The only remaining original 1984 works Suzuki XR45 (£70,000-80,000) and a 1983 works Suzuki XR40 (£60,000-70,000), both ridden by Barry Sheene in Grands Prix, are early entries for H&H’s first dedicated cycle and motorcycle sale, which is being held at the Shepton Mallet Bike Show on February 11/12, 2006.

Other motorcycles already consigned include:

1977 Suzuki RG500 Mk2 (£10,000-12,000) 1980 Suzuki RG500 Mk5 (£9,000-10,000) 1980 Suzuki RG500 Mk5 (£7,500-8,500

1978 Yamaha TZ 250 E (£3,500-4,500) 1979 Yamaha TZ 350 F (£4,500-5,500) 1982 Yamaha TZ 500 J (£12,000-14,000)

1975 Yamaha TZ 750 B (£13,000-15,000) 1979 Yamaha TZ 750 F (£13,000-15,000 1987 Bimota JB9 (£2,500-3,500)

1950 Vespa 125 (£2,000-3,000) 1952 Vespa 125 (£2,000-3,000) Lambretta 150 ((£2,500-3,500) Pedal-powered machines currently include:

1880 Surrey Machinist Co Invincible Ordinary Bicycle (£6,500-7,500) 1930 Warrick box tricycle (£350-450) Harding tricycle (£250-350) Raleigh trade cycle (no reserve)

Raleigh trade cycle (small wheel) Triumph tandem (no reserve) H&H is continuing to build up its motorcycle department and has just added a further pair of highly regarded experts, namely:

Richard Rosenthal who is especially well know in veteran and vintage circles

Jim Reynolds – a most respected classic motorcycle journalist and editor of Motorcycle Trader

(this article was taken from insidebikes.com)

Here’s a great deal for two people - free admission to the MCN London Motorcycle Show at Ally Pally, providing you arrive by bike.

If you visit the show on Tuesday Jan 31st, then your pillion passenger gets free admission courtesy of The Daily Telegraph, one of the show sponsors, alongside Carole Nash Insurance.

Simply call the ticket hotline 0870 730 0049 and quote ‘Pillion Goes Free!’ to get your free pillion passenger ticket.

(That bulletin was taken from insidebikes.com)

Here’s a great deal for two people - free admission to the MCN London Motorcycle Show at Ally Pally, providing you arrive by bike.

If you visit the show on Tuesday Jan 31st, then your pillion passenger gets free admission courtesy of The Daily Telegraph, one of the show sponsors, alongside Carole Nash Insurance.

Simply call the ticket hotline 0870 730 0049 and quote ‘Pillion Goes Free!’ to get your free pillion passenger ticket.

(That bulletin was taken from insidebikes.com)

The MCI have just released the official UK registration figures for new motorcycles and scooters, during November 2005.

Overall, new bike/moped/scooter registrations are down by 4%, but scooters and mopeds have fallen by 25% and 53% respectively, with motorcycle sales actually rising - allegedly - to counteract the trend in declining moped/scooter sales.

It’s not surprising that moped sales are collapsing, as sales of illegal minibikes and quads are skyrocketing.

However, the MCI claim that supersports category registrations were up by 11% in November, is unlikely, for one simple reason; the MCI class the Honda CBR125R as a sportsbike, which it patently is not - it is a learner bike. Subtract those 2600 odd CBR125 ’sales’ and things look very different.

Yes, astonishingly, the CBR125R has ’sold’ 2653 units so far in 2005, which is remarkable, as insidebikes.com hasn’t seen rows of them parked up in town centres, outside college halls, late night shops, kebab shops, off licences or other places where teenagers tend to gather.

Meanwhile, check out BMW’s R1200GS - 1871 registered so far in 2005 and the 5th best selling two wheeler in the UK market. Just shows how a Hollywood celeb connection, plus a cracking TV series, can shift hundreds of expensive new bikes.

Top off-road bike in 2005 has been the WR450F Yamaha, top custom has been the Harley FXS, top tourer is the R1200RT, whilst top sportbike has been the GSXR1000, just ahead of the CBR1000RR.

In a weak UK bike market, it’s been BMW who have emerged as the runaway winner in 2005, regardless of what the official registration figures might say.

BMW sales have rocketed, as the factory have introduced some exciting new models - crucially, the bikes hold their re-sale value too. Discounting bikes damages values in the long run, which sends customers’ hard earned cash elsewhere - a lesson that some others in the motorcycle trade are still finding hard to learn.

