Castrol Honda riders Jonathan Rea and Hiroshi Aoyama took some time off during their test at the Losail circuit in Qatar last week to visit the local Honda distributor and assist in launch of the 2012 version of the CBR1000RR Fireblade.

It’s the 20th anniversary model of this iconic sports bike which will act as the base for the machine on which the Castrol Honda duo will contest next season’s World Superbike championship.
 
The riders were joined by fellow racer Glen Richards, who had competed in the 8 Hours of Doha World Endurance race with the Honda TT Legends team the previous weekend. All three riders answered questions from local fans and media, signed autographs and posed for photographs.

Jonathan Rea said: “The guys tell me that the local market is growing for Honda and, having met some fans here and listened to their knowledge and passion, I can see why!”

At Right To Ride we welcome the inclusion of motorcycles in the new Bus Lanes introduced in Belfast.
 
They will be on the Shore Road, York Road, York Street, and Victoria Street.
 
The lanes will be available to buses, motorcycles, bicycles and Belfast public hire taxis and will be in use from Monday 2st1 November 2011.
 
Drivers urged to take care
 
The bus lanes are clearly marked with white lines and the associated signs.
 
Drivers should take extra care when travelling on these roads until they are familiar with the new lanes.
 
On the Shore Road, York Road and York Street the bus lanes will give priority to buses between Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle to Mount Vernon Road and North Derby Street to Midland Terrace inbound between 7.30 am to 9.30 am, Monday to Friday.
 
Travelling out of the city centre, buses will be given priority between Midland Terrace to North Queen Street and Mount Vernon Road to Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle Monday to Friday, 3.30 pm to 6.30 pm.
 
The bus lane on Victoria Street will give priority to buses between Chichester Street and Queen’s Square from 7.00 am to 7.00 pm, Monday to Saturday.
 
This additional four kilometres of bus lanes will bring the total length of bus lanes in the city to 46km.
 
Roads Service would urge drivers to take extra care when travelling on these roads until they are familiar with the new traffic management arrangements.
 
Read this article on Right To Ride – Includes advice from GB on using Bus Lanes.

Calling all Petrolheads!  On Sunday 29th April 2012, from 10am - 6pm, Brighton's famous seafront road, Madeira Drive will again host the UK's finest on four wheels as Ace Cafe London and Fueltopia team up to present the 2nd annual InCarNation Brighton.

Conceived in 2011 following the popularity of the cafe's regular monthly InCarNation Night, held at the Ace on the last Wednesday of every month, with racers, tuners, car clubs and motor fans from across the country enjoying their "wheels" and vying for space, InCarNation Brighton 2012 is a free to attend drive-in and display of vehicles, featuring the best that is performance and modified in the UK.

Focusing on the individuals who drive and their passions, and open to all motor fans and enthusiasts, from classic and street-tuned racers, through to hot exotic supercars, prizes and awards will be up for grabs on the day, to include for "Best Club Car" and "Best Club Display", as well as spot prizes for "Best Motors".

With interactive stands, displays and live entertainment on the Ace stage, if the roar of an Italian V10 engine is music to your ears, or a tyre shredding drifter gets your adrenalin pumping, make sure you secure your space at this event - InCarNation Brighton.

All enquires: Clubs, Individuals, Trade Stands, Contact: [email protected]

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.

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