THE BEAST UNLEASHED AT GOODWOOD!

Ear-splitting prototype’s first ever public ridden appearance comes at the UK’s Festival of Speed. On the handle bar of the ultra strong naked bike: Jeremy McWilliams.  

KTM’s 1290 Super Duke R prototype will be in action for the first time in public at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed in England, from 12th - 14th July. In November 2012 at the Milan motorcycle show (EICMA), KTM’s technicians and designers demonstrated their ability and ideas through two open megaphones to present the prototype of the 1290 Super Duke R. Its appearance needs no explanation. Unfiltered, the 1290 Super Duke R shouts the essence of KTM´s philosophy into the world: Ready to Race!

In the promotional video shot to accompany its unveiling at EICMA, the machine dubbed ‘The Beast’ escaped from a secure facility in a cloud of powerslides and effortless wheelies. Soon after, the KTM YouTube channel received more than 700.000 views of this video.

Like any good concept machine, the creators were not about complying with regulations. This was about showing what happens when the best technicians, designers and riders are unleashed at the KTM Factory in Mattighofen. The developers started with another hefty rebore of the RC8 R engine in order to give it maximum punch. Around this two-cylinder elemental force, they fitted a tight suit tailored from light steel pipes, completing the frame with a single-sided swing arm and top level prototype development suspension components from WP Suspension. The chassis is completed with lightweight wheels, racing brakes and racing tyres. With the test rider in the video is still in his recovery period, having had to recalibrate his brain to riding levels never previously thought possible, former MotoGP rider Jeremy McWilliams will attempt to steer this powerful machine around the nine turns that make up the 1.16 mile Hillclimb course. Nirvana for petrolheads, the Goodwood Festival of Speed is the largest motoring garden party in the world – a unique summer weekend that brings together an impossibly heady mix of cars, motorbikes, stars and motor sport ‘royalty’ to create the largest motor culture event in the world. Held in the immaculate grounds of Goodwood House, this annual Hillclimb event is a true celebration of motor sport and all things automotive. The 2013 Festival of Speed will focus on highlights from the Festival’s glittering 20-year history, featuring the biggest, best, fastest, loudest and most outrageous vehicles of all time. KTM won’t be out of place.

KTM will also be in attendance on four wheels with another UK first, as the recently unveiled X-Bow GT will be trying to beat the official Hill Climb car record of 41.6s.

Jeremy McWilliams said: “It’s always an honour to ride at Goodwood, but to be honest this will be the most insane bike I’ve ever ridden and yes - more than a certain MotoGP bike. Hopefully I can keep ‘The Beast’ on a leash and put on a good show for the fans at Goodwood. It is going to be memorable!”

 SPECIFICATIONS: KTM 1290 Super Duke R Prototype

• Engine: liquid cooled V-twin, based on RC8 R Superbike with Ride-by-Wire
• Displacement: more than ever
• Power and torque: very, very much
• Electronic assistants: ABS and traction control – stoppie and wheelie protection disengageable (of course)
• Top speed: depends on the rider’s courage and figure
• Frame: Trellis frame made of chrome molybdenum steel
• Swing arm: single sided aluminium swing arm
• Suspension components: WP prototypes – upside-down forks with gas pressure reservoir, directly linked rear shock
• Wheels and tyres: aluminium wheels with slicks
• Brakes: front and rear Brembo racing calipers
• Weight: incredibly low

One of the world’s largest gathering of BMW’s will descend on the Heritage Motor Centre when it hosts the BMW Festival, a two day event on Saturday 17 & Sunday 18 August.

The event on the Saturday is for BMW Club Members only whereas the event on the Sunday is open to everyone. Around 3,000 BMW’s including M Power, Alpina, ZED, as well as modern, classic and modified models plus MINI’s will take part in this popular annual Festival, the highlight of the BMW events calendar.

In addition there will be a trade village featuring numerous trade stands. The Club stand will feature the ‘Club Shop’, along with a huge BMW Tombola with a prize for everyone, all donated by BMW UK. Other exciting elements of the Festival include the National Concours final, a ‘Show & Shine’ competition, a ‘Cars for Sale’ section and large displays from the Club’s. There will also be a ‘Members’ dinner on the Saturday night when the awards for the Concours and Driving Challenges will be presented. Camping is also available on the Saturday night.

Tom Caren, Show Manager for the Heritage Motor Centre stated “The BMW Festival is a fantastic day out and not just for BMW enthusiasts! You can see BMW displays stretching as far as the eye can see and entry to the Museum is also included in the ticket price. If you go to one car show this summer then make sure it’s the BMW Festival!”

