The cold weather creeping in might mean the end of the summer motorcycling season, but every cloud has a silver lining and for many bike fans across the UK, that silver lining is Motorcycle Live. This year's show will open its doors at The NEC, Birmingham on Saturday 28 November and run at full revs for nine days, bringing modern motorcycling to life and offering adult visitors no fewer than six FREE opportunities to ride a bike.

When looking at shiny new machines just isn't enough, the Test Ride Zone supported by Shoei, Sidi and Spada offers a great line up of bikes from the leading manufacturers for visitors to try on the open road*, all for FREE. Those yet to pass their test can also have a go, thanks to the industry-backed Get On campaign, which will give aspiring bikers a FREE first taste of riding a motorcycle or scooter with the help of an experienced instructor.

Visitors will have the opportunity to give off-road riding a try thanks to the FREE Yamaha AMCA MX Experience, which will provide expert tuition on a range of off-road machinery around an indoor dirt track specially built for Motorcycle Live. The ACU Try Trials feature also makes a welcome return, offering visitors 15-minute taster sessions of this super-skilled two-wheel discipline.

Two manufacturers – Yamaha and BMW – will also be bringing their own FREE riding experiences to Motorcycle Live. The popular Yamaha Dark Side MT Tour will make its final stop of the season at The NEC, bringing with it a fleet of MT-09 Tracers plus MT-09 and MT-07 demo bikes that will be available for visitors to enjoy in escorted test rides*.

Meanwhile, the BMW GS Trophy Experience will add a touch of adventure and excitement to Motorcycle Live, giving visitors a chance to learn and try some of the handling techniques taught at Simon Pavey’s world-famous BMW Off Road Skills school using BMW GS motorcycles.

Motorcycle Live 2015 will run from 28 November to 6 December. Advance tickets are on sale now, at just £17.50 per adult, £11 for Seniors and £7 for children aged 11-16** (kids aged 10 and under accompanied by a paying adult go free). There is also a £20.50 advance ticket, which includes entry to the show and a choice of Oxford neck wear worth £15. To book, call 0844 581 2345 or visit www.motorcyclelive.co.uk

Spectacular Supermoto to wow Wales Rally GB crowds

•UK's best riders to slip-slide and wheelie in front of rally fans
•Advance Chirk Castle RallyFest tickets available priced from just £25

The list of entertainment confirmed by the organisers of Wales Rally GB for this year's family-friendly RallyFest at Chirk Castle (14 November) continues to grow as crowds are set for a scrambling Supermoto showcase at the medieval, National Trust owned fortress.

For those who aren’t familiar with the sport, Supermoto is essentially a two-wheel version of rallycross where riders are tasked with getting the better of a course made up of 75 per cent asphalt and 25 per cent off-road sections, with jumps and bumps thrown into the mix for good measure.

As in rallycross, the racing is hectic and riders must display immense skill to negotiate the undulations and extreme contrasts offered up by a changing surface with their high-performance racing bikes.

The riders are set to star at Chirk Castle with a variety of tricks, stunts, wheelies and time attacks to whip the crowd into a frenzy between the dirt-slinging rallying action.

“Supermoto UK in association with Dave Clarke Racing are hoping to have ten or so of the best riders in the country and a few star ‘wildcards’," said Neil Jay of Supermoto UK. In addition to the on-track action, we will have a pit area in the RallyFest zone and we invite families to come and have a look around, grab some autographs and get children sitting on the bikes. Being invited by Wales Rally GB to perform at the Chirk Castle RallyFest stage is the highlight of the year for us. It is an honour for Supermoto UK and Dave Clarke Racing to perform on a world stage and we can’t wait to rev up the crowd!”

Meanwhile, on the day, there will be a wealth of activities for fans to enjoy, including parades and displays of supercars and historic rally cars as well as a cavalcade of Colin McRae rally machinery to commemorate the 20-year anniversary of the legendary Scot's World Rally Championship title triumph.

