THE BIKER GUIDE

The annual National Road Rally, organised by the Auto Cycle Union (ACU) was first run in 1933 (there have been gaps!) but is still the longest running and largest motor sport event run on the public highway in the UK, attracting well over 500 entries every year.

The event, a Navigational Scatter allows bikers to devise their own routes from a supplied Matrix listing of over 50 Controls located in England.

In 2012 the National Road Rally takes place over the weekend of Saturday 30th June – Sunday 1st July and bikers can choose to cover any distance from 200 to 540 miles in the allocated 20 hours. Bikers start at one of the five Major Control points from 2pm on Saturday and visit as many of the Controls within the 540-mile maximum as they can to finish by 10am on Sunday. 

There are a range of prizes to be won for the bikers who get to the most Controls and therefore clock up the most miles, all finishers achieving their target receive an attractive plaque. This years Major Controls are located at: Frome, Leeds, London, Whitchurch and Wisbech.

The Rally is organised and managed by a team of volunteers who make up the ACU Rally Committee and in conjunction with the British Motorcycle Federation (BMF) help raise money for the learning disability charity Mencap.

www.nationalroadrally.co.uk

In the 29th February edition of Motorcycle News (MCN), Senior Reporter Steve Farrell led an article entitled “EU targets choppers” with a sub heading of, “Latest EU plans would ban long forks”.
 
Farrell starts the article with, “Choppers could be consigned to history by the latest proposals from Brussels to prevent us modifying our bikes.” The Motorcycle Action Group are reported as saying, “It could make building choppers impossible and accuses the EC of basing proposals on ignorance.
 
Nich Brown, MAG’s General Secretary is quoted as saying, “The intention to restrict modifications to forks had been expressed in a meeting between representatives of the EC,
 
DfT and motorcycle lobby groups. This is a simple case of an official on the EC who doesn’t understand motorcycles but doesn’t like the look of extended forks believing he needs to regulate it.”
 
Moving forward a week, that motorcycle soothsayer Kevin Ash, heads his column in Motorcycle News with “Why we need to stop EU banning choppers” and “explains” all the reasons why choppers should not be banned by the EU and concludes that this will be a, “huge blow against individuality and freedom of expression.”
 
Moving swiftly on to the glossy monthly “custom” magazines, Back Street Heroes (BSH) and 100% Biker. Their respective editors Stu Garland and Nik Samson write in their columns about the doom that custom bikes will face due to the EU proposals, and sound the death knell of custom bikes and long forks.
 
The BSH column has snippets such as, “Striking directly at the heart of all that we hold dear is a targeted attempt to prevent builders from fitting “long-forks”……” and “They have gone as far as proposing the successful completion of slalom and U-turn tests before a bike can be registered, which, they figure, should effectively ban long-forked chops without having to put any technical definition in black and white.”
 
The BSH column continues with all the other interpreted reasons why the EU proposals mean that riders are staring the enemy in the face.
 
100% Bikers Editor Nik Samson writes that, “The European Commission is starting to get down to business... And the first proposal of the day is this: they’ve decided that part of the new regulations, which will affect all bikes registered for the road in the future, should be re-written to prevent folk from using “long forks”. Yep, you read that right, and no, we’re not having you on.”
 
Samson continues, “the Commission now wants any bike being put through MSVA (Motorcycle Single Vehicle Approval) to complete tight slalom and U-turn manoeuvres to prevent modifications to the length of the forks.” He continues with all the reasons that choppers are not dangerous adding, “an age-old way of life that brings employment and pleasure to a huge group of people will have been scoured from the planet.”
 
Both BSH and 100% Biker editors recommend that the only realistic hope of seeing off such dire threats or you care about custom bikes, custom bike building or the custom bike lifestyle is to join the Motorcycle Action Group. 100% Biker’s Nik Samson writes, “to support the fight that they are putting up against this sort of “bullshit”.
 
And “bullshit” is a very apt word to use for the reporting by these magazines.
 
Why do we say that?
 
Surely there must be some basis in truth, or otherwise these “respected” magazines and their reporters and editors would not have put ink to paper.
 
Read the full article on Right To Ride EU and why we say – Choppers are here to stay.

IAM’s head of riding standards, Peter Rodger, is advising on riding with pillions.

• Before carrying a pillion, adjust your tyre pressure and suspension.
• Make sure that your passenger has a suitable helmet and clothing.
• Arrange a signal so that they can tell you if they’re uncomfortable.
• If they haven’t ridden on the back of a motorcycle before, it is a good idea to give them advice of what they could expect and what you expect from them.
• Carrying a pillion will affect your acceleration, balance and braking. Allow extra time in judging gaps and overtaking.
• The extra weight on the bike will affect the speed and way it manoeuvres.   Rodger said: “Riding with a passenger takes getting used to. Take precautions and remember your passenger is your responsibility.”

www.iam.org.uk

The fastest Diesel vehicle in the world, JCB Diesel Max, can now be seen as part of the “Motoring Record Breakers” exhibition at the Heritage Motor Centre.

The exciting new exhibition, which runs until the 2 September, presents the best of motoring record breakers including some of the fastest British cars, together with more wacky record breakers such as the cheapest and the smallest.

JCB Diesel Max is a 'streamliner' car designed for the purpose of breaking the land speed record for a diesel-engined vehicle.  It holds the world record, having been driven to over 350 miles per hour (560 km/h) by Wing Commander Andy Green in 2006.

Other exciting cars on display include the Sunbeam 1000hp (the first car ever to set a land speed record of over 200mph), the steam car 'Inspiration' (which holds the land speed record for a steam car), the 2009 Jaguar XF-R Bonneville (the fastest Jaguar at 225mph), a 1964 Peel P50 (the world’s smallest production car), a 2011 Tata Nano (the world’s cheapest car), a 1922 Ford Model T (for many years the world’s best-selling car) and MG record cars EX135, EX179 and EX181 (EX181 is the fastest MG ever).

Tim Bryan, Head of Collections at the Heritage Motor Centre stated “We’re delighted that the JCB Diesel Max has joined our exciting collection of amazing vehicles which we are thrilled to be exhibiting. This exhibition really is a must for everyone and not just car fans!”

The HMC is continuing with its record breaking theme at Easter from 31 March – 15 April, with a family quiz and some record breaking egg-citing fun activities. There are special Craft days on Thursday 5 & 12 April where children can make and race their own egg car. Normal museum admission prices apply and children can take home what they make.

There is no extra charge to see the Motoring Record Breakers Exhibition as it is included in the standard Museum entry fees. Museum prices are: Adults £11, Child £8 (5-16 years) under 5 free, Concessions £9 & Family £34 (2 adults & up to 3 children).  Motoring Record Breakers is just one of many exciting and unique events to take place at the Heritage Motor Centre in 2012.

www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk