HOT ROD NIGHT - Win Prizes!

Wednesday 4th March, 6pm – 11pm

Ace Cafe London’s March Hot Rod Night, with DJ Jimmy Guntrip on the decks, includes with pairs of tickets up for grabs as prizes to attend the cafe’s forthcoming annual “March of the Teds” special, on the evening of Saturday 14th March, featuring the four-piece West London, British Rock n’ Roll band, The Fantoms!

Oher prizes on the night include tickets to attend the FIA Main Event at Santa Pod, a copy of the recently published 160 page hard back book “Rocking Tattoos” by Raymond Mosken and magazine’s Vintage Rock, UK Rock n’ Roll and, from USA Car Kulture Deluxe.

Spend £5 or more over the counter from 6pm and receive a raffle ticket. Draw to be held at 10pm.

www.santapod.com
www.ckdeluxe.com
www.ukrock.net
www.vintagerockmag.com

www.ace-cafe-london.com

Stormin’ The Castle, 25 years | 4th–6th Sept 2015

Well folks, Stormin’ the Castle, North East UK’s biggest rally and custom bike show, celebrates its 25th birthday this year, I hope we get a big cake!

Since its beginnings in 1991 Stormin’ has grown quickly to become a firm fixture, nay, a legend, in the rally and custom show calendar.

As well as the usual camping, catering and Hobgoblin Bar with music on Saturday afternoon, this year will again feature two stages with a bill of around 16 top bands both local and National. So far, top Led Zeppelin tribute Letz Zep will headline the Main Stage on the Friday night, check the website for updates to the bill.

Despite the economy and ever rising prices of everything, tickets, for this years 25th anniversary will remain at 2013-14 prices, £30 pre book (£40 on the gate). In response to many requests, Stormin' the Castle will open for a limited number of campers on the Thursday night, the show-field will not be open, however we will open the Hobgoblin Bar and one caterer will be open for evening meals on Thursday and breakfast on the Friday morning.  

There will only be 500 tickets available and are strictly PREBOOK ONLY via our website. They are also only for people arriving on bikes or trikes only. Camping is restricted to camping fields 2 & 3.  Cost is £5 on top of the week-end ticket.

Saturday tickets at £20 will be available through online & PO Box sales. These are strictly pre-book only. Being the 25th Anniversary, as we can’t send cake through the post, we’ve given you the opportunity to get some reduced price tickets, when tickets go on sale on 1st March they will be only £25 on-line limited for  25 hours and 25 minutes of sale, between 08:00am 1st March - 09:25 2nd March 2015, so book early and save £££s.

So please come along and enjoy the usual special Stormin’ atmosphere, bring your custom/special/chop and show it in the bike show, sponsored by BSH, Custom Show T shirts for the first 100 entries, party, and help us make this year extra special. Oh and bring birthday cake ;-)

Stormin', whilst run independently and voluntarily, is one of the main fund raising events for the Motorcycle Action Group and over the last 24 years has been a major donator to support the ongoing fight for rider’s rights. So, not only does your ticket money allow you to have a great weekend party but it also helps preserve your biking lifestyle too.

For more details and updates see www.storminthecastle.co.uk or our facebook page Stormin The Castle

Medics behind the pioneering ‘Blood on Board’ project have heralded the “life-saving” donation of two vehicles to be used to transport blood.

The two Vauxhall Mokka 4x4 vehicles were handed over to the two charities - Northumbria Blood Bikes and Blood Bikes Cumbria – which provide vital transportation of blood in the region. The donation was made by the Henry Surtees Foundation in support of the Blood On Board project, which allows the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) to carry and administer blood on its rescue missions.

The vehicles were handed over on behalf of the foundation by James Whitham, the Yorkshire-born motorcycle racer turned commentator. In a racing career spanning 18 years, he secured four British titles and competed in World Superbike, World Supersport, Endurance and Grand Prix. As well as the success, the hard-charging motorcycle racer also survived crashes and battled lymphatic cancer.