Holder of 22 stunt-driving world records, Terry Grant will also be at Chirk Castle with a show-stopping performance of bravery and car control. All of this will be topped off by high-octane WRC action as the world’s fastest drivers blast their way through a specially designed competitive section laid out along the private roads around the medieval castle.

RallyFest has been created to offer fans and spectators much more than just the thrills of the dramatic rally stage. There will be more exciting attractions to be announced in the build-up to Wales Rally GB, the UK’s concluding round of the 2015 FIA World Rally Championship.

Fans wanting to experience RallyFest and the host of entertainment on offer can take advantage of discounted Special Stage tickets by purchasing in advance.
 


The four-day World Rally Pass is the all-inclusive ticket for fans. It provides access to all the individual Special Stages as well as Thursday’s pre-event Shakedown. It is priced at £99 for adults (or just £1 for accompanied children aged 9-15) and comes with a desirable hard card and lanyard plus an event programme valued at £9.
 


Forest Passes offer a similar level of flexibility as the World Rally Pass but for individual days of the event. Again they include an official programme and can be purchased in advance from just £25 – a considerable saving on Single Stage tickets which will cost £30 on the gate.

Tickets for the family-friendly RallyFest at Chirk Castle are available now for £25 with an even greater discount for families. Full ticket information can be found on the WalesRallyGB.com website.

For further updates, follow Wales Rally GB on Twitter @WalesRallyGB or join the conversations on facebook

Seven-year-old Lottie Trenchard from Southampton took delivery of her brand new Kawasaki KX65 at the MX Try-Out centre in Newmarket and got the chance to meet – and ride with – her ultimate biking idol, stunt extraordinaire and fellow Kawasaki rider, Lee ‘Pacman’ Bowers.

Lottie has been riding pushbikes since the age of three without stabilisers and has been riding motorcycles since just before her fifth birthday. Currently part of the Tigers Childrens Motorcycle Display Team in Hampshire, Lottie takes part in up to 15 shows a year – all around the country – which involve riding in formation with the other ‘Tigers’ and jumping over ramps with willing volunteers underneath.

To take the next step with her training, Lottie needed a bigger bike and also to learn gears – and her heart was set on a Kawasaki KX65.

Having raised money to buy her new bike by organising sponsored walks and baking cupcakes, Lottie’s parents topped up her contribution so that Lottie could get her hands on her new bike ahead of the Tigers training season starting at the end of September.

‘I’m so happy that I have my new bike. I love it so much and have already been practicing my stunt skills on it. I can’t believe that Lee Bowers is here too to hand it over to me – he’s my favourite motorcycle rider. I’d like to be a stunt rider when I grow up, or a famous motocross rider or a World Superbike Champion. As long as I’m riding bikes I don’t mind!” said an excitable Lottie.

“When we found out that she’d be meeting Lee and getting her new bike on the same day, Lottie asked me to make her a countdown calendar – she’s been very excited!

“There’s nothing else she shows an interest in like she does motorbikes – she’s been hooked on them from a very young age even though myself and her dad don’t ride. As a mum, you want to make sure your child is safe, which is why the Tigers has been so great as I knew she’d be well looked after. As long as she is happy, then I’m happy.

“It’s had a positive affect on her school life too – her concentration was a problem, but her teachers have told her it’s improved so much that she’s jumping up reading levels – something I put down to the practice sessions every Sunday from 9am to 4pm.” said Lottie’s mum, Annette Trenchard.

Stunt rider, Lee Bowers, said: “It’s been so great meeting Lottie today and it’s fantastic to see young people on two-wheels as they’re the future – hopefully she’ll inspire more girls to get onto two wheels too. I’ve been out on track with her today and watched her ride, she’s got some serious skills already – I better watch out!”

5th edition

Coming soon... Due out November 2015, pre-order to get your copy 1st!

Glossy, A5 in size and at least 52 gorgeous pages...

