For two summers as the ‘60s gave way to the ‘70s, Dave Andrew would strap a surfboard to his Vespa and make the 300-mile journey to Cornwall.

The now 74-year-old from Leytonstone discovered his love for the surf on a lads’ scooter holiday in Newquay in 1968.

He took to it like a duck to water, so the following summer he loaded up his Vespa SS180 with board and belongings and went to work as a porter and wine waiter in a family run hotel in the town.

“My idea behind this was to serve a sort of surfing apprenticeship, not to learn the hotel trade,” he says. “I had four free hours between 2pm and 6pm, and one day off a week, so I had that time to surf.

“I’ve been surfing for 55 years now, so suffice to say I got hooked.”

Teenage scooterist

And none of it would have happened if Dave, who now lives with his wife Sue in Chelmsford, hadn’t bought a Vespa and joined the Foresters Scooter Club as a teenager.

He bought his first, a 1959 Vespa 125 Sportique, in 1966 at the age of 16 when he was still at school, thanks to a £20 loan from his grandad.

“I practised in a car park across the road before I passed my test, and then I got what they called ‘scooter permission’ to ride it to school,” he says.

“I also did a bit of my paper round on it, and I had jobs at Woolworths and then Fine Fare to pay my grandad back and keep it running.

“It was the mod mode of transport. You saw the lads go by on theirs and I just fancied a scooter.

“At the end of the road, we had a little crew of rockers, and they were forever repairing their bikes, because of course the good old British bikes couldn’t hold oil. But Ready Steady Go was on the telly, with all the mod gear, and I just preferred that to the rockers.”

Joining the Foresters

The following year, Dave joined the Foresters, which was affiliated to the Vespa Club of Britain, and which met every Tuesday evening at Wanstead House community centre.

By now, he’d upgraded to a Vespa SS180 bought on hire purchase with his dad acting as guarantor.

At the time, he was working in the ladies hosiery department at Selfridges on Oxford Street.

“I didn’t earn much, so my parents were very much subsidising me,” he says. “I think dad must have paid most of the HP for the scooter. But it was exciting, because it was down the road from Carnaby Street and I remember the Beatles opening the Apple shop – I went up there to see that.

“They were exciting times, the swinging sixties, although by the time I got there it wasn’t so much swinging as dangling, but you still felt part of it.”

The Foresters meetings were “typical ‘60s” affairs, says Dave.

“There was ping pong, music, and sometimes people were outside having a tinker with their scooters if they had a problem,” he adds. “On weekends we’d go out together as a group, and I started to go to some of the rallies, up to Goole, near Hull, and down to Torquay and Weston-super-Mare – we got about.”

Vespa Club rallies

The Vespa Club rallies were very different to the later scooter rallies of the ‘80s, with a gymkhana comprising an obstacle course with ramps, and various other skill-related events.

“You’d have to pick a tennis ball up from here, and put it over there, that kind of thing,” says Dave. “You tended to arrive on a Friday night, have the event on Saturday, then you’d have a meal and a dance in the evening, and go home on Sunday.

“There was a bar, but people didn’t get smashed, it was all quite civilised.”

The Foresters club was very much into the mod look, but the Vespa club rallies attracted a mix of scooterists.

“We were all in parkas, but you had some people who looked more like they’d stepped off a motorbike, the old school crowd that were still in their long macs and corker crash helmets, with a great big windscreen on the scooter,” he says. “There was a mix, but there was never any trouble. It was a good time, a bit of respect for everybody.”

The UK’s Vespa dealer, Douglas of Bristol, would bring a van along for running repairs and breakdowns, which proved very handy for Dave on one trip to Goole.

“I seized it going to a rally in Goole, and I was very grateful for the Vespa people, who put a new barrel and piston in for me,” he says. “They said it would cost a fiver! I said ‘I haven’t got a fiver’ so they billed me and, again, my dad paid for it.

“I only had a week to run it in before the Foresters’ trip to Newquay, and every night I rode from Leytonstone to Epping and back, which was 20 miles, and I thought if I did that five times it would help, but it didn’t, it needed running in properly.