He said: ‘I’ve chased time at race tracks in pursuit of podiums, but for the likes of the Great North Air Ambulance Service, every second can literally be the matter of life or death. The Air Ambulance and regional Blood Bike groups do an incredible selfless job; I hope that I will never need their services, but having had mates rescued from the side of remote mountains, and of course at race tracks - its a service that resonates with me’.

James Whitham visited the GNAAS base at Langwathby, near Penrith, today to officially hand-over the two Vauxhall Mokka 1.7CDTi 4x4 SUVs to be used by the two Blood Bike groups so that they have all-weather transport for the ferrying of the blood between hospital and aircraft.

The Henry Surtees Foundation was set up by motorsport legend John Surtees following the tragic death of his son Henry. Mr Whitham added: “I was absolutely honoured to be asked to represent John Surtees OBE and The Henry Surtees Foundation today to hand over the two vehicles. I know that John would also like to say a special thank you to Vauxhall for their support too. I’m sure the assistance of these vehicles will be a huge benefit to the region and help save multiple lives.”

As previously announced, The Henry Surtees Foundation also donated equipment to GNAAS including thermostatically controlled boxes and blood warmers to enable them to deliver fresh blood supplies to the scene of life threatening accidents, and carry out roadside blood transfusions. GNAAS is the only air ambulance in the North of England to perform this life-saving procedure, which has been administered three times since launching six weeks ago.

Owain Harris, of Northumbria Blood Bikes but also speaking on behalf of his Cumbria counterparts, said: “We are extremely grateful to the Henry Surtees Foundation for their generosity in providing a four wheel drive vehicle to the charity. Normally the blood is transported by motorcycle, however when the roads are covered in snow we are unable to ride, and would have to suspend the service. The Vauxhall Mokka, a four wheel drive, means that the blood will get through, every day, regardless of the weather in order that The Great North Air Ambulance can carry out it's vital role in saving lives using the Blood on Board project.”

The Blood on Board project was devised by Dr Rachel Hawes, of GNAAS and Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

She said: “After years of research, the project is now active and is already benefitting patients across the North. Lives will be saved because of this advancement in medical care, it is as simple as that. This would not have been possible without the support of Blood Bikes and the Henry Surtees Foundation, and we are immensely grateful to them for that.”

Sepang (Malaysia), 25 February 2015 - Three intense days for Aprilia Racing Team Gresini on the Sepang track. At the second testing session on the Malaysian circuit the team turned up with a lot of material and new solutions to try out on the track in view of the upcoming MotoGP season. They worked almost entirely on intermediate steps between the first version of the RS-GP, tested in the autumn sessions at Valencia and Jerez, and the more advanced version that was placed on the track in the first Sepang tests in early February.
The stated goal was to choose the definitive materials and solutions for the bikes which will début at the Qatar GP on 29 March.

For the engine the refinement process of the V4 with pneumatic valve timing continued. This is a unit which made a brief appearance at the Valencia tests and then gradually became more reliable and complete in terms of electronic management. There is still much work to be done, but the information gathered at Sepang will be fundamental for the choices the mechanics and riders will make.

Alvaro Bautista and Marco Melandri put in a total of 257 laps (135 for Alvaro and 122 for Marco). During the three days Marco also tested a bike which was quite close to the SBK that he rode last season with the goal of finding the right feeling on the new tyres.

But on this third and final day, Marco Melandri also focused exclusively on the intermediate version of the RS-GP, while Alvaro even took on some long runs, seeking to improve his feeling with the Aprilia even more. This did not keep him from continuing to change the bike and from putting a good time on the sheets (2’01.310) as demonstration of the quality and the quantity of the work done.

Now the engineers at Noale will have time to examine the information gathered and take the final decisions.

ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Manager)
“I'm quite pleased with the tests because we confirmed how well balanced our bike is, also highlighting the exact direction we need to take in development, both in terms of chassis and electronics. We didn't have any particular problems with reliability and that is comforting. Another positive note is that our race pace during simulations is encouraging, even more than our flying lap times. This morning a small problem kept Alvaro from further improving his best lap. He could have shaved a little more off but overall the result of these tests is definitely encouraging. We were able to complete all of the scheduled tests and in the coming days we'll have a look at things and decide which direction to take for Qatar.”

FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
“These were three intense days where we were able to complete a lot of tests in various areas of the bike, from the setup to the frame and even the electronics and engine. All in all even our riders' time sheets improved compared to the previous Sepang 1 tests and that's a sign that little by little we are moving forward and improving. We also gathered some more precious information that will allow us to keep working on development at home whilst waiting to get back on the track for the last test in Qatar before the opening round. Alvaro's time is satisfactory and so is Marco's, although still far off the mark. At the end of this final day he started to get a more positive feeling. We are working to give him what he needs and to put him at ease.”

ALVARO BAUTISTA
“This last day was a positive one. After testing various solutions over the last few days today we focused on the base setting that I liked the best. This morning we improved our best lap straight away, taking another important step forward. Another fundamental test was the new 340 millimetre brake discs, a modifications that I got used to right away but that also required some further settings on the bike. This afternoon, at the hottest time of the day, we took our long run and I must say that I immediately felt good riding with a full tank. I'm starting to have fun and that is essential. I had to stop because of a small problem with a wheel and then we got back on the track and even with a used tyre we had a good pace. After the long run we also compared some new material that we didn't have before, specifically looking for better traction. These are all positive tests looking toward the Qatar test sessions, because a lot of ideas came out in terms of development. At the end of the day I'm satisfied. I want to thank all the guys at Aprilia because they did a great job these last three days. We all want to improve more in the next tests!”

MARCO MELANDRI
“In these three days we did a lot of hard work in terms of comparison tests to find that feeling that I have been missing up to now. We took laps to analyse various solutions, even with a bike similar to the one that I rode last year, precisely to gather as much information as possible. We were able to find some good things, but it wasn't enough to let me ride as I'd like to and our times show just how much work is still left to do. Now we'll analyse the results of these tests and decide the best way focus our future efforts.”

The National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD) invite you to their premier annual fundraising event. The best value-for-money biker’s event in the UK!

The YBN24 rally will feature; twenty-six live bands on three stages, ‘100% Biker’ bike & trike show, a huge stand-up comedy show, 60+ real ales and ciders and a wide range of canned beers, wines and spirits, loads of trade stalls, three discos, children’s entertainment, accessible facilities, hot showers, and the very best company you could wish for!

Pre-booked tickets £25.00 (before 2nd May 2015). On the gate £30.

Accompanied children 14-years or under – free admission

• Car parking £20.00 (free with disabled badge). Caravans £20.
• Strictly no dogs (except registered & insured disability assistance dogs)
• No alcohol will be permitted through the gate; we have three bars selling a wide range of beers, wines, and spirits, at very reasonable prices
• Day tickets (Saturday only) £15.00 (Pay £30 with a £15.00 refund if you leave before 7pm)

You don't have to be an NABD member or a disabled biker to attend this superb event!

See the website for details and how to but a ticket www.nabd.org.uk

Updates will be posted on the website and on facebook

Don’t forget your towel: Hot showers will be available at the You’ve Been Nabbed 24 rally.

Cars at You've Been Nabbed 24:
We have removed our restrictions on people attending by car in a bid to stop people parking illegally in the local area and walking into the event.

Police are likely to be clamping-down on illegal parking in the area this year due to complaints.

Sponsor a Barrel of Ale at You’ve Been Nabbed 24:
For a mere £75.00 sponsors can have their name, (or company name, club name, logo etc.) on a barrel of real ale or cider throughout the event.

Sponsors will also be included in the official sponsors list and receive a laminated ‘Certificate of Sponsorship’ from the NABD.

If you are in a club, why not propose to your fellow members that they sponsor a barrel?

If you are self-employed and you pay tax, why not sponsor a barrel yourself? Promotional expenses and charitable donations can all be written off against tax.
If you work for a company, why not talk to your boss about it? It’s very good publicity and it has to feel better than handing your money over to the Tax Man!

For more information, e-mail [email protected] or telephone 0844 415 4849 and we will let you have a simple form to fill in.

www.nabd.org.uk