Ace Cafe London has teamed up with the organisers of the annual Auto Sport International Show, with its live action arena, held at the NEC Birmingham over the weekend of 14th & 15th January 2012.

Ten pairs of tickets are up for grabs at the cafe to be won by means of a prize draw raffle - spend £5 or more over the counter to get a raffle ticket on:

Monday 14th November - Petrolhead Nirvana

Wednesday 30th November - InCarNation

Monday 12th December - Petrolhead Nirvana

Wednesday 28th December - InCarNation

Saturday 31st December - New Years Eve Party

For more information about the show: www.autosportinternational.com

Out on our travels we had the occasion to call into Homebase on the Bangor Ring Road. Not a bathroom or kitchen hunting expedition but to purchase some large bolts for fitting a vice to the bench in the garage.
 
Digressing slightly the vice is a Record Steel 35 Made In England, it is really heavy duty and was fitted in my late father’s garage and must be circa early sixties, I can remember it since I was knee high and that’s a long while ago.  The bench it is being fitted on was built to support the vice and any subsequent hack sawing and filing!
 
Anyway,  you may not be aware but there is a new Sainsbury’s being built beside Homebase and driving to park up, our eagle eyes spotted a sign which had a motorcycle logo on it.
 
On closer examination Sainsbury’s have built a dedicated motorcycle parking bay opposite the front doors of the new store.
 
The bay, large in size has blockpaving as its surface area, the surrounding car park has a “tarmac” surface, so no sinking sidestands.  The block paving differentiates the motorcycle parking space from the car parking with its bright orange sign and bordered by a raised concrete kerb.
 
The front end of the motorcycle parking bay has two bollards which would assist in delineating the parking bay in stopping other vehicle drivers parking in it, however the “entrances” do not have bollards which may lead to other vehicle drivers parking in the bay,  just to get a couple of feet nearer to the shop entrance.
 
There does not appear to be any secure locking points but with the bay close to the entrance, in an open “public area”, the CCTV cameras, that we are sure will be in operation that would pick up mis-use.
 
We will still give Sainsbury’s a ten out of ten  for providing dedicated motorcycle parking.
 
Let Us Know
 
If are you aware of other shopping facilities, centres or other provided dedicated motorcycle parking, we would love to hear where they are and a picture paints a thousand words, if you can let us know.

Leave your comments on Right To Ride

Ducati’s newly-unveiled 1199 Panigale Superbike has been awarded the title “Most Beautiful Bike of Show” at the EICMA 69th International Motorcycle Show in Milan, Italy.

Over 13,800 passionate show visitors participated in the voting organised by Italian motorcycle publication, Motociclismo, with the stunning new Ducati 1199 Panigale attracting a massive 53.4% of votes, followed by the MV Agusta F3 with 17% and the Husqvarna Nuda 900R with 3%.

The award was presented during the final day of the show, which  attracted almost half a million people to the vast Fiera di Milano exhibition centre throughout the six day event.  The ceremony took place in the presence of Pierfrancesco Caliari - General Secretary of Confindustria ANCMA/EICMA - Piero Bacchetti - President of Edisport Editoriale - and  Gianandrea Fabbro - Senior Designer from the Ducati Design Centre responsible for the incredible new machine.  The highly coveted “Most Beautiful Bike of Show” title is just reward for Ducati’s constant and innovative product development and coincides with the iconic Italian manufacturer’s announcement that 2011 will close with the best financial results in the company’s history.

Designed and built in Borgo Panigale, Bologna, the award-winning motorcycle combines the most high tech, most powerful twin-cylinder production engine on the planet with an innovative monocoque chassis concept to deliver an astonishing 195hp from 164kg (361.5lb) of futuristic Italian thoroughbred. The highest production motorcycle power-to-weight and torque-to-weight ratios in the world are fitting trophies for the incredible results that Ducati have achieved and now set an extreme benchmark for the category.

With the click of a button, Ducati’s Riding Mode concept delivers performance with enhanced rider confidence by combining seven class-leading technologies. The latest-generation sports ABS system, Ducati Traction Control (DTC), Ducati Electronic Suspension (DES), Ducati Quick-Shift (DQS), Ducati’s new race-derived Engine Brake Control (EBC) and Ride-by-Wire (RbW) are now all programmed into seamless, electronic rider assistance. Even the full colour Thin Film Transistor (TFT) display changes to suit the rider’s environment.