With few genuinely innovative models from the Japanese brands for 2006, especially in the non sportbike sector, it looks like BMW, Triumph, KTM and the Chinese brands will be the ones to grow in the UK.

(this article was taken from insidebikes.com)

The British Motorcyclists Federation has welcomed the announcement by Transport Secretary Alistair Darling that there is going to be more flexibility over speed camera policy.

Over-hyped by the over-zealous, speed cameras, sited sensibly, can nevertheless reduce speed-related accidents say the BMF, but news that cameras will now be seen as only part of local road safety schemes and not treated as the automatic panacea to road casualty reduction, is a welcome change in policy.

So-called ‘safety cameras’ are no substitute for proper policing say the BMF. Speed in itself is rarely the primary cause of an accident, but inappropriate speed is. What cameras have done is to allow police road traffic patrols to be reduced, hence the drop in drink-driving and careless driving cases - not because drivers are better, simply that the police are no longer around to see such offences committed.

Research by the DfT has shown that the effect of cameras has also been over estimated. It has been accepted that in some cases, ‘Regression to Mean’ has indicated that camera’s, sited after a short spate of accidents (a peak that would not necessarily have been repeated), have been credited with accident reduction when accidents would have dropped to a lower ‘mean’ - even without the camera. To then claim it was solely responsible for accident reduction is disingenuous to say the least. All such instances have done is annoy even the most responsible motorcyclist or motorist.

BMF spokesman Jeff Stone, said: “We welcome sensible road safety measures. The proposal to improve speed limit signing at camera sites is such a case. It’s in no-one’s interests to ‘catch people out’. Road safety is not a game; we want to see proper enforcement of the laws we have but by the police, not by machines. Drivers ignore the law on mobile phone use because they know there is little chance of being caught. It’s this sort of cavalier attitude that needs addressing, not inadvertent speeding.”

“We know from our surveys that the responsible rider and driver is not afraid of better policing. Motorcyclists invariably come off worse in car-bike crashes, we want to see driving standards improve and the best way is to make road policing more visible.”

The BMF will be writing to Alistair Darling in response to the announcement, including a request that a substantial part of the additional road safety funding now announced will be spent on police road patrols.

(this article was taken from insidebikes.com)

The British Motorcyclists Federation has welcomed the announcement by Transport Secretary Alistair Darling that there is going to be more flexibility over speed camera policy.

Over-hyped by the over-zealous, speed cameras, sited sensibly, can nevertheless reduce speed-related accidents say the BMF, but news that cameras will now be seen as only part of local road safety schemes and not treated as the automatic panacea to road casualty reduction, is a welcome change in policy.

So-called ‘safety cameras’ are no substitute for proper policing say the BMF. Speed in itself is rarely the primary cause of an accident, but inappropriate speed is. What cameras have done is to allow police road traffic patrols to be reduced, hence the drop in drink-driving and careless driving cases - not because drivers are better, simply that the police are no longer around to see such offences committed.

Research by the DfT has shown that the effect of cameras has also been over estimated. It has been accepted that in some cases, ‘Regression to Mean’ has indicated that camera’s, sited after a short spate of accidents (a peak that would not necessarily have been repeated), have been credited with accident reduction when accidents would have dropped to a lower ‘mean’ - even without the camera. To then claim it was solely responsible for accident reduction is disingenuous to say the least. All such instances have done is annoy even the most responsible motorcyclist or motorist.

BMF spokesman Jeff Stone, said: “We welcome sensible road safety measures. The proposal to improve speed limit signing at camera sites is such a case. It’s in no-one’s interests to ‘catch people out’. Road safety is not a game; we want to see proper enforcement of the laws we have but by the police, not by machines. Drivers ignore the law on mobile phone use because they know there is little chance of being caught. It’s this sort of cavalier attitude that needs addressing, not inadvertent speeding.”

“We know from our surveys that the responsible rider and driver is not afraid of better policing. Motorcyclists invariably come off worse in car-bike crashes, we want to see driving standards improve and the best way is to make road policing more visible.”

The BMF will be writing to Alistair Darling in response to the announcement, including a request that a substantial part of the additional road safety funding now announced will be spent on police road patrols.

(this article was taken from insidebikes.com)