David Hailwood, son of the late great Mike Hailwood (mikethebike) will be running Mike's original factory Honda 500cc Four at the historic Prescott Hill Climb course as part of Prescott Bike Festival on Sunday 6th April. This is a rare opportunity to see and watch it run.

Amongst the hundreds of historic, classic and race bikes that will also be cranked up and taking to the course include:
•Carlos Checa’s MotoGP Ducati Desmosedici GP5 and Checa’s 2011 WSB winning Ducati 1198 F1 (courtesy of Dawn Treader Performance)
•David Jeffries' Suzuki GSXR1000 TT bike and James Toseland's Honda CBR600
•Frankie Chili’s 1998 Ex WSB Ducati 998RS and Leon Haslam's Ducati 996 RS superbike
•Kenny Roberts Yamaha 500 and Yamaha 250 bikes
•Carl Fogarty’s Ducati 996 TS and Terry Rymer's Original Old Spice Ducati 916 RS BSB bike
•The 1930 Rudge Ulster belonging to David Osborne
•Chris Sawyer's 1928 Cotton Blackburne
•A rare Sachs R800 Roadster from 2002 owned by Barry Fahey
•The 1959 Norton Dominator of Ian Cordes
•Rare Excelsior Manxmans from Dave Lee and Adrian Sellars
•Eric Bostrom’s 2005 AMA factory 999 (same bike as Neil Hodgson rode in 2005)

www.prescottbikefestival.co.uk

It is now confirmed that bike mad T.V. presenter Henry Cole form ITV4’s ‘‘The Motorbike Show’ and Travel Channel’s ‘World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides’ is coming to the BMF May show with long time restorer and friend Peter Thorne to compete in the legendary BMF Moped Mayhem.

Whilst there he will also experience the thrills of the ACU’s 1000cc sidecar racing (he’ll be in the chair!), have a look at the Mike Hailwood Collection in the Classic & Vintage zone and he’ll also be meeting the clubs in attendance and in particular the Trike clubs including the Rewaco Trike Club amongst many other things.

Show organiser Martin Chick said “We’re really pleased Henry can find time out from his incredibly busy schedule to drop in and see the show – there will be a lot of people wanting to say hello and also see him and Pete tackle the Moped Mayhem!”

www.thebmfshow.co.uk

Charity tea-drinking event set to hot up the May Bank Holiday weekend, 2nd - 5th May 2014

Road racing legend and television star, Guy Martin, asks us all to join him once again in enjoying a mug of Britain’s favourite hot drink while raising money for a fantastic cause. Kettles will be boiling in participating venues all over the Bank Holiday weekend of 2nd - 5th May 2014 to help support the groundbreaking work of Spinal Research.

For the past three years, thousands of people have put the kettle on in support of Guy Martin’s Big Brew, raising over £20,000 for Ride Out for Spinal Research. 2014 promises to be bigger than ever, with motorcycle dealerships, cafes, clubs and individual riders all over the country coming together to ‘have a brew’ while doing their bit to raise money and give something back.

The event involves bikers visiting their local motorcycle dealer, club or café and enjoying a cuppa while making a donation to Spinal Research. You can organise a ride out, poker run, bike night, quiz night, or simply sell tea and cakes. Spinal Research will provide you with a fundraising pack and support materials, plus your event will be listed on their map of events across the UK.

In 2013, City School of Motorcycling organised a Big Brew Fun Day, which included a climbing wall, mini motos, skilled balance riding competition, stunt rider display, raffle, barbecue, teas and cakes. Representative Patricia Barrett enthused, “I can honestly say that the Big Brew has been very beneficial to our business, not only did it increase the local community awareness of what we do, it also made the staff feel they were involved in something very worthwhile. We have had great feedback both from ex-students and the local community. Our Big Brew event generated a lot of good feeling, plus it was great fun!”

Four Chances to Win

During The Big Brew Spinal Research ask that you raise as much money as you can for their research and as a reward for your fundraising efforts, one person and a friend who raise the most money will get the chance to meet Guy at a race.

Everyone that takes part in a Big Brew event will be able to enter our free prize draw for another lucky winner and a friend to also meet Guy at a race. Our runner up will win a year’s supply of Mr Porky Pork Scratchings.

