In celebration of “the glory years of British motorcycle design,” the Royal Mail on July 19 will issue a set of six stamps in its ongoing “Transport” series.

The “Transport” series began in 2001 with stamps picturing buses. Jetliners appeared in 2002. Toys — “Transports of Delight” — were featured in 2003. Classic locomotives and ocean liners were commemorated in 2004.

Now, for the first time, motorcycles will appear on a “special stamp,” or commemorative, set.

Artist Michael English created the detailed illustrations on which the stamp designs were based. The bikes featured and stamp denominations are:

First class: The 1991 Norton F.1 with an engine capacity of 588 cubic centimeters, an output of 95 British horsepower and top speed of 145 mph. Fewer than 150 were manufactured before production ceased in the early 1990s.

40-pence: The 1969 BSA Rocket 3 with a 750-cc three-cylinder engine, 58 bhp and 145-mph top speed. The Rocket 3 was “one of the original superbikes.” Competition from cheaper Japanese bikes and poor U.S. sales hurt the company. Its last motorcycle came off the assembly line after the BSA Group merged with Norton-Villiers.

42p: The 1949 Vincent Black Shadow with a 1,000-cc engine, 55 bhp and top speed of 125 mph. “A motorcycling legend of the 1950s,” the Black Shadow’s production ended in 1955.

47p: The 1937 Triumph Speed Twin with a 500-cc engine, 27 bhp and top speed of 92 mph. In 1951, Triumph was bought by BSA. The manufacture of Triumph motorcycles continued when BSA merged with Norton-Villiers.

60p: The 1930 Brough Superior with a 1,000-cc engine capacity, 45 bhp and 110-mph top speed. Company owner George Brough called it the “Rolls-Royce of motorcycles.” His most famous bike was the SS100, which came with a 100-mph guarantee and was “renowned for superb roadholding.” Brough’s most celebrated customer was Thomas Edward Lawrence, more famously known as “Lawrence of Arabia.” He owned six SS100s.

68p: The 1914 Royal Enfield 1914 with a 425-cc engine, 14 bhp and top speed of 50 mph. Royal Enfield hit its manufacturing stride in 1910 and “became known for solid, dependable products,” such as the Model 140 middleweight with its V-twin engine. Royal Enfield later made larger V-twins and a series of sturdy single-cylinder bikes. Production ended in 1970, however, the Royal Enfield brand lives on with motorcycles made in India.

For information about prices and ordering these stamps and related items, contact Royal Mail, Tallents House, 21 S. Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh EH12 9PB, Scotland; or Royal Mail, 148 Old St., Room 108, London EC1V 9HQ, U.K.

(this article was taken from sun-sentinel.com and was written by Richard Carr)

The last time GP bikes took to the Laguna Seca rollercoaster, the Doohan years were just beginning. Now we are in the fifth season of Rossi domination and the up-coming USGP at the revised and improved Laguna Seca Raceway may offer the best and maybe even the last chance to prevent the 26 year-old Italian superstar from running the MotoGP table.

The Laguna race is supposed to be a Yamaha party, a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the factory, but the factory Honda team would love to spoil the party with what would be the first win by a factory Honda since Valentino’s last Honda win on November 2, 2003.

The first nine years of the eleven year partnership between Repsol YPF, the Spanish-Argentine petroleum company, and Honda HRC went very well, with Mick Doohan (four consecutive 500cc world titles, the first of the Australian’s championships was won in generic Honda colors), Álex Crivillé (one 500 title) and Valentino Rossi (one 500 title and two MotoGP titles) winning eight number one plates in the first nine years.

Amazingly the only wins for Honda over the last two seasons have come from riders on Honda’s satellite teams, Gibernau with Telefónica-Movistar Gresini Honda, and three riders with Sito Pons’ Camel Honda team, Max Biaggi and Makoto Tamada last year and Alex Barros this year.

(this article was taken from speedtv.com and was written by: Dennis Noyes)

The last time GP bikes took to the Laguna Seca rollercoaster, the Doohan years were just beginning. Now we are in the fifth season of Rossi domination and the up-coming USGP at the revised and improved Laguna Seca Raceway may offer the best and maybe even the last chance to prevent the 26 year-old Italian superstar from running the MotoGP table.

The Laguna race is supposed to be a Yamaha party, a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the factory, but the factory Honda team would love to spoil the party with what would be the first win by a factory Honda since Valentino’s last Honda win on November 2, 2003.

