UK motorcyclists will need to display a front number plate, under new laws passed by the British Government.

Motorcyclists will need to apply to the DVLA by 31st April 2015 and purchase an envelope-sized sticker (at a cost of £29.99) – which they will need to attach to the front of their helmets.

The UK’s top traffic cop, Ian Dumbass, said "Bikers have been getting away with speeding offences for far too long", claiming that 69% of bikers caught speeding by traffic control and speed cameras escaped a fine because of the lack of front number plates.

Will you buy a sticker or run the risk of a £1,000 fine?

Update after noon on 1st April...

A few caught off guard (and a lot not)...  We try and make it very obvious it is a joke with PMS, Dumbass, 31st April and posted on 1st April...  Have a great April everyone.

Our vip'er @ the Manchester Bike Show 2015, Mikey Gregg (far right) and friends

Competition winner, Alex Lally and Daughter Tilly 

Competition winner, Mark Davies

MELANDRI RIDES HIS RS-GP ACROSS THE WIRE TO FINISH ITS FIRST RACE

Losail (Qatar), 29 March 2015 - The first race for the RS-GP was long-awaited by the entire Aprilia Racing Team Gresini as an essential test to assess how far development has come on the young project in an actual competition.

But contact with Marc Marquez in turn 6 of the first lap put Alvaro Bautista - the rider who had shown the most encouraging progress throughout the weekend - out of the game, damaging the front left brake lines and the sensors.

Marco Melandri rode his Aprilia across the wire, accumulating laps, information and sensations that will be important for the RS-GP growth process.


ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Manager)
"It's a shame about what happened to Alvaro because of everything this weekend, this was the most long-awaited test. The most important. It would have been truly essential to see where Alvaro would have placed in comparison to that big pack he was fighting in through the first turns of the race, but unfortunately the move Marquez made damaged the bike too badly for it to continue. This was our spirit taking on the first race because it was a test, and this is how it will be in this initial phase of the season, both for the bike and the entire team. Now we need to analyse all the data Marco collected, since he rode his RS-GP all the way to the finish."

FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
"What happened in the first race was an important experience for Alvaro and for the entire team, especially in order to bring home all that information that only a race can provide. It's a good sign that Marco finished his race. Of course that isn't enough and we have a lot of work to do in order to improve, but it is a first signal to start from."

ALVARO BAUTISTA
"Unfortunately the race test that we had planned ended straight away: Marquez got off to a bad start and he wanted to make up positions quickly, but without considering the fact that there were other riders on the track. In turn 6 he squeezed between Barbera and me, I have no idea how, hitting me and ruining the front brake area, lines and sensors. It was impossible to continue. I'm sorry because Marc is a good guy, but he has been too aggressive in the past in these types of situations. I think it is only right to point it out to him because it's risky. Today I was lucky because I didn't crash, but it doesn't take much to get hurt out there. So, like I said, we weren't able to complete our test today but we must not forget this episode and we need to be thinking about the next round in Austin already. It is a very different track than this one where we'll have the opportunity to check all the data gathered this weekend to develop the bike and look for ways to improve."

MARCO MELANDRI
"It wasn't the fastest race of my life, but on a new bike in a new category it's what we expected. On the other hand, we finished the race, our first true long run, and we gathered a lot of data that will be essential to our development process. We need time. When the bike starts working well my riding style will also improve and we'll be able to take a decisive step. Now it's up to the guys at Aprilia to interpret my sensations and translate them into changes to the RS-GP. We have some more complicated races ahead of us, since I am unfamiliar with the Austin and Argentina tracks, but they will give us more pointers to work on."

Some of the greatest names in The Isle of Man TT Races history will feature in a new exhibition, organised by Manx National Heritage, at the House of Manannan in Peel in the West of the Isle of Man.

The exhibition, entitled 'Ulster's TT Heroes', acknowledges and celebrates the TT race wins of Northern Ireland's best riders throughout the event's illustrious history.

Central to the exhibition is a retrospective look at the contribution of the Dunlop family; from 'Joey', who recorded 26 TT race victories in a 25 year career of racing on the Mountain Course, and his brother Robert, himself a five time race winner, in the '70s, '80s and '90s, through to the modern legend Michael, who now has 11 TT Race wins.

Two of Joey's bikes and his iconic 1988 yellow Arai helmet will be on display together with memorabilia highlighting the successful careers of the other Dunlop family members.

Other riders featured include 1980s luminaries Norman Brown and Brian Reid; Brown famously finished on the podium in every race he completed on the Isle of Man including race wins in the '81 MGP Newcomers race and the Senior TT in 1982, his debut TT year. Reid's notable TT career included five race victories spanning the '80s and '90s.

Recent riders whose careers also feature include Adrian Archibald and Ryan Farquhar.

Phillip McCallen's historic four wins in a week in 1996 are covered in the exhibition, with McCallen's total of 11 TT race wins placing him fifth on the all-time list of TT race winners alongside Michael Dunlop, but it is his distressed leathers from the following year's TT, when he crashed at Quarry Bends in the Lightweight TT race, that are expected to generate particular interest.

The exhibition includes narrative and display boards from Northern Ireland's Ballymoney Museum which have been complemented by memorabilia provided by riders, teams, manufactures and motorcycling brands associated with the event.

Manx National Heritage has also utilised items from its own archive including personal telegrams and letters from the papers of David Wood, Joey's manager for many years, which are expected to provide further insight into the TT career and history of Northern Ireland's greatest rider.

The free to enter exhibition will run from Saturday 28th March to Sunday 6th September 2015, coinciding with this year's TT Races, Southern 100 and Festival of Motorcycling. It will be open every day between 10am and 5pm.

Suzanne Walker, the curator of the exhibition and site manager of the House of Manannan commented:

"Some of the Northern Ireland's best riders are inextricably linked to some of the greatest TT races and indeed the event's history and we wanted to celebrate and acknowledge the country's contribution through the achievements of individual riders."

She continued:

"It has been great working with Ballymoney Museum to bring this popular exhibition over to the Island. The exhibition has been timed to run during the Isle of Man's road racing season so that the visiting race fans, as well as residents are able to see it. I hope that some of the TT riders past and present will also get the chance to experience it."

Joey Dunlop riding the SP1 Honda to victory in the F1 TT Race in 2000 on the Isle of Man