Motorbike superstar Carl Fogarty was a huge hit with fans who travelled from far and wide to see him in Llangollen over the weekend.

The four times World Superbike Champion and multiple TT winner was the star attraction at the popular Motorbike Show.

Thousands of bike fans descended on the Royal International Pavilion with some coming from Germany, France and Holland.

Winning the title was a “dream come true” for Lianne Roberts, 18, who lives in Treuddyn.

She said: “I am very much into bikes and I’ve got a Yamaha FS1E or a Fizzy which is a really old style bike. I love new bikes but I’ve got a soft spot for old bikes. My dad’s been into bikes since he was young and I started riding pillion when I was quite young and I really got into them. It is a real-life passion, I really do love bikes. Before I was going to be a beautician, I was going to be a mechanic. It was a real pleasure to meet Carl Fogarty. Being such a huge star, you’d think he’d be big headed – but he’s not. He’s lovely.”

For much of the time, the bike racing legend was swarmed by adoring fans wanting a chat and to get his autograph – and he loved every second.

Carl said: “It’s always nice to come to Wales and I’ve always had a good following here so it’s good to be back here again. There’s a really big crowd here and it’s a very, very good show. I know Llangollen pretty well and have done some trial riding around the area in the past. I have also got a place on Anglesey.”

During the show he took part in a question and answer session with local rider Paul Owen who was awarded the inaugural Spirit of the TT Award at this year’s races.

Paul was following his close friend, New Zealander Paul Dobbs, during the Supersport race at this year’s June TT when Dobbs crashed.

Paul said: “It was good to spend a bit of time with Carl. I’m now where he started off and he is an inspiration to me. He knows what it means to go to the Isle of Man, spend thousands of pounds and then sacrifice a race to try and save somebody. I’d like to think that somebody would stop for me if I had an accident like that.”

There was a special award for the Best Bike in Show given in memory of well-known and popular Llangollen motorcyclist Victor Jones, who died recently, aged just 59. 

Victor, of Pengwern, who used to ride a classic 1964 Matchless 650cc and was a huge fan of classic bikes, gave up his job in the building industry to care for his brother Frank when he started to suffer from impaired vision

Appropriately, the award was one by somebody who knew Victor very well. Keith Owen, who hails from Llangollen but now lives in Wrexham, took the prize for his beautifully restored Triumph Bonneville American Export which was made in 1969.

Keith said:  “It means an awful lot to me to win this award with me being a Llangollen boy. What made it even more special was that I won the Victor Jones Memorial Trophy because he was great Llangollen character. I knew him very well and he is sadly missed.”

It was also the perfect opportunity for Nick Critchley, the Heather and Hillforts Project’s Moorland Field Officer, to speak to members of the biking fraternity.

He was there with representatives of the countryside charity, Tread Lightly, to meet bikers and encourage them to sign up to the campaign to promote responsible off-roading on two wheels and four.

He said: “People have been coming up and chatting and I think they are supportive of what we are doing. Our message is very positive and people are very keen to hear that motorbikes aren’t all bad. There are lots of places where they can go and we encourage them to use the legal rights of way network.”

Organiser David Green, the managing director of Xuberance Events, was thrilled that the weekend had been such a huge success.

He said: “We’ve had a fantastic turn-out. “We’ve got bikers who’ve travelled from all across the UK and beyond, including some from Germany, France and Holland. At the same time, we’ve had huge support from the local biking fraternity who’ve brought their bikes here as well. Carl Fogarty has been an absolute pleasure, he’s been walking around signing autographs, meeting people and sharing his stories. He’s an absolute legend and it shows the progression that the Motorbike Show has made over the past three years.”

The series will follow the participants as they move to the village for a week and sample their potential new life and home. During the week’s filming they will get involved in village life, meeting the residents and demonstrating to them why they would be a valued member of the communityi.e. demonstrating using their skills or experience. The local residents will then decide on who wins the home and becomes the newest resident of the village.

Participants must be over 18 and initially be available to film for a possibly 5 days during September/Octoberand then an additional 3-5 days if your family reaches the final. Anyone interested in applying must also realistically be looking to relocate and start a new life in the village should they be lucky enough to win the competition.

If you have any queries Kandise on 0207 534 2029or e-mail thevillage@studiolambert.com

The two-day Motorbike Show is ready to roar into action in Llangollen this weekend.

It’s a celebration of every style of motorbike. Among the highlights of this year’s show are:

• The legendary Carl Fogarty, four times World Superbike Champion and multiple TT winner
• Round the world record breaker Nick Sanders
• The sphere of death
• 2010 Biker Babe of North Wales competition
• Gleaming machines in the Custom Bike Show
• Fantastic motorbike displays
• Expert advice clinics
• Club Corner
• Live action arena, including Airraid FMX performing breathtaking aerial feats in freestyle motocross and trials bike display and competition

www.themotorcycleshow.co.uk

The 17th July not only marked the 50th birthday of the British Motorcyclists Federation, but has also signalled the biggest change in the 50 year history of the UK’s leading riders’ rights organisation, a change that will see a complete overhaul of the way the bmf operates.

As with any organisation, 50 years can often mark a turning point in its development and the bmf’s Management Team had already recognised that the organisation had moved away from its original focus of promoting, protecting and pursuing the interests of motorcyclists, the aims established by the bmf’s founding fathers back in 1960.

