Following the success of our first two day show in 2021, National Motorcycle Museum LIVE continues in October 2022 as a two-day event! As always, this is the time when everyone can visit us free of charge* and enjoy a host of exciting free attractions including the return of the popular HENRY COLE AND FRIEND’S live on stage.

*Car parking charges apply.

Museum Live 2022 Timetable: To assist visitors, everyone arriving on site will be given a free timetable with a full list & timings of all the weekend’s exciting, free, events.

Free Museum Entry: Everyone is invited to visit the museum collection free-of-charge!

Indoor Trade Area: The event will feature a large indoor trade area held within the warm & dry surroundings of both the National Motorcycle Museum and our conference facilities.

The event will also feature trade stands & displays from many well-known names including Central Wheel Components Ltd, Triumph Motorcycles, Sealey Tools, H&H Classics, BSA, and Norton Motorcycles to name but a few.

The museum shop will be open throughout the event selling a huge range of classic motorcycling books, clothing & memorabilia.

‘Meet The Experts’ presented in association with Central Wheel Components Ltd: In attendance will be some of the museum’s specialist suppliers & craftsmen (including our own restoration team) as well as other classic motorcycling personalities who will be available to chat and answer questions.

Don’t miss the LIVE wheel building demos by Central Wheel Components Ltd.

“HENRY COLE AND FRIENDS” LIVE Stage shows: We are very excited to welcome back TV star HENRY COLE to our LIVE stage.

“HENRY COLE & FRIENDS” will feature popular personalities from Henry’s TV shows including HENRY COLE himself as well as SAM LOVEGROVE & ALLEN MILLYARD. Not only that, but we are also excited to welcome two motorcycle racing superstars who will join Henry and the crew on stage during both Sat & Sun-WATCH THIS SPACE!

Held in the museum’s magnificent Britannia suite, TT legend, TV presenter, STEVE PLATER will host these brilliant FREE TO ENTER stage shows which will be taking place on both Saturday AND Sunday of the event

Henry Cole and Sam Lovegrove will be holding special book/memorabilia/autograph signing sessions during the weekend.

Other superstar motorcycling personalities from the past and present will also be in attendance, check the dedicated event page for updates @ www.thenmm.co.uk

Manufacturer Test Rides: Offering the chance to test ride some well-known manufacturer’s machines over the course of the weekend-WATCH THIS SPACE.

LIVE indoor “Start Up” Feature: See & HEAR some of the most famous race machines in the world started up in our LIVE start-up feature which will take place on stage in the museum’s Britannia Suite.

Bikes old and new will include some of the museum’s famous racing inventory as well as ex-Moto GP bikes.

Back again for 2022, genius special builder ALLEN MILLYARD will be firing up several of his stunning motorcycle creations.

Food Court & Bar: Fantastic catering provided by the museum’s chefs will be available in our Premier Suite food court & bar area. Our famous breakfast BBQ will also be available from 8.30am onwards.

Parking*: Car parking for the event is just £15 per car with motorcycle parking absolutely free. Given the event’s huge popularity, the museum encourages car sharing which makes this nominal parking charge even better value!

For further Museum Live 2022 updates visit www.thenmm.co.uk

#QatarGP qualifying. Last year’s Achilles’ heel – during his rookie MotoGP season - is now a distant memory for Enea Bastianini, who today showed he can be competitive on the single lap, something he had been working on during the winter – and especially during the Sepang and Mandalika tests.

This has been a spectacular Saturday for the “Beast”, who already in FP3 put together a half miracle by claiming a direct spot into Q2 despite the much-worse track conditions compared to the afternoon before. In Q2, he completed a masterful performance as he finished qualifying in second place and only 147 thousandths of a second away from the other Ducati rider Jorge Martin.

Fabio Di Giannantonio made another small step forward in his first Saturday as a premier-class rider by qualifying in 21st place. The Rome-born rider is eager to improve, and the massive leap forward (more than one second from yesterday) is surely a very positive sign for the #49, who will try to sneak his way inside the top 15 tomorrow. The opening race of the year will begin at 18:00 local time (GMT +3).    

2nd - ENEA BASTIANINI #23 (1’53.158)
“A fantastic day for me, for the team and for Fausto as well. We worked a lot on the time attack also during testing and now we’re on the front row. Obviously we’re always looking for more and the pole position wasn’t too far away, but today it is fine this way. Tomorrow it is going to be a challenging race: I never started that much in front of everybody, and we have to understand the approach to the race. There are at least ten riders who can battle for the podium and the win. It will be important to understand track conditions and choose the right tyres. The first five laps will be key!”

21st - FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO #49 (1’54.276)
“I’m quite happy with today and there surely are both positive and negative aspects. We’re getting a better understanding at each outing while improve the feeling with the bike: even today we made some important steps forward. The negative side is that I’m not feeling comfortable in the lower part of the classification, and I need to get in the right frame of mind to fully acknowledge this is the best of the best, so I first must learn how to get on the same level as the others.”