Tickets on the day cost £15 for adults, £8 for children (under 5’s are free), £13 for concessions and £42 for a family. Discounted tickets are available in advance from the BMW Car Club Office on 01225 709009 or www.bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

 www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk

FOUR DAYS OF ADVENTURE, FUN AND LOVE FOR THE MOST FAMOUS TWO-WHEELED VEHICLE IN THE WORLD. THE 2014 EDITION OF VESPA WORLD DAYS IS PLANNED, WHICH WILL BE HELD AT MANTUA

Hasselt (Belgium), 25 June 2013 – The most important Vespa concentration in the world, held in the green village of Hasselt in Belgium from 20 to 23 June, was a record breaking success with the public and registered participants: three thousand Vespa riders participated; 2,300 Vespas were registered; 173 Vespa Clubs participated from 21 nations. The most represented country was naturally Belgium with 722 registered participants, followed by Germany with 408. As always, Italy was also a key player with 318 registered participants. The Bel Paese was also the star of the activities scheduled in the rich programme this year: the Sirmione Vespa Club won the tourist competition Vespa Trophy, while the Rovereto Vespa Club took the wreath in the gimkana race.

The perfect execution of the event is a direct result not only of the strong spirit of brotherhood that has always bound Vespa riders of all ages and all nationalities, but also by the punctual organisation of the host country Vespa Club. The Vespa riders from all over the world enjoyed the hospitality of the Hasselt residents, enthusiastic to welcome such a large, cheerful and peaceful group like the Vespa lovers.

The unforgettable Vespa outings, including the one to the legendary Zolder circuit, had Vespas from all generations in the parade: numerous Vespa GTS 125 Supers participated which is, in Belgium, the best selling two-wheeled vehicle, various 1959 Vespa GS 150s and some Vespa 150 Sidecars dating back to 1955. For the 2013 Concorso d’Eleganza precious models and unique units at the show paraded, as well as some of the earliest Vespas produced, preserved or majestically restored, or the rare Vespa 400, the four-wheeled vehicle built entirely by Piaggio of which only 90 are in existence in Italy.

Just how ingenious Vespa is was demonstrated once again: for a long time it has managed to transcend the common use of an urban commuter, becoming a true cult phenomena, loved and even revered. It is a transversal vehicle, able to excite different generations, at any latitude, in any place on the planet. One specific piece of information represents Vespas ability to reach the heart and ignite the passion of an extremely broad audience: the 74 years that separated the youngest registered participant in Vespa World Days 2013 (born in 2003) and the most senior (born in 1929).

The 'Made in Italy' ambassador to the world, manufactured without interruption from 1946 to the present for a total of more than eighteen million units, succeeded on the occasion of Vespa World Days 2013 in moving spirit and body of enthusiasts hailing not only from opposite corners of Europe, but also from Russia, Macedonia and Malta. In order not to miss out on the event, many travelled over thousands of kilometres of roads astride their classic Vespas, like the Vespa rider who came from St. Petersburg, seventeen hundred kilometres from Hasselt, over two days of travel.

Vespa as a means of daily transportation, Vespa as a philosophy of life, Vespa as a representative of Italian genius in the world; Vespa recognised and loved by all; Vespa as a tireless traveller; Vespa exciting with its timeless lines, Vespa that mobilises different generations, Vespa that strikes directly in the heart. Vespa that unites thousands of enthusiasts, joined by a single love for her.

The long wave of success of the seventh Vespa World Days edition has not stopped and the appointment for 2014 has already been set. The most important Vespa concentration returns to Italy, in splendid Mantua.

www.vespa.com

Recreating the first around the world ride 100 years on  

In northern California, we tilted east through the foothills of the Sierras, with Mount Shasta in the distance covered in snow even in June. Which is where it all started to go horribly wrong for Clancy and Allen.   With the mountains looming, they stopped at the express office in Redding and shipped their 50lb panniers on to Portland, then bought cheap blankets in the General Merchandise store for camping. That sorted, they tanked up with more ice cream, fuel and oil, and set off late in the afternoon for the dreaded road that lay ahead. They didn’t have long to wait: within a few miles out of Redding, they were climbing an endless succession of rocky grades with hairpin bends, then sliding down the other side to be greeted by small but lethal lakes full of boulders.  

Often the road got so steep that they had to dismount and run beside the machines, and as they were sliding down one hair-raising slope with their back wheels locked, they came upon a young couple in a Cadillac stuck fast on a tree stump.  

They got it free, but the hill was so steep the fuel couldn’t make it up to the carburettor, but not to beaten, the resourceful Bob blew into the top of the fuel tank, his face slowly turning the colour of a beetroot, while the driver cranked the starter handle until the engine spluttered then fired into life and settled down into a steady rhythm. The grateful couple gave the riders six eggs, a small can of baked beans, an even smaller can of condensed cream, a little bread, sugar and coffee, and a pail to cook it in, and since by now it was growing dark and they were still in the heart of the mountains, they found a grassy spot near a crystal stream, and while Clancy cooked up a feast in the pail, Bob made a bed of weeds and leaves between the Hendersons, they wrapped themselves in their blankets and, with strange sounds from the woods all around and lightning crackling overhead, finally fell asleep just before the grey light of dawn woke them again.