Long trip to Newquay

“It took me about 22 hours to get from Leytonstone to Newquay, because I was still running it in. I had to stop for petrol and the toilet, but I didn’t eat and I don’t remember drinking anything. I was absolutely knackered when I arrived – I’d had enough as you can imagine.”

The next day, Dave and his mates went to the beach, where they were persuaded by the car park attendant to try their hand at surfing, for 10 shillings for the day.

“We had five minutes of tutorial and we were off,” he says. “We had no surfing wax, so you slipped all over the place, no wetsuit, just a vest and shorts.

“I seemed to be a natural. I had good balance anyway, because I’d done a lot of sport and it just sort of took off. This picture is proof of the pudding, my first time on a board.”

The experience in the summer of ‘68 left a lasting impression, and back home – now working for a company delivering plane tickets around London on a company Lambretta Li150 – Dave started planning the following summer’s adventures.

He bought a 6ft 3in long Bilbo surfboard from Jay Surfshop in Putney, added a sidecar to the SS180, by now painted autumn gold, and attached the board flat to the sidecar with bungees, and headed to Newquay for the summer season.

“I worked in a good hotel, family run and with no Fawlty Towers characters I’m afraid,” he laughs. “We all got on well, and I could surf between 2pm and 6pm.”

New season, new scooter

Dave sold the sidecar and scooter down in Cornwall and caught the train home in September, but then bought a Vespa 150 Sportique the following year for the summer season of 1970.

This time there was no sidecar, so he strapped the board to a side rack, along with a front rack holding a Dansette record player with 25 LPs, and a back rack carrying a 1950s cardboard suitcase. Plus the side blister full of tools and spares.

“With the board mounted sideways, when lorries went by you went all over the place, it was like a little sail,” he smiles, once again selling the Vespa at the end of the season and travelling home by train.

And that was pretty much it for scooters for the best part of 30 years.

From scooters to bikes and back

“By 1971 I’d seen the film Easy Rider, so I built a chopper, a T110 Triumph,” he remembers. “It was a real jerry-rigged thing, with ape hanger bars, slugs in the forks to extend it, a straight through exhaust, and I made my own seat.

“For me, it was more about the hippy element with the Easy Rider influence. I’m easily influenced! When the mod scene was about, ‘I’m going to be a mod’, and then ‘now I’m going to be Peter Fonda’. That’s the way it went for me. I liked The Eagles, and it led me to a more hippy type California style.

“I was mostly on motorbikes until 2000, when I sold my Harley 883 Sportster and bought another Vespa.”

The switch was prompted by a convoluted redundancy process from his job as a buyer for a steel fabrication company.

“They promised me redundancy payment but they didn’t honour it, so all I got was the government minimum,” Dave explains.

“I sold the Harley and bought a van, but I wanted to keep on two wheels so I bought a Vespa PX200, which I felt was more manageable.”

Back on the scooter scene

He got in touch with his old friend from his Foresters days, Peter Burley, joined the Essex Vespa Club and the Vespa Club of Britain, and started again.

Since then, he’s travelled to events across Europe, including trips to Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Turin, Northern Ireland, and the Vespa factory in Pontedera, as well as rallies closer to home, including the Isle of Wight.

“The ride to Turin took us four days I think, and it was fantastic,” he says. “The ride there and back eclipsed the rally, because it was all new to me. We rode over the Alps, where they’d had the snow ploughs out clearing the way. I’d never done anything like that before, and it was really exciting.”

Dave still rides with Peter, now 83, and plans to keep on going for as long as he physically can.

“As with some of the other riders, I suffer from rheumatism, and I suppose I should be looking at an auto, but I’d much rather stay with the gears for as long as I can,” he says. “I’ve no real aversion to the autos, but I do call it the dark side. We’ve been on holiday and hired autos, but I just like the idea of the old two strokes.”

His current two-stroke is a 2012 Vespa PX150 he bought new, painted in the red and white colours of his football team, Leyton Orient.

A recent addition is a sidecar frame made by K2 Custom Classics, and a home-made box so that Dave can use the scooter for his handyman work.

