Message from Prescott Bike Festival...

A massive thank you to all our visitors who turned up in their thousands, the sun shone and we had a great day. Hopefully you were able to join us.

The website has been updated with the link to this year's official photographs and the video is being edited right now!

You can still purchase our limited edition Prescott Bike Fest T-Shirt from Oily Rag Clothing but there's only a few left.

Onwards and upwards and we're now looking forward to our very first Shelsley Bike Festival on September 13th; Run the Hill entries are already 50% sold! You can book tickets for that here.

Thank you all for your supporting 'Blood Bikes's'

It’s on again for the second time only; Compass Expeditions biggest ride - the 128-day total circumnavigation of the entire South American continent; known as the South America 360 Expedition. 

"It doesn’t get any bigger than this" says Jerry Cook, co-founder of Compass Expeditions, "last held in 2013 we are running it again after numerous requests from past and future clients" continues Jerry.

Starting and finishing in Santiago, Chile the South America 360 travels south to the southernmost city in the world of Ushuaia before the long trek north up into and beyond the Amazon Basin. Turning west we reach the legendary Colombia before then travelling the spine of the Andes all the way south to Santiago. This is a stand-alone tour when it comes to truly exploring the entire continent; the diversity of cultures, landscapes and antiquities is unparalleled in the touring world.

Compass Expeditions is one of only a handful of motorcycle tour operators from around the world, and Australia's only, that offer these major expeditions. Aside from the epic South America 360 expedition Compass Expeditions also operates the legendary London to Magadan: Road of Bones expedition; over 105 days in length and the subject of the Beyond Siberia 2 x 1 hour documentary that was recently launched at Cannes. The newest expedition (which has sold out) is the 80 day Cairo to Cape town Expedition this coming September, " all these expeditions are operated solely by us using our own support vehicles and staff" says Jerry.

For more information on the South America 360 expedition click the link 

To contact Compass Expeditions email [email protected] phone (outside Australia) +61 3 9747 2379 (within Australia) 1300 887 327 

Happy Birthday John!

Born 16th April 1972 in Morecambe, John McGuinness, the 21-times TT race winner...

The motorcycle industry contributes billions of pounds to the UK economy each year, according to a report published today. The Economic Benefits of the UK Motorcycle Industry 2014 calculates that:

· £5.3billion is generated through net annual sales, with an added value of £2billion

· The industry directly employs 58,500 people in 5,700 businesses, plus an additional 16,400 jobs through motorcycle businesses purchasing goods and services from other UK sectors

· Pays over a £billion in tax

· Exports equal around £450 million each year, up 12% in real terms since 2008

· Tourism associated with motorcycling is estimated to support an additional 13,200 jobs

The report breaks down the industry by five sectors, which include:

· Manufacturing

· Distribution and retail

· Repair, servicing and maintenance

· Sports and leisure

· Support services, which include finance and insurance

It shows that the £2billion ‘added value’ generated by the motorcycle industry is more than the following industries:

· Retailers of automotive fuels, lubricants and cooling products (£1.2billion)

· Call centres (£1.4billion)

· Performing arts (£1.5billion)

· PR and communications activities (£1.3billion)

The number of jobs supported by the industry is more than:

· Taxi driving (36,000)

· Manufactures of pharmaceuticals (50,000)

· Agriculture, forestry and fishing activities (46.000)

· Manufacture of textiles (47,000)

Social benefits:

· Saves the NHS several million pounds a year through voluntary ‘blood biker’ services, couriering life saving products

· Used by emergency services to cut through traffic

· Addresses transport poverty through Wheels to Work schemes

About the report

The report was commissioned by the Motorcycle Industry Association as an update to a similar one published in 2010. It was produced by ICF Consulting Services Ltd and brings together some key data on the economic contribution made by the industry and identifies long term trends such as increased motorcycle use. It also assesses the impact of tourism expenditure and estimates the number of jobs supported as a result (see section 5) 

The market

The report states that the motorcycle industry has ‘demonstrated resilience’, despite difficult economic conditions. Motorcycle retail and distribution was hit in line with other retail sectors during the economic downturn. Sales declined during this period, exports actually increased slightly.

After a period of bottoming out, new registrations have begun to climb. In 2014 they were up around 10%, with similar rates of growth in the first quarter of 2015.