State-of-the-art from the ground-up and melding latest technologies with exciting new family features, the 1199 Panigale is totally “Ducati” in every respect. Its no-compromise approach to sport design and stylish attention to incredibly fine detail presents authentic Italian performance at its purist. Bred for the track and trained for the road, the new Superbike is a true revolution of the species destined to influence the entire sportsbike environment, while further strengthening Ducati’s recent success.

The EICMA show event marked the official introduction of the ground-breaking 1199 Panigale, 1199 Panigale S and flagship 1199 Panigale S Tricolore. The “Tricolore” model proudly wears the red, white and green of the Italian flag, underlining the title “Made in Italy” and coinciding with the celebrations of the country’s 150th anniversary of unification. All three models will be available from early 2012. 

This week has seen a host of new motorcycles unveiled at the EICMA show in Milan, Italy, most of which will be on display in the UK for the first time at Motorcycle Live at the NEC in Birmingham (19-27 November).
 
Ducati finally revealed its much-anticipated superbike, the 1199 Panigale, which is new from the wheels up and, weighing in at 190kg, boasts 195bhp from its re-designed V-twin engine, together with a host of electronics to control all that power.
 
Motorcycle Live will also be the first chance to see and touch a host of other all-new new models from manufacturers such as BMW, Honda, Husqvarna, MV Agusta, Kawasaki, Triumph and Yamaha, to name but a few.
 
Other models from major manufacturers will be making their way to Birmingham’s NEC next week with impressive makeovers, including a quartet of supersport machines from BMW, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha. Triumph, too, will bring updated versions of two of its best-sellers.

With all these and more manufacturers displaying their 2012 model ranges, together with opportunities to ride – both indoors and out, off-road and on – not to mention a wide variety of entertainment and a huge selection of biking bargains, Motorcycle Live offers a simply stunning day out.

The ticket price for Motorcycle Live 2011 is completely all-inclusive, meaning visitors can enjoy everything the show has to offer at no extra cost. Tickets are £16 in advance* for adults, £10 for seniors, £6 for children aged 6-16 and kids 5 and under accompanied by a paying adult go free.

www.motorcyclelive.co.uk

The Honda TT Legends will start tomorrow’s 8 Hours of Doha from ninth on the grid following the final qualifying session at the Losail International Circuit today. John McGuinness, Keith Amor and stand-in rider Glen Richards each completed a second 30-minute stint on the Honda Fireblade in a bid to improve on yesterday’s lap times. 
 
All three riders managed this task, with Richards lapping the quickest. Cameron Donald’s replacement posted a 2:01.476 lap in the final stint to bring the team’s overall combined time up to 2:03.381 – enough to qualify in the top ten in a field of 26 teams. 
 
Neil Tuxworth
 
All three riders went a little bit quicker in that session, which we’re pleased about. The good thing is that all through the free practice sessions, qualifying and night practice we’ve had no incidents and no problems with the bike. We’ve got a sound basis for the race and I’d like to think we are in a strong position. You never know what is going to happen in eight hours but I’m hoping we can finish in at least a top five position. 
 
John McGuinness
 
We’re ninth overall on the grid but as we’ve seen in World Endurance qualifying is not the most important thing, it’s where we are at the end of eight hours and who knows how many laps! Glen has done some good times and I’ve been half a second quicker today so I’m happy with that. It’s a tough track and it’s going to be a tough race but I’m looking forward to it. I want to bring the bike home safe, score some points, maybe go up a bit in the championship and end the season as happy chaps. 
 
Keith Amor
 
I’m feeling a lot better than I was 24 hours ago. I’m starting to get used to the track and it’s not quite as much of a struggle. I found a bit of time today and I’m happy. It’s been a tough season but it’s nice to finish somewhere like this that is a bit easier on my injured shoulder. Let’s wait and see what happens in the race. 
 
Glen Richards
 
I’m feeling pretty good. I have a few little issues with my hands but we’ll try some different grips tomorrow maybe. Apart from that, the bike is working well and I felt better on it today than yesterday. It’s going to be a hard race for sure but then endurance races are always hard. We’ve just done a really good pit practice, so we’ll just get our heads down in the race and see what happens. 
 
The final eight-hour battle of the 2011 Endurance World Championship season will begin at 13.00 AST (10.00 GMT, 11.00 CET) tomorrow.

For real-time news, videos and images throughout the event follow @HondaTTLegends on Twitter and for post-qualifying and race reports visit www.HondaTTLegends.com Live timing is available at www.ris-timing.be