“I can put my tools in it, and also I’m getting a little bit older – you can’t really put stabilisers like you do on a kids bike, so this isn’t a bad idea,” he says. “I don’t have to worry too much, I’ve got three wheels now, not two.”

So after nearly 60 years of an on, off, and on again relationship with scooters, what does it mean to him now?

“It’s a way of keeping in touch with the past,” says Dave. “Somebody said to me I was reliving my youth, and I said ‘I haven’t finished with it yet, I’m still doing it’.

“There’s hardly been a period in my life when I haven’t had a scooter or bike, and it’s important that I keep going. It gives me a bit of purpose, and I enjoy it.”

Scooter stories is a series of articles exploring the lives and experiences of scooterists and collectors. Click on the Scooter Stories category link to read more.

The post Dave’s passion for scooters and surfing appeared first on Bikesure Blog.

If you weren’t able to attend Motorcycle Live this year, don’t worry we’ve got you covered on all the major highlights you missed.

We gave away a modified Ducati and a Honda XL750 Transalp

Bikesure gave away UsernameKate’s modified Ducati to one lucky attendee at Motorcycle Live 2024. Kate used this bike to travel from her native Bolton all the way to Bologna! And you can see her documented journey below.

And if that wasn’t enough, we also gave away a Honda XL750 Transalp.

Live episode of the Full Chat podcast

The hosts of the Full Chat podcast, Iwan Thomas and footballer-turned-presenter David Prutton, were joined by television personality and former special forces operator Titch Cormack for an extra special live episode of the motorcycle-themed show discussing his TV career and his love of all things two-wheeled.  

Live stunt with Iwan Thomas 

Thomas was also involved in a stunt with a professional stuntman Dec Bullock who put the former Olympian’s metal to the test by jumping over him in a series of stunts that left the crowd and Thomas speechless. 

Stage chats with UsernameKate

Kate also hosted a motorcycle-themed pub quiz on the main stage in Hall 4 with some very exciting VIP guests and other biking influencers. And even filmed a brand new video for her YouTube channel with some lucky attendees. 

She also chatted with Grace Webb, James Whitham and Girl on a Bike, about how they became motorcycle influencers and what it’s like being a woman in a male-dominated industry. 

Where’s the best place to get my motorbike insured?

No matter which type of bike you saw at Motorcycle Live or own, you’ll want the right insurance for your motorcycle. Bikesure can help you find a policy that works for you and your bike without any of the fuss that usually comes with searching for motorbike insurance. 

Call us on 0808 369 8580 or book a callback for a quote.

The post Everything you missed at Motorcycle Live 2024 appeared first on Bikesure Blog.

Geoff Burton has 49 scooters arranged over two levels in his garage, and every single one of them was made in Britain.

There isn’t a Vespa or Lambretta in sight among a collection of some wonderful, some weird, and some very rare British machines.

In all, there are scooters manufactured by 14 different marques and, if you didn’t realise many of them existed, you’re not alone.

Hooked on British scooters

It’s the very reason Geoff became hooked in the first place, spotting a Triumph Tigress for sale on eBay when he was working overseas as a power station engineer.

“I’ve always had very stressful, responsible jobs where if I did something wrong I could wreck millions of pounds of machinery or hurt or kill someone, so whatever I did I had to do it right,” he says.

“The only thing I had to help me switch off from the stress of the job was eBay, and when I saw the Tigress advertised I thought ‘that’s interesting, I didn’t know Triumph made scooters’.”

He bought it, and in the 20 or so years since the 71-year-old has amassed possibly the largest collection of British scooters under one roof in the world.

As well as about a dozen Triumphs, there are scooters from well-known motorcycle marques Velocette, Ariel and BSA, along with DKR, DMW, Dayton, Sun, Swallow, Raleigh, and Bond.

“I didn’t really have any idea that we made these scooters,” says Geoff, “and then I was given a book about British scooters, and that was a really big mistake for me.

“When I realised how many there were, then I had to go for it, and try to see what I could get.

‘Bee in my bonnet’

“I get a bee in my bonnet and my late wife Hazel said ‘you can’t do anything by halves can you?’ and I can’t. I think that there’s something driving me to do silly things. If they made it, I wanted one.”

