Over half of UK motorcyclists exceed the motorway and 30mph speed limits, but the proportion doing so fell last year, according to the latest figures from the Department for Transport. Using cameras to take a sample of traffic on free-flowing sections of roads, the DfT found that in 2021 59% broke the motorway limit and the same proportion exceeded a 30mph limit – 28% were over the 60mph limit on single-carriageway roads. Some of these speeders could have been marginal (as little as 1mph over the limit), but 14% of bikers were riding at 40mph or more in 30-limits, and one in ten were hustling along at 70mph or more on a single-carriageway road. The figures for 2022 showed a slight

A new fund has been launched to help adventure travellers finance their trips. The #GetOutDoStuff Adventure Travel Grant is being run by Matt Bishop and Reece Gilkes, the Sidecar Guys, famous for riding a Honda scooter sidecar outfit around the world in 2018/19. They also run the Armchair Travel Festival, which takes place every August at Mount Edgecumbe Country Park near Plymouth. #GetOutDoStuff is in memory of David Martin, the motorcycle adventure traveller who tragically died of bowel cancer in 2021. After being diagnosed in 2016, between chemotherapy rounds he took off on his bike whenever he was fit enough, riding Lands End to John o’ Groats, through the Alps and Croatia, as well as exploring Iceland. £1666 was raised for the

Burt Munro’s legend and standing within motorcycling seems to grow with every passing year. As well as the film ‘The World’s Fastest Indian’ and several biographies, he’s been accepted into the AMA Hall of Fame and the Motorcycling New Zealand Hall of Fame. Now, 56 years since he set a world speed record on his home-built Indian Scout-powered bike, the Sturgis Hall of Fame has followed suit. This is more significant than it seems, as the Sturgis list of the great and the good focuses on American riders and figures who had been judged to make a major contribution to motorcycling. Indian Motorcycles, which has been keen to publicise Burt’s association with the marque, is delighted. “Burt’s a legend,” said Gary Gray,

Honda is developing a hybrid motorcycle, with both a conventional petrol engine and electric motors connected to a common transmission. Hybrid cars are a common sight, ostensibly offering the combination of zero emissions in urban areas and a long range out of town, but very few powered two-wheelers have gone hybrid, thanks to the extra weight, bulk and expense. Piaggio sold a petrol/electric MP3 scooter in the 2009/10, while Kawasaki is due to launch its HEV (400cc Ninja twin with an electric motor) next year. Honda’s project looks to be some way off production, but according to the patent application, combined petrol and electric powertrains with an epicyclic gearbox which allows a choice of riding modes, with purely petrol, or electric,

Barely a month goes by without the Sammy Miller Museum announcing new bikes for its comprehensive collection. The latest is a 1963 Victoria 155. Nicknamed the ‘Tin Banana’ when it was new (for obvious reasons) the Victoria’s space age styling was certainly eye catching in in the early ‘60s, and doubly so now – if Dan Dare rode a moped, this would have been it. The German-built Victoria was mass produced, but very few have survived. At the other end of the performance scale, a 1950 Vincent Grey Flash has joined the collection as well. This one is a bit special, a Grand Prix bike raced by John Surtees, and believed to be a factory test machine. With four-speed Albion gearbox

IAM Roadsmart has joined the BMF, National Motorcyclists Council and other motorcycle groups to call for zero VAT on air jackets. Currently, only motorcycle helmets are zero-rated, along with cycle helmets and some industrial PPE (personal protective equipment). Research by air jacket/vest distributor Helite indicates that as few as 4% – one in 25 – of UK motorcyclists currently own an air jacket. The cost could well be putting some off, with Helite’s Turtle 2 air vest range starting at £550 and its Touring Air Jacket at £795. Making these zero rated would knock 20% off the price, reducing the Turtle 2 to as little as £440. An alternative to zero-rating air jackets and vests would be to give them the

UK motorcycle sales struggled in the first half of 2023, declining overall by 2.6% to 62,277 - high inflation, squeezed incomes and the increasing cost of consumer credit were blamed. Although bikes in the 501-1000cc class saw sales soar by 17.3%, every other sector suffered a fall. The big 1000cc-plus machines were down by 1.2%, the 125-500s by 7.2% while sub-125s plummeted by 13.9%, though they were still the biggest capacity sector at 22,163. Scooters (those above 50cc) were down too, by 13.2%. According to trade magazine British Dealer News, continued high inflation is at the core of all this gloom, with rapidly increasing interest rates showing little sign of dampening down the economy. The higher rates have in turn put