Two-wheel-drive motorcycles have been tried before, with cumbersome, complicated chains or hydraulics transmitting torque to the front wheel as well as the rear. Electric motors of course, make this a potentially simpler process, and the UBCO 2x2 utility bike has been offered for a few years, aimed at farmers, land managers and the like. Now French brothers Henri and Olivier Rabatel have entered the fray with a two-wheel-drive commuter motorcycle, the Motowatt W1X. The two motors – one in each wheel – offer a total of 34bhp, though Motowatt’s publicity refers to the bike as rideable on an A1 licence, for which it would need to be restricted to 11Kw, though that’s easy enough to do. It certainly looks practical for

The Local Government Association (LGA) is calling for new powers to ban pavement parking, which is already illegal in London – Scotland passed new legislation to prevent it in December 2023. But in England, there’s no specific ban in place as yet – the actual rules vary from place to place, though you can be prosecuted for obstructing a path. The Government held a consultation on banning the practice in 2020, but this was never taken further. Now it’s back on the cards. Councillor Darren Rodwell, transport spokesperson for the LGA, said: “Pavement parking is one of the biggest complaints for pedestrians but three years on (from the consultation) councils outside of London still do not have the powers they need

Devon and Cornwall Police have reprimanded nearly 10,000 drivers and riders for offences on the road thanks to Operation Snap. Set up in 2019, the system invited members of the public who had spotted on-road misdemeanors to upload footage from dash cams and helmet cams to an online portal. It received more than 6000 videos in 2023 alone. “More people are using dash cams and helmet cameras than ever before,” said the force’s Head of Road Safety, Adrian Leisk. “But also more members of the public are now aware of Op Snap and understand that they have the power to do something about poor driving.” Bikes and cars overtaking on solid white lines, tractors passing cyclists dangerously close and drivers using phones

What’s a decent fuel range on a motorcycle? One hundred and eighty miles is pretty good and anything over 200 miles excellent. But how about 600 miles between refills? That’s the claim for Reiju’s new Aventura 500, which was first shown to the public at the EICMA show in November 2023. The Aventura’s USP is a twin-fuel tank set up with total capacity of 40 litres, which at an average 68 mpg really would give a theoretical range of 600 miles. Otherwise, there’s little remarkable about the Aventura, which is yet another entrant to the mid-size adventure bike market. The engine is made by Loncin of China, a copy of Honda’s very familiar 500cc parallel-twin as used the CB500 line up,

Four 60-something ex-servicemen are all set to ride from the UK to Cyprus to raise money for the Armed Forces charity Help for Heroes. Trevor Burden (60), Alan Sands (61), Fred Ball (66) and Rupert Miller (63) – all from Hampshire and Dorset – will be making the 5000-mile road trip in June. All served in the Royal Hampshire Regiment and have been friends ever since. “This was about us having the experience of a lifetime,” said Alan Sands. “Sharing it would be a statement of our friendship and a reminder of the camaraderie of when we served as young men. But it has now become more than that. It’s about all the veterans who gave so much for this country. We

Hydrogen as an alternative fuel may have its detractors, but a German-Czech consortium is now developing a fuel cell motorcycle aimed at inner-city deliveries. If pictures of the prototype are any guide, then it really is more motorcycle than scooter. Two German companies based in Saxony are developing the fuel cell stack, which takes the place of a battery but supplies electricity to a motor in the same way. The Czech Technical University is involved in building up the complete bike, which the consortium aims to have up and running in 2025 as a demonstrator which meets European approval standards and certification. The participants say that fuel cells offer a longer range and shorter refuelling times than a battery-electric system. However, hydrogen’s

Trago Mills – the south west-based retail discounter – has expanded its motorcycle offshoot. Trago2Wheels, which launched nine years ago, initially concentrated on 50cc and 125cc bikes and scooters from Lexmoto, going on to add Sinnis, Sym and Keeway to its stable. Now, as well as mid-size bikes from Voge, the retail giant has become the UK distributor for Italian-made SWM. It could be a significant milestone for Trago2Wheels, which claims a different approach to traditional motorcycle dealers. Trago Mills, set up 55 years ago, has grown into a West Country institution, employing over 1000 staff across four giant stores in Devon and Cornwall, plus a more recent addition in Merthyr Tydfil. Discount prices and a massive range of goods (“diamonds

We’ve heard of motorcycle-engined cars, and even boats, but helicopters? Well, not only has Kawasaki built a ‘copter powered by the supercharged H2R power unit, but it really does fly. The company has form here in any case – Kawasaki Heavy Industries already builds a line of conventional choppers from the small BK117 to big twin-rotor military machines. This latest unmanned addition (a work in progress as yet) has adopted the 326bhp version of the H2R’s 998cc in-line four, and according to Kawasaki it can lift 200 kg at sea level, or just half that in the more rarified air at 3100m above sea level. The engine runs at a constant speed, so the H2R helicopter doesn’t sound much like a

It’s three months since Wales adopted a default 20mph speed limit in previously 30mph limits, and early findings indicate that average speeds have reduced since, though we don’t yet know what the effect on casualties will be. Although not a blanket speed limit (local authorities are free to retain the 30-limit if they think that 20mph is too slow) the 20-limit has affected many stretches of road. An independent report by Agilysys and TomTom has studied traffic speeds on 310 miles of roads in 10 town and city areas which have seen a reduction in the speed limit to 20mph. The results should be treated with caution as rather than measure the average of all traffic, the analysts tracked the speed