

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  1. Contact Us Page - Marketing tips fromTHE BIKER GUIDE

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    To many of you this may seem like a very straight forward section to have on your web-site, however many websites just get it SO wrong...

    The entire purpose of a Contact Us page is to help people contact your business as easy as possible, in a variety of different ways.  

    One click Wonder...  
     
    There are certain pages that visitors expect to be able to reach in one click from any page of a website, such as the home page. The Contact Us page is one of these kinds of pages.  
     
    It is not user friendly to include this information at the bottom of your website as many visitors are not going to bother scrolling down. People use the internet as they want information quickly, so make it easy to find at close to the top of the website as possible, either in your left-side navigation or across-the-top navigation... or even both!  
     
    Trust  
     
    Despite the fact that many large companies, such as Amazon, make it hard to find their contact information, it is generally true that if you do not make your contact information easy to find, visitors will trust you less. Trust is everything on the Internet, especially when you're trying to run a business. In general, people will not buy from those they do not trust. Your Contact Us page does not need to have a lot of information; indeed, it's likely to be the smallest page on your website. What should it contain? I'm glad you asked...

    The following three are imperative:  
     
    address - with postal code telephone number, including a land line and a mobile e-mail - not just as a contact us form   You can also include on this page information about yourselves and even a photograph - Remember people buy people so why not let your potential customers know who you are!  
     
    Address - with postal code or gps  
     
    Many people will search your address to plan the route, so include your full address, with postcode and if you can include a hype-link from the post-code to a Google map, even better.  
     
    Telephone number, including a land line and a mobile  
     
    Many people prefer to call on a land-line than a mobile, so try and include both. If you do not have a mobile connected to the business then get one. If someone wants to contact you, they usually want it instantly and not wait for a returned call from your answering service.  
     
    e-mail - not just as a contact us form  
     
    Some people do not like to include their actual e-mail address as you can get spam. So what? Do not put potential customers off by making them fill in a lengthy form when all they want to do is ask you a simple question.   And for the love of all things holy, make that e-mail address relevant to your business. If you own the web-site the e-mail should relate to it. Use any of the following before your web-site address and just get it directed to your e-mail or you can set up a new e-mail account for less than £15 per annum, which relates to this address.   info@ sales@, stay@, enquiries@, etc...
     
    Most people use e-mail these days and for some people they simply prefer it as a means of correspondence - yes rather than talking on a telephone!  
     
    It is now expected that people do not have to speak to someone to ask a question and get an answer. Using e-mail means everyone gets a solid record of the communication, too, providing an extra layer of protection in case things go awry. Also it gives your customers an easy way to contact you after hours.  
     
    Available 24/7/365  
     
    Not everyone will be in a position to call you during your normal business hours. That is simply a fact of life, if you are doing business globally – which you are, technically, if you're doing business on the internet.  So by including all of the above you can be contacted, with ease, any time of the day or night.  
     
    Customers you have not met yet!  
     
    By updating your Contact Us page, your potential customers will appreciate it and you should see a marked increase in enquiries.  
     
    As with all marketing suggestion from THE BIKER GUIDE, apologies if you are already doing this.
     
    THE BIKER GUIDE  
     
    Bringing the Biker Community together!  
     

  2. Guest comments on your website

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    We just wanted to share with you a very easy marketing tip, which if used will not only increase your SEO* on the internet and visitors to your site, but ultimately should increase the response levels.  
     
    Review websites  
     
    In recent studies of buying habits it has been discovered that users of the world wide web are now more likely to be swayed towards using one business/product than another because of recommendations rather than price. If you look at sites such as Trip Advisor, Review Centre, Holidays Uncovered, Mobile Phone UK and Test Freaks, these are sites which are mainly ran on the contributions from the general public on the reviewing of or simply rating of (usually out of 5 or 10) a business/product.   Recommendations are also used when you buy from e-bay, as the Sellers feedback is paramount to their success. Sellers strive to ensure that they have no negative feedback so as not to deter future customers.   In fact they are all around us, from choosing which movie to watch, what restaurant to eat in and where to holiday and stay.

