The motorcycle world championship (it’s only been called MotoGP since 2002) has just hit its 75th birthday, with the first event held on the Isle of Man on 13th June 1949. Back then, the TT was part of the world championship, which consisted of just six rounds (compared to 20 rounds in 2024) and stretched over 11 weeks (March to November this year). It was also Europe-centred, while the 2024 season includes rounds in Qatar, Indonesia and Kazakhstan. The Island’s top race left the world championship in 1977, after it was boycotted by several top racers such as Giacomo Agostini, who argued that no rider should feel compelled to compete there. Such concerns didn’t appear to get so much attention in 1949,

London was the most traffic-choked city in Europe last year, according to transport data specialist Inrix, and it’s getting worse, with car drivers losing 99 hours of time and having to cope with an average speed of just 10mph. It’s ranked second in the world (New York City tops the congestion charts) followed by Mexico City, Paris and Chicago. Nor is it just a problem in Britain’s capital, with congestion worsening across all top ten UK cities compared to 2022, as traffic levels continued to increase post-Covid. In fact, according to these figures, congestion is now worse that it was before the pandemic, which temporarily emptied our urban roads. In terms of hours lost per driver per year, London is followed by

Until now, a motorcycle’s noise level has been determined by the factory, unless the owner fits an aftermarket (and maybe illegal) pipe. But KTM is working on a system which could allow riders to control the noise level – toning it down, for example, if entering a noise-restricted area. At the moment, new bikes are type-approved for noise limits based on very specific test conditions – speed, gear, even the position of the microphones. KTM’s reasoning goes that in certain other conditions, an otherwise legal bike might be over the noise limit. Its idea (subject of a patent application) is to give the rider a warning (‘visual, acoustic or sensory’) if noise limits are exceeded. This could be done with sensors

Motorcyclists have been warned to be on the lookout for an insurance scam which could leave them without cover, even if they thought they were fully insured. The City of London Police warns of ‘ghost brokers,’ who are scammers masquerading as genuine insurance brokers. Their technique is to offer temptingly low premiums, advertising these on social media, price comparison websites and even newsagents windows. To complete the deception, some ghost brokers they are working on behalf of well-established insurance companies. If a rider or driver takes out a policy they are issued with fake insurance documents (which are worthless) or the ghost broker takes out a genuine policy but quickly cancels it after pocketing the money. Either way, the rider is

UK sales of powered two-wheelers were up just 1.1% in April, flat lining after a disappointing Q1 (January-March), with signs that bad weather, the living standards squeeze (and now pre-election uncertainty) were holding back the usual Spring sales boost for bikes, though May saw a slightly healthier increase of 3.6%. In fact, motorcycle sales in April fell by 0.4%, but scooters (up by 4.4%) and mopeds (up 24.9%) gave the overall market just enough boost to prevent an overall fall. The only motorcycle sector which looked healthier was the 126-500cc segment, where continued popularity of the Triumph Speed 400 and Royal Enfield’s Meteor 350 helped deliver an increase of 18.8%. Electric two-wheeler sales were up too, by 23.4% (though still only

2023 saw 306 motorcyclists killed on UK roads, a substantial 12.6% drop compared to the 350 who died the previous year – it was in fact lower than in any pre-pandemic year back to 2014, and significantly lower than in 2017 and 2019, which each saw 470 motorcycle fatalities. Road casualties were significantly fewer across all road user groups in 2020 and ’21, thanks to the effect of Covid restrictions. The general trend for road user casualties was falling, with car occupant fatalities down by 5% in 2023, and cyclists by 7%, though pedestrian deaths saw a 6% increase. Overall fatalities fell to 1645 the same year, a drop of 3.9%. Taking casualties as a whole (not just deaths), motorcyclists were