Round the World in 34 Years

We’ve all heard of overland riders whose 12-month trip across the world extends to several years, but how about being on the road for 34 years? Not only that, but on the same bike! That’s what Australian couple Sam and Stew Saunders have done, having been travelling since 1989 on their BMW R100GS, covering 150,000km (over 90,000 miles). They started out riding from the UK to Australia, getting there in 1991, and later shipped the bike to the US and rode through South and North America. More recently they planned shipping to Japan and riding to South Korea and Vladivostok before turning west and riding back to Europe through Mongolia and Russia. First Covid, then Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, has put paid

Girder Forks making a Comeback?

Girder forks were the standard motorcycle front suspension through the 1920s and ‘30s, before being superseded by telescopic forks after WWII. Since then, telescopics have become almost universal despite their widely acknowledged flaws. But now it looks like the girder fork could be making a comeback, albeit in more sophisticated form than the pre-war original, based on designs by British engineer Norman Hossack, who developed a modern girder fork in the 1970s. BMW’s Telelever front end has been well established for about 30 years, though on a shrinking number of models, now only fitted to the K1600 tourer, while more recently Honda has fitted a similar system to the Goldwing. Now Chinese manufacturer CFMoto – is following suit, patenting a girder

Triumph’s Boost for Young Workers

Triumph of Hinckley has announced new initiatives to attract younger people into the motorcycle industry, countering fears that the industry has an ageing workforce as well as customer base. The Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA) is well aware of the problem, and at last November’s Motorcycle Live show ran a Careers Hub stand with BikeJobs and the National Motorcycle Dealers Association, which resulted in 150 serious enquiries. Now Triumph is to launch a range of schemes to encourage young entrants into motorcycle engineering, retail and design. In an interview with MCN, Paul Stroud, Triumph’s Chief Commercial Officer, said: “Our dedicated STEM Outreach team is also planning the new Triumph Design Awards, which is an opportunity for students to showcase their innovative designs and

Wolverhampton Speedway Track to Close

Wolverhampton Speedway, home to the Wolverhampton Wolves team and thought to be the oldest active speedway track in the UK, is facing closure after nearly 100 years of racing. Entain Leisure, owners of the Monmore Green site, have decided to concentrate on greyhound racing, and informed the Wolves promoter Chris Van Straaten that the current lease would end on 31st October. Until now, the team has signed up for a three-year rolling lease, but the latest lease has been cut back to one year. A short statement on the Wolverhampton Wolves website read: “Club bosses are devastated by the news and will be making no further comment at this time.” “The impact on British speedway as a whole will be considerable,” wrote

Mental Health Boost for Bikers

Mental Health Motorbike (MHM) – the charity which provides mental health support from and between bikers – has teamed up to with Phoenix Motorcycle Training to make mental health awareness an integral part of rider training. MHM is training 24 members of Phoenix staff as Mental Health First Aiders, spread across all of the company’s 22 sites in the UK. Paul Oxborough founded MHM in 2020 after a friend suffered as a result of poor mental health. “We lost a friend to suicide and decided we had to do something about it,” he said. “Having been a motorcyclist for so long, I knew that community and thought that was a good place to start.” Mental Health Motorbike now has a nationwide

Welcome but Take Care say Scottish Police

Scottish Police will be using unmarked cars and bikes this summer, in a bid to reduce motorcycle casualties on the country’s roads. “We’re quite fortunate in Scotland, with some of the most beautiful roads (in the UK),” said Deputy Head of Road Policing Stewart Mackenzie. “We’re keen to see people making use of those roads, but we want them to do that safely and responsibly.” Twenty-seven riders died on Scottish roads across 2022/23, most of those during spring and summer – 455 motorcyclists were involved in a serious collision in Scotland in 2021. As well as the unmarked vehicles, marked motorcycles and cars will be out and about on the key routes, especially at weekends, to deter unsafe riding and driving, backed