The first nine years of the eleven year partnership between Repsol YPF, the Spanish-Argentine petroleum company, and Honda HRC went very well, with Mick Doohan (four consecutive 500cc world titles, the first of the Australian’s championships was won in generic Honda colors), Álex Crivillé (one 500 title) and Valentino Rossi (one 500 title and two MotoGP titles) winning eight number one plates in the first nine years.

Amazingly the only wins for Honda over the last two seasons have come from riders on Honda’s satellite teams, Gibernau with Telefónica-Movistar Gresini Honda, and three riders with Sito Pons’ Camel Honda team, Max Biaggi and Makoto Tamada last year and Alex Barros this year.

(this article was taken from speedtv.com and was written by: Dennis Noyes)

Since racers are more often than not traveling at warp speed, they must anticipate what their racebike is going to do long before it happens-which means looking far ahead of their present location.

We know we’re constantly harping on this subject, but we’ve seen one too many accidents lately that were caused by a rider getting into a corner a little too hot, locking up the brakes and/or straightening the bike, then running off the road. We can’t emphasize enough how important it is to not only look where you want to go, but also to scan far enough ahead of yourself; this is basically a recital of the racing mantra, “Don’t ride the front wheel.”

Riding a sportbike well means being in control, and although it may not appear that way, it’s vitally important for a racer to constantly be on top of his motorcycle’s handling. Since racers are more often than not traveling at warp speed, they must anticipate what their racebike is going to do long before it happens-which means looking far ahead of their present location. This is why racers seem to be checking out spectators on the side of the track when entering hairpins. Instead, they’re looking at where they’d like to be in a 10th of a second.

Try practicing your vision skills at a fairly tight corner, either on your favorite canyon road or racetrack. As you approach the apex (or a fixed, readily visible point on the pavement), note how close you are to that mark before you begin to scan ahead for your next reference point. If you are staring at that point until you are nearly on top of it, you’re target fixating-if the corner ahead tightened up or if you found an obstacle in your path, it would be difficult to correct. In fact, if you’re looking at that point even 25 to 35 feet before you get there, you’re still not looking far enough ahead.

This immaculate ZX-9R is fitted with a Scorpion Exhaust, Carbon Hugger and Smoked Screen. One of the best you will see anywhere.

Colour: Green
Year: 2000
Mileage: 8000
Location: Plymouth
Engine: 899cc in-line four
Power: 143.00hp (104.4kw) at 11000rpm
Cooling System: Liquid
Gearbox: 6-speed
Fuel Capacity: 19.00 litres (5.02gall)
Dry Weight: 183.0kg

GT Motorcycles are offering this bike for £4299.00

If you would like to take a closer look, feel free to drop into our Plymouth showroom, or browse our online selection of bikes on this website.

This immaculate ZX-9R is fitted with a Scorpion Exhaust, Carbon Hugger and Smoked Screen. One of the best you will see anywhere.

Colour: Green
Year: 2000
Mileage: 8000
Location: Plymouth
Engine: 899cc in-line four
Power: 143.00hp (104.4kw) at 11000rpm
Cooling System: Liquid
Gearbox: 6-speed
Fuel Capacity: 19.00 litres (5.02gall)
Dry Weight: 183.0kg

GT Motorcycles are offering this bike for £4299.00

If you would like to take a closer look, feel free to drop into our Plymouth showroom, or browse our online selection of bikes on this website.

Some hints on braking and downshifting from the experts at sportrider.com…

Shifting gears smoothly is one of the hallmarks of a competent rider. Downshifting properly poses the greatest challenge for novices because miscues lead to an unsettled chassis at inopportune times-like entering a corner. What makes the task difficult is the right hand must manage to brake and blip the throttle to match the engine speed to the road speed. Having your hand in the proper position will make the process easier. When the throttle is completely closed, your wrist should still have a slight downward bend (right)-not choked-up drag-racer style (left). Now practice maintaining constant pressure on the brake lever, while quickly rolling the throttle on and off. This is how you’ll match the engine speed to the lower gear, and prevent the front end from bobbing up and down due to uneven brake lever pressure.

While you’re braking and blipping the throttle, the left side of your body is busy shifting gears and modulating the clutch. Almost simultaneously, slightly preload the shifter (to get slack out of the linkage) by lightly pressing down on it, pull in the clutch, make the downshift and release the clutch when you blip the throttle. You only need to pull in the lever far enough to disengage the clutch plates. Pulling the lever all the way in is wasted effort and makes it more difficult to shift smoothly. One way to make this slight movement easier is to only cover the lever with two fingers. Your other fingers will remind you when you pull it in too far as you become accustomed to the technique.