    So as the general public are now putting trust in the views of someone that they do not even know, I suppose this only emphasizes how important word-of-mouth is. It has always been one of the most credible forms of advertising because a person puts their reputation on the line every time they make a recommendation and that person has nothing to gain, but the appreciation of those who are listening.  
     
    So, what can you do to make sure your potential ambassadors of your business recommend it to others?   Simple...Guest comments on your website!  
     
    Many of you will have accumulated books of guest comments over the years and some of you already have included these on your web-sites, however it is imperative that they are included on a specific page which can easily be found, i.e.: In the top bar, named simply Guest Comments. These comments should be typed out and displayed in a easy to read manner. It is also possible for a page to be included onto your web-site where guests can leave there own comments, so freeing your time on this project.  
     
    Not only will new visitors to your web-site read these comments and make decisions from what they read, but by including such information it helps with search engines finding your web-site and so increasing your SEO, naturally and at no cost other than your time.  
     
    For example...   If you included the following statement onto your site:  
     
    'I recently stayed at a wonderful place in the Yorkshire Dales; The Rose of Sharon B&B. It was close to the local village of Hawkes where there is a great Biker cafe, which we visited on the Sunday and found Motorcycles from all over the UK, including some great guys from the local Motorcycle club, Bikers are Great MCC. The owners, Sandra and John (Bikers themselves) were on hand to help us with information about the local area, where to visit and which routes to use. A fantastic breakfast was served, which we only just made as our bed was so comfortable we did not want to get out!  A drying room and secure parking only help to make this a very Biker Friendly place. Highly recommended'   From the above, in time search engine will pick up on the words used and when someone searches for the following the web-site should be found;
    • Yorkshire Dales B&B
    • Hawkes Biker cafe
    • Yorkshire Dales Biker cafe
    • Bikers are Great MCC
    • Biker Friendly place
    • Biker Friendly Yorkshire B&B
    • Motorcycle UK Friendly
    • Secure parking Hawkes
      If you would like an example of a web-site who has done this well sent over to you just let me know.   
     
    THE BIKER GUIDE   Bringing the Biker Community together!  
     
     
    * SEO: Search engine Optimisation

  3. Motorcycle Testing – Millions Spent, Nothing Gained say bmf

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    The British Motorcyclists Federation have welcomed the findings of the Transport Select Committee’s report ‘The new European motorcycle test’ published today, bearing out the bmf’s own submission to the committee that the introduction of the new test by the Driving Standards Agency had been ‘gold plated’, badly handled and poorly executed.
      
    The bmf totally supports the main conclusions of the committee that the Government’s decision to introduce large Multi Purpose Test Centres (MPTCs) and close down many small, convenient motorcycle test sites was ‘unjustified’, that it’s implementation was ‘bungled’ and that it ‘was unacceptable that the Driving Standards Agency has failed to get all 66 planned centres operational, therefore delaying introduction of the new test.’
     
    In launching the report, Committee Chair, Louise Ellman MP said, “many candidates and trainers now have to travel too far for their motorcycle test. This adds to the cost, and in some cases, exposes candidates to fast and dangerous roads on the way to a test site - before they have even taken their test. The Driving Standards Agency needs to give much greater priority to customer service and convenience for test candidates and trainers.”
     
    The planned MPTCs, unique within Europe, were budgeted at £72 million but are still not all operational. Worse still say the bmf, they were primarily constructed to carry out a combined swerve and stop test that is not prescriptive in the directive, something the committee agreed the DSA should have been more flexible over. 
     
    The bmf is pleased to note that the Committee supports this line and that it also ‘condemns Ministers’ failure to negotiate an exemption from the EU requirement that parts of the test should be performed at 50 km/h (31.07 mph).’ The Committee MPs said that ‘it is both bizarre and confusing that tests should be performed at speeds not permitted on the public highway in built-up areas, and that it should be measured in units not commonly used in the UK.’
     
    Commenting on the report, the bmf’s Government Relations Executive Chris Hodder said: “We have always maintained that the Government should have negotiated a derogation from this directive, so allowing most of the testing to be done on UK roads, however, this is now so it is a matter of real urgency that the Government takes heed of this damning report and at the least increases the number of operational MPTCs.”
     