For example, there are six different variations of the Triumph Tigress – the 250 with kickstart, the 250 with electric start, and the 175, in addition to the same three models that wear a BSA Sunbeam badge. Geoff has five of the six, along with several frames.

The Dayton Albatross comes with single and twin cylinder engines and, of course, Geoff had to have them both.

“It was ‘why are you buying that, you’ve already got one?’ Well, I haven’t quite got that one…” he smiles.

Geoff had no history with scooters in his younger days, initially riding a Royal Enfield 250 at 17 before quickly moving on to a 1957 Ford Prefect that he rebuilt with his father.

The Ford gave way to much more sporty cars, first an Austin-Healey Sprite, then a Triumph TR6, followed by the Lotus Elan S4 that currently shares the garage with his scooters.

But he always retained an interest in two wheels sparked by growing up a few miles from Brands Hatch, where he would watch motorcycle racing with his father, a keen biker himself.

Geoff had spells as a fingerprint officer for Lancashire Police, an apprentice with the Central Electricity Generating Board, and major works with Southern Electric, but spent most of his career working in power stations – as his father and grandfather had before him.

It took him all over the world, from Saudi Arabia to Singapore, and Ghana to Lebanon.

Start of an obsession

And it was while working away that his therapeutic eBay searches led to the fateful Tigress purchase, and the start of an obsession.

He quickly filled his double garage at home in Newbury, Berkshire, then his father’s shed, and then a series of further sheds he bought and erected at home.

“I had no room left and nowhere to work,” he says, eventually buying up a large workshop five years ago to house his collection and give him the space he needs.

“This place was in a bad state, so I’ve spent a lot of time doing it up, creating the mezzanine level and a manual vehicle lift with two chain blocks on either side.

“It is difficult to do on your own because you have to do one side at a time. As I’m raising or lowering them I play a little game of chicken with myself to see how far I can raise each side without them toppling over.”

There is method to where each scooter resides, partly related to marque grouping, and partly their condition.

“The hopefuls are on the ground, and the hopeless at the top,” laughs Geoff, pointing out the original Tigress perched on the mezzanine.

“I never did anything to it. I’ve always been working abroad, I didn’t get very much leave, and when I did get leave I wouldn’t have been very popular if I’d spent it working on scooters or motorbikes.”

Among those on the ground floor are the Bond P1 scooter with its distinctive jet age rear end, the DKR Defiant with its bulbous front fairing, and the DMW Deemster ex police scooter, complete with its (possibly) original radio.

Scooter oddities

Oddities grouped together on the lift include an Ariel 3, a tricycle moped with a £2m development cost reported to have done for its makers, BSA; a Brockhouse Corgi, a civilian version of the Welbike, dropped by parachute to support airborne troops in World War Two; a Swallow Gadabout, produced from 1946 to 1951; and a BSA Dandy.

The one nod to Italian scooters is the Raleigh Roma, effectively a Bianchi produced in the UK under licence.

Of the 49, only the Defiant and a very smart, and very large, Velocette Viceroy are currently ridden with any regularity.

“The Velocette is fascinating,” says Geoff. “The thing I always thought was odd with scooters was that all the weight’s over the back wheel, with nothing over the front. Well Velocette thought this isn’t right, so they put the boxer twin engine in front of you.

“I love the machinery – that’s what fascinates me. If I see a beautifully restored, painted, chromed machine I’ll think ‘oh, that’s nice’ and I’ll walk straight past it. But if I see one that needs a lot of tlc, I’ll fall in love with it.”

Are there any he still needs to complete the British set?

“I’d like to find a proper Douglas Vespa with the correct badge,” he says. “And I don’t have a Dunkley.

Collection not finished yet

“The objective is to get as many British scooters together as I possibly can. I’m doing well, but it’s not quite finished yet, although I do think it’s almost reached a plateau.

“If I started doing scooters from other nationalities, then I wouldn’t have enough room in here, or even in the entire village…”

When he first started collecting, Geoff had a “master plan”.

“I was going to retire when I was 60, and then I would spend a year doing each one of 20 bikes and scooters,” he adds, “and then by the time I reached 80 I would just hug and polish them.