After a thorough review, three areas became apparent, the bmf was too far removed from its core target market – motorcyclists; the organisation had become too inward looking and thirdly its reliance on its outside events to fund the bmf’s activities had impacted on the organisation’s ability to Promote, Protect and Pursue the rights of motorcyclists.

Under the review, the bmf team asked itself three pivotal questions – Where are we going? How are we going to get there? And, What do we need to do to get there? A major step forward therefore has been the formulation of the 2010 – 2012 action plan designed to regenerate the energy and focus that saw the organisation successfully challenge threats like 100 bhp limits, compulsory leg protectors, bans on green lane use and the tax on merely possessing a motorcycle.  

To achieve this change of emphasis, the bmf’s Management Team have established three objectives:

• To direct the organisation’s energies on re-asserting the prominence of lobbying across all areas

• To re-energise the volunteer structure, reconnecting with the bmf’s regions on local and national issues

• To promote the value of membership of the bmf, supporting lobbying and the enjoyment of all aspects of motorcycling

To meet these objectives and allow the organisation to concentrate on its core activities, the bmf is to be completely restructured, establishing the foundation of a new, refreshed and stronger bmf.

Phase 1 of the restructure will involve the re-organisation of administration, membership servicing, publishing and event management that is currently carried out at the bmf’s headquarters. These functions will now be outsourced or moved online with the result that two of the existing staff will be made redundant. This will enable the bmf to concentrate on its lobbying activities both nationally and at European level, a role that will continue to be carried out by the bmf’s Government Relations Executive, Chris Hodder, ensuring that the views of British motorcyclists continue to be heard across Government and the EU.

The bmf’s Leicester headquarters will be vacated once all functions are outsourced. Phase 1 will be completed by the end of October 2010.

Phase 2 will see the bmf developing the strength of regionally based lobbying work over the coming months through the establishment of new posts working with volunteers and members within the bmf’s regional network.

Bmf outside events will continue to be run by the recently appointed Mulberry group who, working with the bmf, plan over the next two years to re-establish bmf events as the UK’s premier motorcycling events.

The bmf Foundation safety charity will continue to be managed by the trustees and will not be affected by these changes.

The gorgeous gal from Prestatyn is the face of this weekend’s Llangollen Motorbike Show and she has been busy helping distribute information about the Heather and Hillforts project.

The 20-year-old has been on the Horseshoe Pass with the Heather and Hillforts Project’s Moorland Field Officer, Nick Critchley to meet bikers and encourage them to sign up to the campaign to promote responsible off-roading on two wheels and four.

The former Miss Prestatyn, who was third in the Miss Wales competition, also took time out to see some of the preservation work that has been done on footpaths which cross the heather moorland – and some of the damage that has been done by illegal off-roading.

Lauren will be at the show at the Royal International Pavilion on Saturday and Sunday, August 7 and 8, where one of her duties will be to help judge this year’s Biker Babe competition.

She said: “This wonderful landscape is part of our heritage and is something which has to be preserved.

“The Motorbike Show can play a part in that by helping people to enjoy off-roading legitimately and that’s why we’re happy to have the Heather and Hillforts campaign at the show.”

Also part of the Heather and Hillforts stand at the show will be national organisation Tread Lightly which aims to promote responsible off-roading and whose Project Manager is Mark Margetts.

He said: “We want to engage and find a way of getting on together. Treadlightly has been going in the USA for 25 years and is a highly respected, credible and positive organisation.

“The popular conception of off-roaders might be of young kids on old bikes tearing round the place but it couldn’t be further from the truth – the majority act responsibly and this just happens to be their hobby.

“We want to encourage responsible off-roading and encourage people to act legally, join a responsible user group or club, and use legal routes.”

Nick Critchley added: “We want to send out a positive message that there are places where people can enjoy off-roading and we will have information about those routes and places that can be used.

“We support Tread Lightly in what they aim to achieve and to direct our message at off-roaders and help them find out how to do what they do legally.

“We will be at the show with merchandise and information about the Heather and Hillforts campaign and the importance of the landscape of our moorlands both from an ecological and an historical perspective.

“The people who are riding their bikes and driving their 4x4s illegally are ruining this magnificent countryside for everyone else.”

The campaign, catchphrase is ‘don’t leave home without it’ and led by Denbighshire Countryside Services, encourages farmers, ramblers and others who enjoy the county’s wide open spaces to carry a special telephone number with them – or even key it into their mobile phones – to report the vandals.

Nick Critchley said: “We want the legitimate off-roaders to join us in this and report those they know are acting illegally because they are giving all off-roaders a bad name.

“But ideally we want prosecution to be a last resort for those who refuse to get the message – we would much sooner persuade people and ifnrom them and that’s what we hope to do at the Motorbike Show.”

Denbighshire County Council’s Heather and Hillforts Project covers the Clwydian Range Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Horseshoe Pass and Llantysilio Mountains, part of the Ruabon/Llantysilio Mountains and Minera Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and the Berwyn and South Clwyd Mountains Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

The campaign to protect them is backed by North Wales Police, the Countryside Council for Wales and the Forestry Commission Wales.

They are appealing for the public’s help in catching and convicting the offenders who are liable to be fined up to £20,000 and can have their vehicles seized and crushed.

That Police telephone number – 0845 6071002 or 0845 6071001 for Welsh language callers - means that anyone seeing illegal off-roaders tearing up the landscape can immediately report them.