    The bmf will be joining forces with other interest groups in lobbying the incoming government.  

  4. Motorcycle Industry Concerns About New Motorcycle Test Vindicated by Parliament.

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    The Motor Cycle Industry Association (MCI) has today welcomed the publication of a report by the influential Parliamentary Transport Select Committee (TSC) on the new European motorcycle test. The test, which was introduced early in 2009 as a result of European regulations, has been widely criticised by the industry, trainers and riders groups.
     
    Implementation of the test involved cutting motorcycle test centre numbers from over 200 sites to under 50 (despite a commitment to provide 66 sites) and the introduction of so called 'Multi Purpose Test Centres'. The result has been a collapse in test numbers and concerns about the nature of the test and road safety for candidates who now sometimes need to travel long distances to attend a riding test.
     
    The TSC report follows 'enquiry' hearings, held in Parliament during October 2009. The Motor Cycle Industry Association (MCI), along with its sister organisation, the Motor Cycle Industry Training Association (MCITA) and riders groups, took an active part in the TSC's enquiry and appeared before MPs to give evidence.
     
    The TSC has been damning in its assessment of the Driving Standards Agency's (DSA) handling of the new test and has said that The Government's decision to introduce large Multi Purpose Test Centres (MPTCs) and close down many small, convenient motorcycle test sites was unjustified. The Committee concluded that the implementation of the new MPTCs was 'bungled'. The Committee also concluded that it is unacceptable that the Driving Standards Agency failed to get all 66 planned centres operational,  inconveniencing motorcyclists and trainers and driving up the cost of doing a test.
     
    Launching the report, Transport Select Committee Chair, Louise Ellman MP said, "many candidates and trainers now have to travel too far for their motorcycle test. This adds to the cost , and in some cases, exposes candidates to fast and dangerous roads on the way to a test site - before they have even taken their test. The Driving Standards Agency needs to give much greater priority to customer service and convenience for test candidates and trainers."
     
    In its report, MPs conclude that the Driving Standards Agency was slow and dogmatic in its approach to test centres, failing to listen adequately to the motorcycle industry. Smaller test sites could have been retained, saving millions of pounds. No other country in Europe has found it necessary to build 'super test sites'.
     
    Steve Kenward, MCI's CEO said: "The industry strongly welcomes the TSC's report, which we feel has totally vindicated the industry's position on the new test, in particular the inept introduction of new test centres. Even now, the number of test centres is lamentably low and we call on Government to deal with the issue as a matter of urgency, or consider changing test requirements to allow a less restrictive definition of what a test site should offer.
     
    "The test centre issue has been enormously damaging to the DSA whose actions have threatened training businesses and risked the credibility of the test itself. This, coupled with the industry and motorcycle community's strong concerns about the DSA's approach to further EC regulations on motorcycle testing and training, means that we renew our call for decisions on headline motorcycling training and testing policy to be returned to the direct control of Ministers and senior officials at the DfT in London."
     
    Kenward added; "The Select Committee called for the DSA to work more closely with and take more seriously the views of the motorcycle industry and trainers. We strongly support this call and feel that many problems with the new test could have been avoided if this had previously been the case. We call on the Government to take greater notice of industry, trainer and rider group views as we approach the implementation of further EC regulations."

  5. Obituary-VMCC Founder C E “Titch” Allen OBE, BEM

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    The VMCC is saddened to report the death of Club Founder Charles Edmund “Titch” Allen OBE, BEM on Thursday 18/03/10.

    Where ‘Historic Motorcycles are discussed, the Vintage Motor Cycle Club and the name of Charles Edmund ‘Titch’ Allen are sure to be drawn into the conversation. This extraordinary man has been a strong influence on the growth and the development of the ‘old ‘bike’ movement – not only in this country –but also throughout the world.

    Born in May 1915 in rural Nottinghamshire, Titch claimed to have been born with oily fingers and that his favourite plaything at the age of two was a hammer. Totally negative experiences with father’s milk float horse sparked off an interest in two-wheeled transport that soon transferred to his first motorcycle when he was twelve years old, a two-stroke ‘Clyno’ in the form of a box of bits.