After Guy fractured several bones in his back in an accident during the 2010 Isle of Man TT, he realised just how lucky he was to make a full recovery. Guy decided to unite the two great loves in his life, motorbikes and tea, and the Big Brew was born.

Ride Out for Spinal Research Ambassador, Guy said: “The Big Brew has been running for over three years now but there’s still a way to go in the fight against paralysis. A mate of mine is paralysed from the neck down so I can see where the money is going. Get involved with The Big Brew – it isn’t asking much and you could win a competition to meet me at Scarborough and you can also get involved with the sideburns job – it’s all to raise a good few bob to help Spinal Research. Get cracking and grow a pair of sideburns. This year the person with the best sideburns as judged by me wins two tickets to the MotoGP™ British Grand Prix. Get on the website www.spinal-research.org and get involved.”

The Big Brew’s Big Sideburns Competition

You can also grow and show your support in The Big Brew’s Big Sideburns competition. Men and women can get involved by growing or creating your own ‘sidies’. Male Guy Martin fans can raise money by getting sponsored to ‘grow their own’ sideburns, while ladies can join in by designing painted and jewelled versions. The person with the best sidies, as judged by Guy, will win two tickets to the MotoGP™ British Grand Prix.

To enter, upload a photo of your mutton chops to www.guymartinbigbrew.org to be in with a chance of winning.

You can download sponsorship forms from the website above or start your own Virgin Money Giving Page.

Red Torpedo is also supporting Spinal Research. They will be giving 50p from the sale of every rider tee to Spinal Research – get buying and get supporting! 

For your FREE information pack on how to organise your own Big Brew or to find your nearest participating venue, visit www.guymartinbigbrew.org or call Isabel on 01483 898786.

It’s an exciting time for Spinal Research as they stand on the brink of clinical trials that will transform the lives of people living with paralysis, improving sensation, movement and their quality of life. But to do this they need your support.

Information

Guy Martin’s Big Brew, The Big Brew and Grow and Show are the property of Guy Martin and Spinal Research. No copying of these is permitted without the written permission of Spinal Research.

About Spinal Research

Our vision is a world where spinal cord injury doesn’t mean a lifetime of paralysis.

Every day three people in the UK and Ireland are told that they will never walk again; their lives and those of their families are changed forever. Spinal Research is here to give hope to those 50,000 people living with a spinal cord injury. Spinal cord injury can affect anyone in the community regardless of age, race or sex but it does disproportionally affect young adults aged 18 – 24.

At Spinal Research our focus is to find an effective treatment for spinal cord injury that not only improves sensation and movement for people living with paralysis, but brings us closer to a day when we finally conquer it.

www.spinal-research.org

Leading British Superbike Championship rider Peter Hickman has confirmed he will make his TT Mountain Course debut at the 2014 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy.

The 26-year old will campaign a BMW S1000RR in the Dainese Superbike, Royal London 360º Superstock and PokerStars Senior TT Races for the Ice Valley by Motorsave team, owned and run by fellow competitor Paul Shoesmith.

Hickman started racing in 2000 and after cutting his teeth in the British Minimoto and Superteen Championships, has been an ever-present in the British Championship paddock since 2004 when he won the National Superstock Cup for Hawk Kawasaki despite missing the first race because he was too young to ride a 1000cc machine.

A move to the main British Superstock Championship followed, and he finished ninth overall in 2005 with a podium at the final round before making the step up to the British Superbike Championship in 2006 when he rejoined Stuart Hicken’s Hawk Kawasaki squad.

After two seasons in the country’s premier series, Hickman was back in British Superstocks in 2008 where, riding for Ultimate Racing, he took a total of three podiums to claim an excellent third overall behind Steve Brogan and Jon Kirkham. That resulted in a move back to BSB where he sealed second in the 2009 Privateer’s Cup with a staggering 20 podiums from 26 races.

Hickman has remained in BSB ever since, enjoying his best year to date in 2011 with ninth overall, an excellent effort on the Quay Garage/Tyco Honda in a season that saw him narrowly miss out on a place in the 'Showdown'. A podium – second – was claimed at Thruxton along with no less than 16 top ten finishes whilst a number of front row positions were also taken in qualifying.

In 2012 he started out with MSS Bathams Kawasaki but, after taking a brilliant ninth in the second World Superbike race at Donington Park for Crescent Suzuki, he moved to Buildbase BMW for the second half of the season. Last year saw him part of the Lloyd's British GBMoto Honda set-up where more top ten finishes were achieved on his way to a strong eleventh overall.

