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.

Leave your comments on Right To Ride

Ducati’s newly-unveiled 1199 Panigale Superbike has been awarded the title “Most Beautiful Bike of Show” at the EICMA 69th International Motorcycle Show in Milan, Italy.

Over 13,800 passionate show visitors participated in the voting organised by Italian motorcycle publication, Motociclismo, with the stunning new Ducati 1199 Panigale attracting a massive 53.4% of votes, followed by the MV Agusta F3 with 17% and the Husqvarna Nuda 900R with 3%.

The award was presented during the final day of the show, which  attracted almost half a million people to the vast Fiera di Milano exhibition centre throughout the six day event.  The ceremony took place in the presence of Pierfrancesco Caliari - General Secretary of Confindustria ANCMA/EICMA - Piero Bacchetti - President of Edisport Editoriale - and  Gianandrea Fabbro - Senior Designer from the Ducati Design Centre responsible for the incredible new machine.  The highly coveted “Most Beautiful Bike of Show” title is just reward for Ducati’s constant and innovative product development and coincides with the iconic Italian manufacturer’s announcement that 2011 will close with the best financial results in the company’s history.

Designed and built in Borgo Panigale, Bologna, the award-winning motorcycle combines the most high tech, most powerful twin-cylinder production engine on the planet with an innovative monocoque chassis concept to deliver an astonishing 195hp from 164kg (361.5lb) of futuristic Italian thoroughbred. The highest production motorcycle power-to-weight and torque-to-weight ratios in the world are fitting trophies for the incredible results that Ducati have achieved and now set an extreme benchmark for the category.

With the click of a button, Ducati’s Riding Mode concept delivers performance with enhanced rider confidence by combining seven class-leading technologies. The latest-generation sports ABS system, Ducati Traction Control (DTC), Ducati Electronic Suspension (DES), Ducati Quick-Shift (DQS), Ducati’s new race-derived Engine Brake Control (EBC) and Ride-by-Wire (RbW) are now all programmed into seamless, electronic rider assistance. Even the full colour Thin Film Transistor (TFT) display changes to suit the rider’s environment.

State-of-the-art from the ground-up and melding latest technologies with exciting new family features, the 1199 Panigale is totally “Ducati” in every respect. Its no-compromise approach to sport design and stylish attention to incredibly fine detail presents authentic Italian performance at its purist. Bred for the track and trained for the road, the new Superbike is a true revolution of the species destined to influence the entire sportsbike environment, while further strengthening Ducati’s recent success.

The EICMA show event marked the official introduction of the ground-breaking 1199 Panigale, 1199 Panigale S and flagship 1199 Panigale S Tricolore. The “Tricolore” model proudly wears the red, white and green of the Italian flag, underlining the title “Made in Italy” and coinciding with the celebrations of the country’s 150th anniversary of unification. All three models will be available from early 2012.