The Ace Café has decided to close early on Fridays for the remainder of this summer – 6pm instead of the traditional late night – in a move to prevent a licence review which could have more serious consequences. The 6pm closing time will be in place until 1st September. Mark Willsmore, Managing Director of Britain’s most famous biker café, told MCN that the trouble originated when the Metropolitan Police seized four bikes at the Ace on a Friday evening in June. “The police were all over the place,” he said, “(and) seized three motorcycles, which I anticipate, though I don’t know, had no insurance or something because there weren’t arrests. Also there was a guy who was stopped and arrested

Two pieces of good news – not only are motorcycle thefts falling but the proportion of bikes being recovered is on the up. Figures from the Motorcycle Crime Reduction Group reveal that 9492 powered two-wheelers were stolen in January-May 2023, 2.6% down the same period in 2022. That doesn’t sound much, but May was the third successive month which saw a decrease in thefts. Of those stolen, 58% were motorcycles and 42% classed as scooters or quad bikes. These national figures masked a wide variation across the UK. London – with more PTWs (Powered two Wheelers) than anywhere else in the country – always sees the most motorcycle crime, but thefts in the capital fell by 16.4% in Jan-May 2023, compared

CMA – the Competition and Markets Authority – has recommended that the Government legislate for a real-time fuel price finder, enabling riders and drivers to find the cheapest petrol locally, without travelling to find out. It would probably work in the same way as an airbnb listing, with a map showing the location and fuel price of all nearby filling stations, which would be updated in real time. Why now? The CMA’s just-published study – the snappily titled Final Report on the Supply of Road Fuel in the United Kingdom – has revealed that supermarkets, traditionally the source of the cheapest petrol and diesel, have been raising prices to increase profit margins or failing to pass lower prices on to customers. It’s

We need your help NOW Hackney Council have just released the final statutory consultation on their proposed motorcycle parking charges. We need you to respond to this consultation NOW This is your chance to fight anti motorcycle policies, and stand up for riders everywhere. The charges are an attempt to force riders out of Hackney. If we don’t fight this now it will spread all over London and the UK. HOW TO RESPOND: You respond by emailing your objection to streetscene.consultations@hackney.gov.uk before Friday 4th August 2023 This is not a normal consultation Hackney must address each response individually. So in your response please don’t just say you oppose, but give alternative options and reasons for them to consider. This will massively hold them up as by law

The Guinness Book of Records does note some pretty far-out achievements, the latest of which are the furthest distance travelled on a tank of petrol, and the fastest steam-powered bike in the world. How much do you expect to get from a tank-full of unleaded – most bikers would be very happy with 200 miles, but how about 2,600? A team from Acerbis, the Italian accessory manufacturer, has done just that, riding from Albino in Italy to North Cape in Norway without stopping for fuel. The caveat is that this was no normal bike, but a Honda Grom with a specially made fuel tank extending to pannier tanks which can swallow 108 litres alone. At a steady 45 mph and over

The British public does not recognise motorcycles as part of the solution to traffic congestion and poor urban air quality, according to research commissioned by IAM RoadSmart. A survey of over 2000 motorists found that less than half (42%) agree that powered two-wheelers helped reduce traffic congestion, while only just over one in five (22%) believe they can help improve air quality. This is despite research by the National Motorcyclists Council (NMC) and Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA) which suggests that a 10% swing to motorcycle use by car drivers could reduce congestion by 40% Neil Greig, Director of Policy and Research at IAM RoadSmart, said: “We strongly believe that motorcycles represent a huge opportunity in combating poor air quality and congested roads.

The motorcycle with two-wheel steering – rear as well as front – has been tried before but has never seen production, but now BMW appears to be showing renewed interest in the concept, making three separate patent applications on how a two-wheel-steer bike might work. The big question is how to combine drive and steering duties in one wheel, and according to Cycle World, which picked up the story, BMW has registered a whole raft of possible solutions, keeping belt, chain or shaft drive with various means of steering the wheel including mechanical linkages as well as hydraulic and electric systems. Both electric and petrol bikes are covered by the patents, and an e-bike with rear hub motor would be one

Hard to believe, but it’s 25 years since Yamaha launched the first series R1, back in 1998. The new one-litre sports bike caused a sensation with its combination of high torque, rapid acceleration and quick handling (the latter aided by a short wheelbase of just 1395mm). One of its secrets was the ultra-compact powertrain, thanks to the stacked gearbox with the input shaft mounted above the output, giving a more compact package which allowed that short wheelbase. The bike quickly became a favourite with sports bike fans in this fiercely competitive class, and it arguably took over from the Honda FireBlade as the class benchmark. R1s enjoyed a string of race wins, at the TT as well as countless circuits around

The sole prototype of Triumph’s Hurricane – a factory custom of the early 1970s – is up for auction at H&H Classics. The only Hurricane to wear BSA badges, this was the bike shipped over to BSA’s Umberslade Hall R&D centre in 1969. Designed by young Californian Craig Vetter, it was certainly an eyeful, with its distinctive, flowing one-piece tank/side panel cover, extended forks and three-into-three exhaust. It even had extended cylinder head fins to give the BSA triple a beefier appearance. Vetter had been asked to restyle the BSA Rocket 3 after sales failed to meet expectations – American buyers didn’t take to the factory bike’s squared-off styling. Back in the Midlands, young BSA engineer Stuart McGuigan was given the