ALEIX ESPARGARÓ IS FAST STRAIGHT AWAY ON THE FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE IN QATAR

MAVERICK VIÑALES FINISHES JUST 55 ONE HUNDREDTHS OUTSIDE THE TOP TEN

Under Losail’s floodlights in Qatar, the 2022 MotoGP world championship kicked off with the first day of free practice.
After a winter season of positive tests, the new Aprilia RS-GP shone with Aleix Espargaró, consistently in the group of leaders from the first practice session and then easily making it into the top ten, thanks to a seventh-place time of 1’53.886. Both the ranking and the time could have been significantly better if Aleix hadn’t had to cross trajectories with Viñales on the final turn of the decisive lap.
With this great performance, Aleix has a good chance to get a spot in Q2 if, as seems likely, the temperature conditions in FP3 tomorrow, scheduled for 1:15 PM local time, should make it extremely difficult for everyone to improve on their times from this evening.

Maverick Viñales, on the other hand, on this track for the first time astride an Aprilia, remained consistently just outside the top ten, busy testing various settings but without finding the best solution. He finished with the eighteenth time at 1’54.524.

Aleix Espargaró
“It was a positive day. I’m pleased because we started well. The bike is proving to be better than the one last year and I had the potential to finish much closer to the top. But it’s all good. The important thing today was to finish in the top ten and we did that. I feel fast and we’ll try to do well in qualifying tomorrow because here, with such a long straight, getting out front straight away is extremely important.”

Maverick Viñales
“I would have liked to have been farther forward but I’m not worried. It’s just that adapting to a new circuit for this new bike was complicated. The references on the track changed completely and obviously we have not had time here to test many solutions like we were able to do during the winter tests. We tried going in a direction which wasn’t the right one, but now it seems clear where we need to make changes. We need to keep working and improve in every session, beginning already tomorrow.”

The winners of Motorcycle Live’s ‘Best in Show’ 2021 awards have been announced following visitors to Motorcycle Live, in association with Bikesure Insurance, casting their votes.

Motorcycle Live 2021 welcomed a record 55 manufacturers and boasted more new product reveals than ever before. Visitors had nine opportunities to get to two wheels and there was chance for the whole family to get involved. New for 2021 was the Electric Feature, offering visitors the chance to test some of the latest electric bikes, scooters and bicycles on a dedicated indoor track.

BMW Motorrad UK scooped a double win, taking the trophy for both ‘Best Manufacturer Stand’ and ‘Best Manufacturer Experience’. BMW showcased its full 2022 model range - from the new R 18 Transcontinental to the all-electric CE 04 - as well as one-off R 18 customs and M 1000 RR race bikes fresh from the 2021 British Superbike season. Crowds were wowed by the ‘Make Life A Ride’ live action arena where some of the UK’s best on-and off-road experts showed riders how to best enhance their capabilities.

Winning the award for ‘Best Non-Manufacturer Experience’ was Helmet City who impressed visitors with its knowledgeable staff and extensive product line-up, selling ‘everything apart from the bike’.

Scott Grimsdall, Head of Marketing of BMW Motorrad UK, said: “Motorcycle Live has always provided us with a great opportunity to interact with large numbers of current and prospective customers, so we’re particularly grateful to win both the ‘Best Manufacturer Stand’ and ‘Best Manufacturer Experience’ awards for the latest show. I’d like to thank all of those who voted for us, and those who took the time to experience our products and live demonstrations at the NEC. It took an enormous amount of effort and commitment from the team, and we’re extremely proud of what they achieved.”

Jennifer Holmes, Director of Helmet City, added: “After over 15 years of exhibiting at Motorcycle Live, we are thrilled to have been given this award and it’s testament to the dedication of all our staff. We have always put safety first when fitting helmets correctly, giving our customers honest advice and, of course, giving our best price. Thank you to everyone who voted for us.”

Finlay McAllan, Managing Director of Motorcycle Live, commented: “While it was a year filled with uncertainty for visitors and exhibitors, one thing that we were certain of was that we were going to make sure everyone had the best experience they could. I want to say a big thanks to all those who worked hard to achieve that, and we look forward to seeing you all in 2022!”

Motorcycle Live 2022, in association with Bikesure Insurance, will take place at The NEC, Birmingham, between 19-27 November 2022. See you there!

Mortons Media Group, owner of the Classic Dirt Bike Show, is delighted to announce that Hagon Shocks has signed a new three-year sponsorship deal.

The Classic Dirt Bike Show, held in February at the Telford International Centre, is the event of the year for classic off-road motorcycle enthusiasts of all disciplines.

Hagon Shocks, famed for its aftermarket shock absorbers and wheel building services, has been a long-time supporter of the show and recognised the continuing value of the event to the Hagon business. 

Tony Hutchison of Hagon said of the deal: “We’re delighted to continue to support the Classic Dirt Bike Show and this new three-year agreement demonstrates the value of this event not just to Hagon Shocks but the whole industry. It was great to see the vibe return to the show in February post-pandemic and reaffirmed our decision to be the headline sponsor was the right one.”

The Classic Dirt Bike Show sponsored by Hagon Shocks will be back on February 18-19, 2023. For more information, please visit www.classicdirtbikeshow.co.uk