At 5am, tired and hungry, they fired up the Hendersons and set off on roads which, impossibly, were even worse than the day before. A ferry carried them across the raging Pitt River, and halfway up the next mountain, Clancy’s Henderson ground to a halt with a dry and slipping clutch. He greased it with oil from his tank, but the clutch was so worn and the track so steep that he could only push the Henderson up it in the fierce sun, stopping when he was so exhausted he couldn’t hold the bike upright and resting until he could try again.  

It took him 20 attempts and two exhausting hours to get up that one hill, and there were a dozen more beyond. “If ever a man was bitter against motorcycling, it was I and then,” he wept, but when he had the strength to lift his head, realised for the first time the extraordinary beauty around them. Compared to that, we had it easy as we swooped along silky tarmac through a landscape of pine-clad mountains and rushing rivers and across the state border into the alpine glories of Oregon, filled yet again with respect and admiration for Clancy and Allen getting through this landscape on what were basically mule trails.

Shortly after passing a prairie schooner with a prospector, his wife, small son and dog aboard, they encountered the worst section yet: the 12 miles of Cow Creek Canyon which Clancy described grimly as like an endless frozen pig pen as steep as a roof and littered with logs, rocks and ruts. Arriving in Roseburg as darkness fell, they collapsed into the first inn they could find, and emerged to find that someone had stolen Clancy’s gloves. The next day, the road was so bad, and the scenery so glorious, that as Clancy put it perfectly, a poet would have been in heaven, and a motorcyclist in hell. When they finally rolled into Portland at 11.30 at night, their misery was compounded by the sight of the crowds going home from the last night of the annual Rose Festival, which they had been looking forward to all the way from San Francisco.  

Cow Creek Canyon, Clancy’s endless frozen pig pen, which we rode with local bike journalist Bart Madson, was now a perfect motorcycling road, twisting and turning under the dappled trees, over the railroad tracks and past a river sparkling in the sun. Greeted by the paved streets, electric lights and tuxedo-clad waiters of Wallace, Idaho, Clancy and Allen decided that the Wild West only existed any more in movies, only to have their certainty overturned the very next night when they arrived in Missoula, Montana, to find a posse in hot pursuit for a gang of desperadoes who had shot at their landlady, stolen the sheriff’s six-shooter and terrorised the town before heading for the hills. Wincing at the outrageous bill the next morning, they rode off into a thunderstorm so bad that by dark they had only covered 20 miles and were forced to spend the night in the shack of prospector Isam Cox, who rustled up a feast of bacon, beans and coffee for the exhausted but grateful duo.

In Wallace, we found the electric lights were still working and the streets still paved, but the brothel had closed in 1988 and was now in a museum. The girls had left in such a hurry that they’d left their clothes behind, and by the looks of it they didn’t have much to wear but a few skimpy under things, poor dears. "Greg, want to phone the hotel tonight and confirm our reservation?” said Richard as we put on our helmets. “No need. Dr G’s from the Crow tribe, and they’ve already got a reservation,” I said.   Laugh? I thought they’d never start.

Follow the blogs

In the centenary year of the production of William Morris, Lord Nuffield’s first motor car, the Heritage Motor Centre has teamed up with the National Trust to help preserve another car that played a part in his life story

A modest Wolseley Eight dating from 1946 that his wife, Lady Nuffield, used as her every-day transport is about to receive attention in the Museum’s vehicle workshop.  The Wolseley normally resides in a small garage beside Nuffield Place, Lord and Lady Nuffield’s home near Henley-on-Thames.  Nuffield Place was taken on by the National Trust in 2012.

Laura Gangadeen, House Manager at Nuffield Place said “We wanted to get Lady Nuffield’s Wolseley back in running order to help us promote the work that we are doing at the house, the home of William Morris and his wife for almost 30 years. We are delighted that the team at the HMC are able to help us out with the project.”

Stephen Laing, Curator at the Heritage Motor Centre added “We are pleased to be able to assist the National Trust with the refurbishment of Lady Nuffield’s car. The extensive Morris collection here at the HMC very much complements Nuffield Place.  In particular, in the Museum we have William Morris’ own Wolseley Eight, almost identical to his wife’s car, which he used to travel back and forward to work at Cowley.”

The car has now arrived at the Heritage Motor Centre and work will soon start to check it over and give it a mechanical overhaul.  The Centre is giving its time on the project free-of-charge and will also advise on the future upkeep of the Wolseley.  Once the work is completed, the car will return to its home as a regular feature at Nuffield Place.

Nuffield Place home to William Morris, Lord Nuffield is open Wednesday to Sunday from 11:00 – 16:00.

To find out more information please visit

www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk