Road safety charity the IAM is offering tips from Britain’s top advanced driver, Peter Rodger.

Following severe weather warnings of storms over the coming weekend, the IAM is advising on how to drive in windy weather.

• Plan your journey – is there a route with less exposure to the weather and less risk of fallen trees? Choose a sheltered route if you have the option.
• Strong winds are not constant, they are usually gusty so ensure you hold the steering wheel firmly.
• Overtaking high sided vehicles or driving past buildings can result in a sudden gust from the side as you clear.
• Give cyclists, motorcyclists, lorries and buses more room than usual. They get blown around by side winds easily. Even pedestrians can be blown about.
• Watch trees and bushes on the roadside - their branches can show you how strong the wind is.  Look well ahead, that way you don’t need to take your eye off the road and you can see any windy patches before you get to them.
• Go slow enough to cope with the gusts.  Wind can get under a car and reduce its handling and braking significantly.
• Keep an eye on what is happening to other vehicles – where they are affected will give you a pre warning.
• Go slowly enough to cope with the tree that has fallen right across the road, just round the bend where you can’t see it.
• Be careful of debris, try and have space beside you in case you need to dodge it.

Rodger said: "If the weather is really bad, consider whether you could postpone your journey until it settles down."

www.iam.org.uk

Road safety charity the IAM is offering weekly motoring tips from Britain’s top advanced driver, Peter Rodger. This week, with the clocks going back at the weekend, he is advising on driving in the dark.

• To improve your view as far as possible, keep your lights and windscreen clean. It’s easy to forget the inside of the windows, but keeping them clean helps prevent them from misting-up.
• Use main beam on a dark unlit road, but when other drivers or riders are approaching make sure you dip your lights to avoid dazzling the oncoming road users.
• Making sure you can stop safely within the distance you can see to be clear still applies in the dark.
• Look at how the traffic ahead behaves for clues to possible problems you can’t see yet – the way other lights behave can tell you a lot.
• Use the headlights of the car you are following to show you to let you see further ahead.
• Don’t look at any lights themselves, but at what they show – so you can make use of more of the light there is from any source, without losing your “night vision” any more than you have to. • Use the reflective road signs and lines to help you see where the road goes and where there are particular problems
• If an approaching car forgets to dip its lights, look beyond the lights to their left to avoid being dazzled as much.
• If it’s gloomy in the morning, don’t forget to put your lights on then too.

IAM chief examiner Peter Rodger said: “The risk of collisions increases in the dark as visibility is reduced1.  In poor weather remember that you still need to see things like large pools of water or fallen trees in the dark – so adjust your driving to suit all the conditions combined.”

www.iam.org.uk

Motorcycle Live 2013 is jam-packed with 30 manufacturers, over 150 exhibitors and 17 FREE live features and zones, but when your feet need a rest and you fancy being entertained by some of the biggest names in biking, head to the British Eurosport Entertainment Zone featuring the Blackhorse Stage.

Legendary racers-turned-commentators Steve Parrish and James Whitham will once again be at the helm of the Blackhorse Stage, hosting non-stop game shows, quizzes and celebrity interviews. Whitham’s rider Q&As will take place five times daily at weekends and four times daily on weekdays, giving an insight into the lives of some of the world’s top racers from MotoGP, World and British Superbikes and the Isle of Man TT.

Racers already confirmed to appear include 2013 World Supersport Champion Sam Lowes, 2013 British Superbike Champion Alex Lowes, 20-time Isle of Man TT winner John McGuinness, Honda SBK stars Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam, MotoGP rider Bradley Smith, 2013 Superbike TT winner Michael Dunlop and three-time BSB champion John Reynolds. The riders will also be taking part in the ever-popular Fast Bikes Question of Bikes quiz, which always brings hilarity and chaos to the British Eurosport Entertainment Zone as their competitive spirits takeover.

Throughout the day show goers will have the chance to get involved in the stage games and win a whole host of prizes. Oxford Products Dress Undress will reward those who can strip off and re-dress the quickest, while Dunlop Man of Steel will test the strength of its participants as they attempt to hold two tyres at arm’s length for as long as possible. The British Eurosport Memory Game is a challenge for the mind and Blackhorse Race an Ace provides an opportunity for a member of the public to compete against a celebrity rider on a virtual track.

Advance tickets for Motorcycle Live 2013 are just £17 per adult, £11 for Seniors and £7 for children aged 6-16* (kids five and under accompanied by a paying adult go free). Bike parking is free of charge and subject to availability. Reduced car parking costs of £8 – subsidised by Motorcycle Live. To book your tickets, call 0844 581 2345 or visit www.motorcyclelive.co.uk

Former Moto2 rider Kyle Smith ended his season on the ultimate high-note by taking his Honda CBR600RR to victory in last weekend’s final round of the 2013 FIM Superstock 600 European championship at Jerez in Spain.

It was almost a home race for the UK-born Smith, who has lived in Spain since the age of seven and who joined the Agro-On Racedays Honda team as a guest rider after splitting with the Avinta Blusens Moto2 team mid-season. After qualifying in fourth place at Jerez, Smith got a superb start in Saturday’s race, leading into the first right-hander. He was never headed and crossed the line 0.3s ahead of second-placed Franco Morbidelli, who secured the series title that was won a year ago by Pata Honda World Supersport rider Michael van der Mark.

Smith’s Agro-On Racedays Honda team-mate, Lukas Wimmer, finished in 18th place on his first visit to the 4.423km Jerez circuit in southern Spain.

“It was the perfect way to finish what’s been quite a difficult season,” said Smith afterwards. “I rode at Nurburgring as a guest rider for the Agro-On Racedays Honda team, who have been fantastic to work with. I managed to finish that race in sixth place,” continued the 22-year-old, “and then got seventh at Magny-Cours, but to win the last race of the year in Spain is just a dream for me.”

25th - 27th October

Celebrating this year's 75th anniversary of the cafe having originally opened in 1938, and teaming up with the 59 Club's official French Section, Ace Cafe London is privileged to be able to confirm attendance at the annual Salon Moto Legende Show, Parc Floral de Paris, Vincennes.    

The Ace presence and display at the show, will include  the 1958 Royal Enfield Constellation motorcycle that featured on the front page of the UK's national newspaper, The Daily Mirror, of Thursday 9th February 1961 together with an array of Ace Cafe, Rockers and StoMoCo items, alongside "Gear with Grit" from Red Torpedo, sponsors of the TT Red Riders (to include Guy Martin, Conor Cummins, John McGuinness and Maria Costello) together with the all new 132 page Ace Cafe London Bookazine and the critically acclaimed seminal, 312 page book, "Ace Times - Speed thrills and tea spills, a cafe and a culture", by author Mick Duckworth will also be available.    

For more information about the show and the French section of the 59 Club:

www.salon-moto-legende.fr

www.59legend.com

www.ace-cafe-london.com