“Well, I didn’t retire at 60, and probably because of that I went well beyond my 20.

“My new plan is to just enjoy myself, and when I come here I enjoy myself no matter what I’m doing. I like music as well, so everywhere I go I’ve got music. I do tend to go a bit too far though, I’ve even got disco lights here as well.”

When Hazel sadly passed away a week before Christmas 2023, the workshop took on an even more important role in his life.

“She hated motorbikes, which is why this place is so good for me, because she didn’t like to come here,” says Geoff. “When I’m at home it’s not always good because there are things there of hers that I see, but here I’m in a different world. This isn’t a Hazel place, this is purely a Geoff place.”

We’re chatting on a sofa in the workshop with a naked scooter frame on the floor nearby.

Grandson apprentice

It’s the bare bones of another Velocette Viceroy, and Geoff says it has been claimed by his 13-year-old grandson Henry.

“I said to him ‘have a scooter to rebuild’, and he wanted that one because you have to do everything on it,” he adds. “It came as a barn find, and I’ve got most of the bits for it.

“But when I took the engine to bits I realised that somebody must have ridden it through a ford or something and filled the engine with water, because the inside is completely destroyed.

“I do have a spare engine though, which I managed to find on eBay.”

Grandad and grandson will be rebuilding the Velocette together, and Henry has already proved adept at one very useful skill.

“He’s going to be my welder,” says Geoff. “I’m not one to praise – if it’s rubbish I’ll say it’s rubbish – but my comment on his first bit of welding was ‘that’s bloody good’. I was amazed at how quickly he took to it.

“I’ve got two more grandsons, Thomas, 10 and Edward, eight, and I’m hoping that they will all come in here and help in the future.”

There’s certainly plenty for them to get their teeth into in the years to come, to gradually restore and safeguard this incredible collection of British scootering history.

Scooter stories is a series of articles exploring the lives and experiences of scooterists and collectors. Click on the Scooter Stories category link to read more.

The post Geoff’s incredible British scooter collection appeared first on Bikesure Blog.

John Weaver was 70 when he decided to get back into the scooter scene after a four-decade break, much of it spent on motorbikes.

As part of a cafe crowd in Lowestoft in the late ‘60s, he was drawn to the scooters his friends rode.

“I liked the look of them, and several of my mates had them, as well as a lot of my friends from school I was still knocking about with,” he says, chatting at the Great Yarmouth Scooter Weekender.

Teenage scene

“They were also cheap, and a fairly easy thing to get around on, and comfortable – well, I thought so. It was just the teenage scene at the time.”

Having sold his last scooter in 1980, he took the plunge again in the summer of 2023 and bought the immaculate Lambretta, badged as a TV200, you see here.

“For many years, if I’ve seen there’s something going on, like this scooter rally today in previous years, I would always try and get to them because I’ve always loved Lambrettas,” he says.

“It’s not Vespas for me, sorry, or Royal Alloys, or Scomadi, those scooters are not for me. I just wanted a Lambretta in TV200 livery with a bit of chrome on it, with racks and stuff.”

First Lambretta

John cut his two-wheeled teeth on a Honda 50 at 16 before opting for a 1965 Lambretta GT200 in 1969, on which he passed his test.

The mods and rockers era, and the aggro it sometimes brought, had largely passed by then, but John does remember seeing skirmishes in his younger days in Yarmouth.

“I can remember being out with my parents and seeing some of it in the mid ‘60s just before I was old enough to ride,” he says. “We came over to Yarmouth for a Sunday afternoon on a bank holiday to go to the funfair. We walked along the front, my parents, me and my sisters, and there were a few scraps sporadically breaking out. It was nothing really bad, and I never experienced the aggravation they’d had in Clacton.”

John and his mates used their scooters for ride outs, meeting at a cafe in Oulton Broad, on longer runs to London and his only scooter rally at Southend on the GT200.

“I can remember going down the A12 close behind a coach, all being drawn along by it, all flat out trying to do 70mph with only half a throttle,” he smiles.

