In a New Year message, National Motorcyclists Council Executive Director Craig Carey-Clinch reflects on 2025 and the opportunities ahead in 2026

A new year always brings fresh opportunities for motorcycling in the UK. While it would be easy to focus negatively on the mixed outcomes of 2025 for the motorcycle lobby, the year also delivered several important positives. This was also a year when the National Motorcyclists Council (NMC) continued to consolidate the lobby and alongside its members and partners continued to add building blocks to the motorcycle sector’s credibility and messaging.

One clear success underlined the value of partnership—both within motorcycling and across the wider transport lobby. Road maintenance and potholes remain a consistent concern for riders. As a founder member of the cross-transport Pothole Partnership, the NMC built on earlier success—securing the inclusion of road maintenance in every major party manifesto at the 2024 General Election—by helping to drive significant Government funding commitments for road repairs, most recently in the Chancellor’s autumn budget. While welcome, the focus in 2026 will be on ensuring this funding delivers lasting improvements for riders on the ground, rather than short-term ‘patch and dash’ fixes. With National Pothole Day on 15 January, watch this space for further announcements from the Pothole Partnership.

Another notable achievement came in the summer, when the Government relaxed rules on when riders must notify the DVLA of significant motorcycle modifications. This work, led by the Vintage Motor Cycle Club, supported by the NMC membership, avoided proposals that could also have severely impacted ‘reconstructed’ classics. The final outcome not only protected historic machines but also eased rules for riders who customise and modify motorcycles of any age. This was another issue where partnership across the wider legacy and historic automotive sector proved key to protecting motorcycling.

Protecting the right to ride remains a core priority. With ongoing access threats in both urban and rural areas, the NMC adopted a two-pronged approach. First, it made detailed submissions to the Government’s consultation on the Integrated National Transport Strategy and continued to engage DfT officials. Second, it supported the Trail Riders Fellowship in work to protect access to unsealed ‘green roads’. This included engagement with the Access to Nature parliamentary inquiry, submissions to DEFRA consultations, and input into Active Travel England’s rural active travel consultation. This work may have been a factor behind DEFRA’s new Environmental Improvement Plan being largely silent on motorised green roads, deferring such issues to the DfT. However the NMC and TRF continues to assess The Plan’s longer-term implications, working closely with several countryside access partners.

On safety, the NMC took a proactive stance by working with Road Safety GB to deliver a motorcycle safety conference in February, followed by a well-received session at the RSGB national conference in November. This focused on the need for transport policy to properly recognise motorcycling within the Safe Systems approach, enabling investment that will reduce rider vulnerability. This theme also featured strongly in the NMC’s response to the forthcoming Road Safety Strategy, with significant responses also made by the British Motorcyclists Federation and IAM RoadSmart.

2025 also saw improved parliamentary engagement, with productive discussions involving MPs with interests in transport and motorcycling. The NMC further strengthened relationships with external transport stakeholders and continued international collaboration with the FIM and FEMA.

Looking ahead to 2026, several challenges remain. On motorcycle access to bus lanes, far from setting the issue aside in the wake of the Government’s refusal to grant default access, the NMC has been carefully considering the next steps in this long-standing lobby with plans to refresh the campaign and messaging. This is an area where the NMC made a strong submission to the DfT on its Integrated National Transport Strategy consultation.

Training, testing and licensing is another area where the NMC will continue to apply pressure. Ministerial answers to Parliamentary Questions acknowledge the positions of the NMC and also the Industry on this vital issue. But the long awaited review remains ‘under consideration’.

With the Road Safety and Integrated National Transport Strategies expected in the first half of 2026, the year ahead will be busy. Other priority areas include decarbonisation, motorcycle crime and theft, autonomous vehicles, trail riding and motorcycle sport access. Plus a strategy to tackle fake protective equipment, work on heritage protection, and the development of a genuine motorcycle Safe System.

Despite the challenges, the NMC enters the new year with optimism. Beyond tackling damaging policies, there is a growing opportunity to champion the wider societal benefits of motorcycling while protecting what riders value. It will also be a year of excitement as preparations are made this year by the Auto Cycle Union and the FIM for the UK return, after 40 years, of the FIM 6DAYS® Enduro of Nations in 2027, with the hugely positive exposure for motorcycling as a whole that this represents.

As ever, partnership underpins everything the NMC does. By uniting motorcycling representative organisations and building alliances across civil society, the NMC continues to demonstrate that a joined-up lobby can deliver real progress. The steady progress that the NMC has made since it was relaunched in 2021 shows the value, strength and authority that a combined approach from motorcycling organisations can bring.

Link to NMC website article click here

More information about the National Motorcyclists Council and its members can be found here

For further information or comment, please contact Craig Carey-Clinch | 07979 757484