Born in Burton upon Trent but now living in Louth, Hickman has visited the TT in recent years, studying the course in preparation for his debut. That homework has continued in recent weeks with more visits to the Island and his addition to the entry list adds even more depth and quality to an already excellent line-up.

Road racing is very much in the Hickman genes with father Dave having won the 1977 Lightweight Manx Grand Prix and been a British Championship regular in the late 1970s. He has since become a highly respected mechanic and engineer in the BSB paddock and was also a key member of the Norton Rotary set-up, remaining with the team in its various guises from 1988-1994.

Commenting on his TT debut, Peter Hickman said: "The TT has been on my radar for a while now when the opportunity came up with Paul Shoesmith I jumped at it. I've already met up with the rider liaison officers Milky Quayle and Johnny Barton on the Isle of Man and their advice has been invaluable and I'll be using the next few months to make sure that I get as much preparation in as possible before I make my debut."

A specialist education centre has been set up at the MCI’s headquarters in Coventry, which has been awarded official accredited status, in order to provide a programme of new qualifications for motorcycle instructors and motorcycle training businesses.

The Motorcycle Industry Accreditation Centre was officially approved by the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) last year - to run new vocational courses for both instructors and Approved Training Bodies (ATBs), which will begin in April.

Help for customers

Customers currently have no means of distinguishing good from bad when choosing an instructor or ATB. This is particularly important when choosing where to do Compulsory Basic Training (CBT), as the quality of this initial training experience is far more likely to win converts to motorcycling when delivered well. Also, those who invest time and money into building a superior business have no concrete way to stand out from less scrupulous operators.

Professionalising the industry

Introducing qualifications for instructors and ATBs will allow the motorcycle training industry to professionalise ahead of any compulsory requirements to do so and before the car training industry has managed to do the same. 

These vocational qualifications will be equivalent to level 3 (approximately A level standard) and though they are voluntary, they will demonstrate to customers that the instructor or ATB involved will far exceed any minimum standards.

Vocational Qualifications are work based awards that are achieved through assessment and training, which require the candidates to prove that they have the ability to carry out their job to a required standard.

Welcomed by the wider industry

MCI members also agree that more structure within the training industry will allow them to choose training partners more easily and to develop fleet programmes with corporate clients who need greater quality assurances than are currently available.

The individual instructor training qualification will start in January 2015, but the first ATB course will begin in a few weeks’ time in April of this year. 20 ATBs will be given the chance to be the first in the UK to take a qualification specifically tailored to them. This can be taken by owners, directors, managers or whoever has responsibility for the day to day running, as it concentrates on the business of running an ATB. Those seeking instructor accreditation next year will need to be part of an ATB which has gained MCIAC ATB accreditation.

Steve Kenward, CEO of the Motorcycle Industry Association explained: “Driver and motorcycle training has been left behind other training sectors in introducing a framework of recognised qualifications. This move should help to change that. Motorcycles should be a natural choice as a means of personal transport and for fleet operators too, but both need clearer signposts when choosing quality instructors. We are particularly proud to be able to launch this ahead of anything similar in the car driver training industry and before any compulsory requirements to do so by government bodies.”

Karen Cole, Director of Safety and Training at the MCI, who has been instrumental in leading the bid to get accredited status for the MCI added: “Many working in the motorcycle training industry agree that the industry has suffered from a lack of recognition and professional status for too long and that needs to change. Accreditation fits into a long term strategy to deliver a ‘route to safer motorcycling’ model, which is a shared aim for MCI members and the Motorcycle Industry Association Trainers Association (MCITA). We are sure that if we can improve rider safety and raise the professionalism and credibility of the industry overall, we can expect much more support from government, manufacturers and other key stakeholders.”

Cost

The ATB course will normally be £1575, although there is an introductory offer for an initial 20 ATBs, which can be paid for in instalments. The intro offer is only for MCITA members who take a place on either the April or June course. ATBs interested in finding out more should contact the Course Administrator Lynne Whitehouse on 02476 408036 [email protected]

Instructor training will take place from January 2015 and anyone wishing to take part will need to be affiliated to an MCIAC accredited ATB.

www.mcia.co.uk