UK Manufacturing

The report shows around 3000 people in the UK are employed in the manufacture of high quality motorcycles, components, clothing, accessories and fuel. Triumph plays a major part in contributing to these figures, but the report also highlights the contribution of a number of smaller high value high performance manufacturers including Norton, CCM and Métisse. There are also UK businesses involved in the development and manufacture of electrical and other low carbon motorcycles. These include Agility Global, which makes a high performance electric sports bike and Intelligent Energy, which is working with Suzuki to develop the first commercial fuel cell vehicle.

CEO Steve Kenward says this document should be read by all those making policy decisions about transport: “There are now nearly twice as many motorcycles licensed (and license exempt) for the road than there were 20 years ago and the general trajectory for motorcycle use is upwards. Around a third of all new registrations are for smaller motorcycles, likely to be used for commuting, and we see this as an increasing trend with motorcycles helping to tackle congestion as part of a low carbon future.

The report is available online

As SMART motorways reach their first birthday in the UK on Tuesday (14 April), the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has expressed concern that widespread confusion still exists amongst motorway users on how best to use them.

SMART motorways were officially introduced this time last year to replace Managed Motorways as the solution to the nation’s congested motorways but concerns have been raised over their safety.

England’s first ‘all-lane running’ motorway, i.e. without a hard shoulder, opened on 14 April 2014. This was the 2.5 km stretch of the M25 between junctions 23 and 25.
Complete schemes, with variable speed limits and all-lane running, are in operation on the M1 (Junctions 10-13), M4 (Junctions 19-20), M5 (Junctions 15-17), M6 (Junctions 4-10a), M42 (Junctions 3a-7) and M62 (Junctions 26-29/30) and with part -time hard shoulder running on the M42 since 2006.

In addition all systems use lane control, overhead gantries and emergency refuge areas.

Part of the concern raised by motorists was the safety of those who had broken down on a motorway with no hard shoulder, and the increase in distances between safety refuges.

The IAM conducted a survey on the introduction of SMART motorways last year, which found 71 per cent of drivers said they would feel less safe on a motorway with no hard shoulder than a motorway with one.

Some 40 per cent of respondents said they were sceptical that new monitoring systems on SMART motorways, such as traffic detectors and CCTV, would protect them in the event of stopping in a running lane.

Sarah Sillars, IAM chief executive officer, said “There are many different motorway users out there and some are still confused and nervous about using SMART motorways – if they are aware of them at all.

She added: “Highways England must analyse incident data on a continuous basis and ensure that any lessons learned from the real world use of SMART motorways are implemented quickly. Ultimately, the smartest way to build awareness would be to allow learner drivers to use motorways under expert supervision.”

Transport Focus, which represents road users on the strategic road network (consisting of most motorways and significant trunk A roads) said in their report Road User Needs and Experiences, issued last month: “While some drivers were aware of smart motorways, some were not. Even those who have driven on smart motorways were not always familiar with the term, nor did they understand clearly how they operated.”

The IAM has produced a set of tips on using SMART motorways, and how to react on seeing different signals:

- A red cross without flashing beacons: The hard shoulder is only for use in an emergency or breakdown.
- A speed limit inside a red circle: It is absolutely mandatory and may have cameras enforcing it.
- A blank signal: Usual motorway rules apply.
- A white arrow with flashing beacons: This applies to all lanes and means you should move into the lane which the arrow points to.
- A red cross with flashing beacons: You should not continue to use the lane.
- A national speed limit sign is shown: The national speed limit, 70mph maximum, applies to all lanes apart from the hard shoulder.

Pay attention to the overhead gantries as they provide information on traffic conditions and lane access for the road ahead. The signals are:

- Controlled motorway – these have three or more lanes with variable speed limits. Hard shoulder use is strictly for emergency use only.
- Hard shoulder running – the hard shoulder will be opened at busy times and the speed limit will be reduced. Don’t use the hard shoulder unless overhead signs show that you can do so.
- All-lane running – there is no hard shoulder on these sections of the motorway. Obey the variable speed limits and do not stop on the motorway. In the event of an emergency, use an emergency refuge area, motorway service area or exit at the next junction.

You can see the IAM’s policy document on SMART motorways here