‘Stupid thing to do’

“Of course, had he had to pull up pretty sharpish he’d have had about 10 splats on the back, like flies on a windscreen. It was a stupid thing to do, but it was just what we did.

“I can also remember going past a load of greasers on the opposite carriageway. They’d stopped in a layby, and they were all sitting on a grass bank jeering at us as we went past.

“They had a kind of grasstrack circuit at the rally and I can remember going on it and quickly falling off, then my mate Robbie had a go and crashed too. In the end you think, ‘well, I’ve done enough damage for one day, I’d better stop as I can’t afford a big repair bill’.”

After enrolling on an electrical and mechanical engineering course at Lowestoft technical college, John served his apprenticeship in a local shipyard from 1970.

He was still messing about on the GT when disaster struck on an outing to the disused Ellough airfield near Beccles.

“We were racing up and down the redundant runways when the flywheel decided to partially detach itself and cause all sorts of damage,” he says. “When I got it repaired it didn’t seem to run the same anymore, so I decided to trade it in for a Lambretta SX200 from a local dealer.”

By the time John got married in 1976, the SX was long gone and he was getting about on his pushbike, having sunk all the couple’s money into buying a house.

He started working in the booming offshore natural gas industry, but couldn’t afford a car.

Lambretta number 3

“We needed to get about, and a mate of mine who I was working with said ‘I know somebody who has got a scooter for sale, are you interested?’” he says.

“I said ‘yeah, how much is it?’ He said ‘it’s £36 including the crash helmet’. I said ‘blimey, what is it?’ It was a Lambretta GP200, and I thought that was cheap. I went and had a look, and basically ripped his arm off.

“I subsequently found out that when his dad found out he’d sold it for £36 he went absolutely apeshit, but he didn’t come after me…it was a done deal.

“Apparently, he didn’t want it because he’d fallen off it twice and he thought they were unsafe. I thought it was more about how you ride it.”

The GP was used as daily transport.

“I used to do the shopping on that on a Friday night, with two carrier bags full of shopping on the inside of the leg shields, feet hanging on the edge on my heels, with my wife on the back,” says John.

‘Eternal shame’

“I had that for the next year, but we then managed to afford a car and the scooter unfortunately, and to my eternal shame, was left on the little patio outside the back of the house and started to rot away.

“I did eventually pull it all apart, mended it, resprayed it and sold it in about 1980.”

Scooters were then off the radar for many years and, when John was divorced in 1990, he fell in with his work colleagues who all had motorbikes.

“I was working with a guy and he said ‘why don’t you get yourself a bike and come out with us at weekends?’,” he says. “They’d go off to see MotoGP, British Superbikes, and World Superbikes, and I just thought ‘I’m going to get myself a bike’, so I did.

“For several years, I enjoyed the motorbiking scene.” Indeed, he still has a Honda SP2.

But about six years ago, he was again seduced by a Lambretta at the Yarmouth scooter rally.

“I came to this rally when it was held over the road, and a bloke pulled up on this scooter and I said ‘cor blimey, that’s a lovely scooter, I used to have one of these’,” says John, now 71.

“We started yakking, and I said ‘if you ever want to sell it, I might be interested’ and we exchanged phone numbers.

“Six years later, I was going through my phone contacts and came across his number again. I thought ‘if you’re going to get another scooter it has to be now, you will be 70 soon’.

Back on the Lambretta scene

“On the off chance, I rang him up and he’d still got my number and said he’d thought about ringing me a few times. I went and saw him and he said ‘I’m definitely packing up now’, so we agreed on a price and I rode it away.

“I paid just over £4,500 – a lot different to £36, but there is a feeling that prices are starting to go down now because as owners are getting older and giving up their scooters the youngsters don’t seem to be as interested in them.”

Although the scooter is badged as a TV200, it is based on a Lambretta Li150 frame from 1966, rebuilt in 2011 to the previous owner’s specification.

So what’s it like to be back on the scooter scene, several decades later?

“I love it,” says John. “I’ve still got friends who were into scooters from back in the day who still have them now. I met a childhood friend earlier in the year who I hadn’t seen since I was six or seven years old, and he and his elder brother are still in scootering and meet up with a group of likeminded diehards at The Chalet cafe in Gorleston a couple of times a week.”