Motorcycles are banned from parts of the Pyrenees National Park

A measure to limit noise pollution prohibits the use of motorcycles in parts of the High Pyrenees Natural Park (El Parque Natural de los Altos Pirineos). Electric vehicles and cars are not covered by the ban. A ‘Special Noise Quality Zone’ (ZEPQA) was created, with a ban for motorcycles, quads and buggies throughout the year. This makes a large area of 80,000 hectares inaccessible to motorcyclists. The Pyrenees are located in the border area between France, Spain and Andorra. The ban excludes motorcycles from local roads and trails but does not place similar restrictions on cars. 'Unfair discrimination', says Moto de Campo Sostenible. The regulations described in the ‘Action Plan for the declaration of a zone of special protection of acoustic quality in

Why are cable barriers still hurting motorcyclists?

Cable barriers are banned in some countries, while others still install them, despite the inherent risks for motorcyclists. The main problem with cable barriers - or wire rope fences - are the uprights; in the event of a motorcyclist's fall, these uprights will catch the motorcyclist, with all its horrible consequences. This is no different from other crash barrier variants. One difference is that a motorcyclist who is still on his bike and hits the cable barrier will be led to the uprights, where a standard guardrail has no protruding parts. The argument that cable barriers are a good solution for roads where there is not enough space in the side or central reservation for a 'normal' crash barrier (preferably with motorcyclist

BMF Member Shaun Anderson to ride for Team Classic Suzuki at TT 2023

Team Classic Suzuki will field Shaun Anderson at this year’s Isle of Man TT, equipping him with GSX-R1000 machinery for the RST Superbike, RL360, and Milwaukee Senior TT races. Though more commonly associated with the classic racing scene – including on the Isle of Man, where the team has tasted victory with Michael Dunlop – it is not Team Classic Suzuki’s first appearance at the TT. A debut appearance at the 2022 event ended with a best finish of 24th coming courtesy of Forest Dunn in the Superbike race. Anderson joins the team with 37 starts under his belt, with 15 top-20 finishes to his name. The Northern Irishman also boasts ample experience on Suzuki machinery; his fastest ever lap of the

Hackney Council Called Upon to Deal Fairly with Motorcyclists as it Presses Ahead with new ‘Poverty Tax’

Promises to reconsider parking charges scheme broken by the London Borough Hackney Borough Council in London have broken their promise to commuters, carers and residents who ride motorcycles for work and essential services. It has signalled intent to press on with an exorbitant and regressive motorcycle parking charge which stands to plunge many of those who ride into transport poverty. On March 27th Hackney Council Cabinet will meet to consider a new policy on powered two wheeler (PTW) parking charges which motorcycling organisations, the motorcycle trade and trade unionists have dubbed a “poverty tax”. In October Hackney Council promised they would work with riders to make changes to the charges. They have since set aside this promise, and have made no meaningful changes

Governments and employers should promote motorcycling

Politicians want us to walk, cycle, or use public transport. Motorcyclists however have different ideas when it comes to commuting, traveling to work. Better ideas, FEMA’s Wim Taal believes. FEMA’s survey on the commuting habits of motorcyclists shows that they use several different vehicles and different ways of travel. This way they adapt to their needs and possibilities on any given day. By investing in different types of vehicles - not just motorcycles - they show a great sense of responsibility and of practical insight. Something that, according to FEMA, should be stimulated and rewarded. For commuters, the year-round motorcycle costs are nearly three times less than operating a car, with gas averaging €545 for riders and €1,435 for drivers. Motorbikes are also

Electric Bike makes top five at Daytona

A battery-powered Energica made history at the famous Daytona race circuit in early March, by not only racing against combustion bikes, but finishing seventh in the first race, and fifth in the second. Winner of both rounds was Tyler O’Hara on an Indian FTR. Colombian rider Stefano Mesa was pitting an Energica Eva Ribella RS against a more typical field of big-displacement petrol bikes. The event was part of the MotoAmerica Super Hooligan series, restricted to 750cc+ water-cooled twins – Indian FTR, KTM 890, Harley Pan America etc – along with unlimited air-cooled twins...and “Electric Street machines with race level battery specifications.” The Daytona rounds took in six laps of the iconic circuit, which has seen plenty of historic battles in

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