    Despite a grammar school education at Loughborough, he left school at 16 with no real qualifications other than a ‘gift for the written word’ an attribute that has never deserted him – along with his ‘gift for the spoken word’. His ambitious and forceful Mother secured a position for him as a trainee reporter on the local paper.

    His experiences and the contacts made during those years included a succession of thoroughly dreadful cars and motorcycles and which lead indirectly to his meeting and marrying Jess in November 1937 and becoming deeply involved with the resurrection of the Loughborough Motor Cycle Club

    As did many other motorcyclists, Titch responded to the appeals for dispatch riders in the motorcycling magazines the ‘Blue’un and the ‘Green ‘un and signed up to the “Motor Cyclist’s Army Register” and after many trials and tribulations actually served as a DR concluding the war as a sergeant and with the BEM.

    His obsession with motorcycles never left him in these tempestuous times and he claimed that the acquisition of a 1930 Scott in 1942 was the catalyst for the formation of a ‘Vintage Motor Cycle Club’ –the great stimulus being the series of articles on the adventures of tracking down and acquiring ‘old bikes’ written by Captain Jim Hall in the magazine“The Motor Cycle” The idea was Jim’s but it was the work of Titch and Jess that got the club off the ground with the historic inaugural meeting on the Hog’s Back on April 28th 1946. The ideals Titch envisaged were those of a sporting club where sporting, historic motorcycles would be used in competition – an ideal that came to be frustrated.

    It was at this time that Titch began his life-long love affair with the Brough Superior marque and when he made a complete career change, moving into the world of motorcycling as a sales representative for Jim Ferriday, the irrepressible owner of the ‘Feridax’ motorcycle accessories company, which led to all kinds of adventures and experiences –and many opportunities to enlarge and enrichen his collection of motorcycles.

    His involvement with the emerging and developing Vintage Motor Cycle Club was, at times, a tempestuous affair, with numerous confrontations with equally strong-minded individuals at various stages of the Club’s development. Titch admitted that his singular devotion to old motorcycles and motorcycling lead to the breakdown of his marriage and subsequent separation from Jess.

    There was tragedy in the loss of Roger, his eldest son, in a freak road-racing incident in the Isle of Man in 1992 and then to lose Barbara, his eldest daughter, to cancer in 2005. Over the years Titch had lost many close friends and associates through motorcycle related accidents, but to many who were close to him, it seemed as if the death of Roger left a permanent scar from which he never really recovered.

    Titch’s relationship with his wife was back on friendly terms for the latter period of her life before she succumbed to terminal cancer in 2002.

    Recognition of his contribution to Motor Cycle Heritage came in the form of an OBE in 2004. The presentation ceremony took place, most appropriately, at Donington Park - a racing venue he had been associated with for 75 years

    Reluctant to give up ‘competitive’ motorcycling, nevertheless, Titch retired, first from road racing and finally from sidecar racing on ‘the grass’. His interest and enthusiasm never dimmed, however and a ‘posing’ sidecar outfit was prepared for special occasions – of which the most celebrated must have been his appearance in the Past Masters’ Parade at the revival of the Festival of 1000 ‘bikes in 2006 at the age of 91.

    Never afraid to voice his opinions on Vintage motorcycles and motorcycling anywhere and at any time, he was frequently controversial both within the Vintage Motor Cycle Club and elsewhere. Sometimes he was proved to be wrong, on other occasions to have been correct. But his dedication could never be questioned.

    There can have been very few people who have been able to indulge a life-long obsession to the full whilst earning a living and raising a family and leaving behind a remarkable legacy to remember him by.

    There will be a private family funeral for Titch with son Stephen Allen stating “the family appreciates that there will be many Vintage Motorcycle Club Members and friends that will want to pay their respects so a memorial service will be arranged, details of which will be announced by the VMCC as soon as possible”.

    Obituary – C E Allen OBE, BEM : 06/05/1915 – 18/03/2010.