For John, it’s all about indulging his love of Lambrettas that had lain dormant for more than 40 years.

Scooter stories is a series of articles exploring the lives and experiences of scooterists and collectors. Click on the Scooter Stories category link to read more.

The post John loving Lambrettas again after 40-year break appeared first on Bikesure Blog.

As True Heroes Racing celebrate another hugely successful year as a team, we look back on some of the highlights of the season, both on and off the track. 

This year, the team competed in the Superbike Superstock 1000 and the TriOptions Cup competitions under the guise of the British Superbike Championship series. Here we go through the top moments from the 2024 campaign.

True Heroes Racing achievements in 2024

• Charlie White winning the British Supersport Last Chance Qualifier race at Donington Park
• Charlie White winning the British Supersport Cup race at Snetterton

• Charlie White clinching the Sound of Thunder Championship with NG Road Racing Club
• Dave Mackay finishing third in the prestigious Phoenix Open Championship with NG Road Racing Club
• Recognising the achievements of Sam Cox in overcoming adversity with him being the recipient of the Mark Fincham Memorial Trophy at Brands Hatch

• Strengthening links and being able to host pensioners and staff from the Royal Hospital Chelsea as our guests at Brands Hatch

• Scott McFarlane completing an inaugural season in the BMW F900R Cup

• Two more military veterans joined their grassroots programme and achieved their ACU race licence assessments to start their racing journey with the team 

The UK’s first disabled motorcycle racing team – True Heroes Racing

True Heroes Racing, the UK’s first motorcycle racing team dedicated to supporting wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans, are celebrating their 14th year on track. 

But these incredible individuals are not just setting an example while racing, they’re also helping to progress motorsport away from it too. 

The team races in some of the country’s biggest motorcycle competitions such as the British Superbike Superstock 1000 and the British Supersport Championship.

True Heroes also has a grassroots rider programme for UK service personnel currently undergoing, or coming to the end of their rehabilitation process and offers them the chance to become a motorcycle racer for the first time. 

This proves their injuries or disability don’t have to limit what activities they can undertake, and provides a unique focus and new need for fitness for them as they near the end of their physical rehabilitation journey.

Fancy the thrill of the track?

Now you know about the wonderful work of True Heroes, perhaps this has whet your appetite and you want to spend a day at a track yourself?  

With that in mind, it’s reassuring to know that as well as brilliant bespoke motorcycle insurance deals, Bikesure can organise special cover for track days at affordable and competitive rates. 
Call us on 0808 369 8580 or book a callback for a quote.

The post True Heroes Racing’s top moments of the season appeared first on Bikesure Blog.

Former motorbike and truck racing legend Steve Parrish is the latest guest on the second series of motorcycling podcast Full Chat. 

Larger-than-life Parrish, well known for being a prankster as well as a MotoGP commentator, lifted a string of titles across motorsport disciplines after competing at British and world level.   

The 71-year-old sat down with hosts Iwan Thomas and footballer-turned-presenter David Prutton to discuss his biking history, career and funny anecdotes including forming friendships with The Beatles’ George Harrison and iconic motorbike racer Barry Sheene.  

The Beatles’ George Harrison gave me £40k, recalls Steve ‘Stavros’ Parrish  

During the episode Parrish, better known as Stavros, told the boys how one of the most famous pop stars on the planet came to sponsor him during his racing career.  

“Like most things in my life, a lot were instigated by Barry Sheene because he was the man that knew everybody,” Parrish revealed.

“He’d open a lot of doors very very easily, but at the end of 1977 I finished fifth in the world championship, which for my first year I was very pleased with. 

“I’d never seen any of the circuits before, never been on an aeroplane before, so I got really stuck in. I got given Barry’s bike from 1976, so I had a one-year-old bike and he had a new one, but we had some good battles together. 

“At the end of 1977, Suzuki Japan decided they didn’t have a budget to run three riders for 1978. The team that year was myself, Barry and an American called Pat Hennen who finished third in the championship, and I was fifth so I was the one that was dropped.