Organised into an easy to use format, with a selection of Biker Friendly Accommodation, Cafes, Campsites, Clothing, Meeting Places, Parts, Pubs, Touring and more... ideal as a reference tool when planning, touring or travelling and in its easy to use and carry format, ideal to take and keep on any Motorcycle.

A great combination of modern design, organised format and content, along with the booklet being distributed for free (or just the p&p to pay on the website).

So far, it has been a much wanted publication and we believe a much used and kept item for any Biker... In fact, we have every faith that it will continue to be as popular as our website, especially when out on the road.

Glossy, A5 in size and at least 52 gorgeous pages - Pre-order your copy now...

Free - just the p&p to pay for!

The Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati team were unable to lose the curse of bad luck that has beset the team this season. The Winchester based team were unable to capitalise on a promising practice and qualifying sessions as technical gremlins plagued the team throughout the three races.

Hopkins had been quick throughout the weekend but the run of bad luck had continued in qualifying three and all three races of the weekend’s triple header.

Qualifying had begun in a promising manner for ‘Hopper’ with a P3 in Q1 and 2nd in Q2. However a missed gear in the final qualifying session on a flying lap, led Hopkins to run on at cascades resulting in a slow speed spill thus only being able to complete the qualifying session.

Race 1 - Hopkins starting from 10th position on the fourth row of the grid immediately made gains on lap 1 as he eased into 7th position. He was to the hold this position until lap 3 when a dust-up with Luke Mossey relegated him to 8th. ‘Hopper’ began to lose ground to those in front but seemed to regroup and close in on the tails of McConnell and Linfoot. However it soon became apparent that Hopkins had a problem as his times dropped and he fell further down the field. On Lap 13 the Californian rider brought his Panigale into the pit lane as he could no longer continue with the grip levels he had available. Hopkins did re-join the race briefly once the tyre had cooled to see if any grip had retuned but pulled into the garage shortly afterwards after the rear tyre continued to spin up.

Race 2 - Again Hopkins started from the 4th row but after two laps had dropped back to 13th position, however on lap 3 a mistake led to him dropping further back to 21st. From there Hopkins had to dig deep to try and claw some places back for the Lloyds British Moto Rapido Panigale. By half distance the American rider had moved into 16th and then over the next couple of laps moved through the field to close in on the top 10 only for technical problems to strike again. A clutch problem gave Hopkins no option but to pull into the pits to end another eventful and ultimately disappointing race for the team.

Race 3 - A decent lap in race 2 set up Hopkins for a row 2 start in the final race of the weekend. A good start meant Hopkins held his position and was immediately challenging Linfoot in front of him but mechanical gremlins struck again. Hopkins found it difficult to select a gear so was forced to bring the bike back to the garage to end a disheartening weekend that had seemed to promise so much.

Steve Moore – Team Manager – Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati

“It’s been a really disappointing weekend, we had the lap pace, and we had the lap times, the fastest the bike and John had ever been around here. There was not much we could do about race 1, but race 2 we had a clutch failure, for race 3 we changed everything, we wouldn’t have done anything different so we will have to investigate the reasons for what happened in race 3. So we just have to move on to Assen where we expect the bike and John to be strong. We have not had some of these technical problems before so hopefully we have now got them out of the way for the final leg of the season.”

James Egan riding the MWR Motorsports Superstock 1000 Ducati never managed to get going during the weekend. Egan was 18th in first qualifying and was unable to improve on that position in second qualifying due to damp track conditions. A race start from the 7th row on the grid was always going to make things difficult for the South African and was not helped by a poor start to the race that left him languishing in 25th place. Egan failed to improve on his position in the race and returned to the garage after lap 7.

Mark Webster – Team Manager Lloyds British MWR Ducati

“Its been a disappointing end to a long weekend, unfortunately James didn’t feel confident in himself to push the bike as much as he needed to and therefore didn’t ride the bike to its full potential. We now look forward to the last races and hope to capitalise on a good result.”