“Barry was really pissed off because he wanted me to stay on the team because we were mates and George Harrison had been coming to some of the races. 

“I got to meet George and his lovely wife Olivia. George came up to me one day and said ‘Don’t worry Stavros’ which is my nickname, a lot of people won’t know that. Anyway George said: ‘Don’t worry Stavros I’ll buy you some petrol and some tyres and some bits and pieces and so on.’ 

“And he gave me this address to go down to London where his record company was and I walked in, and this lady gave me an envelope and in it was a cheque for about £40,000. And in 1978, £40,000 was a lot of money!

“It bought me two (Suzuki) RG500s, a TZ-50 Yamaha and more. It was enough to set me up.”            

Plenty more episodes of Full Chat to enjoy

Series two’s engine is well and truly warm, but we’ve got a host of episodes for you to listen to if you’ve missed the previous series of our motorcycling podcast.

You can listen to Full Chat on Spotify, Apple, YouTube or various other platforms if you want to see what all the fuss is about.

The post Full Chat podcast: Steve Parrish on being sponsored by The Beatles’ George Harrison appeared first on Bikesure Blog.

Streetfighters. Super Naked. Whatever you call them, these stripped down, powerful machines are some of the most fun you can have on two wheels, while still being practical for everyday use. 

Here we take a look at some of the best streetfighters available on the market. 

Ducati Streetfighter V4

Big shoutout to Ducati for cutting straight to the point with their offering. Its straight to the point name might seem a bit presumptuous if it wasn’t able to walk the walk too, but its 1103cc engine adapted from Ducati’s Panigale racer gives it an incredible amount of heft. 

The stripped down styling is also aggressive and modern, with Ducati making a big deal about how the curve of the LED headlights is designed to resemble the smile of Batman’s arch enemy, the clown prince of crime, the Joker. This will undoubtedly cause heated debate among the comic nerd motorcyclist community about which of the versions of the Joker was the inspiration for this. He’s an 84 year old character! There are a lot of different versions! Ducati, we need to know this stuff. 

Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RS

Triumph are one of the originators of the streetfighter, with the Speed Triple being one of the first bikes to be produced in this style back in 1994. Three decades on and it’s still a huge name in the streetfighting segment, although Triumph have been innovating and improving their engineering meaning the 1200RS is right on the cutting edge of what motorcycles can be. 

It’s also worth pointing out that the latest version has a headlight with two downward lines that make it look like some very determined eyebrows as you look at it head on. Sadly, if this rather adorable design feature is based on a particular comic character Triumph haven’t shared this information.

Kawasaki ZH2

Kawasaki’s supernaked bike uses their supercharger technology, whatever that means, but it does make for a really fast streetbike built according to Kawasaki’s ‘sugomi’ – meaning aggressive – design philosophy that they’ve become known for. 

It’s a tough and nippy offering to the streetfighter fans who want sharp, modern styling. But by now you’re wondering whether we’re going to explain what the headlights look like and who are we to disappoint, having established this theme early. Well, the twin headlights do kind of look like mirrored sunglasses, which is an appropriately cool touch for such a beast.

Yamaha MT

Forget super naked, Yamaha’s streetfighter takes things one step further and is described as a hyper naked bike. The MT range covers everything from the flagship MT-10, which is super fast and has eyebrow headlights that make it look even more determined than the Triumph, all the way down to the learner friendly MT-125, which has three headlights that make it look like eyes and a mouth.

It’s also vaguely reminiscent of Ultraman, which is Japan’s equivalent of Superman, except Ultraman doesn’t normally have an open mouth.

Lexmoto RSS125 Street 

Lexmoto once again comes through with an affordable option for learners or anyone who just wants a nice simple bike for cutting about the city. The RSS125 is a pretty no-nonsense bike that’ll get you where you need to go economically while still delivering some of the streetfighter experience. 

Being at the more budget end of things they’ve not gone wild trying to make the headlight look vaguely like part of a face, being simply the classic circular reflector, but for what you’re paying you really can’t complain.

Honda CB500 Hornet

Honda’s CB range is another line of naked – or at the very least partially clothed – street bikes that range in power from 125 all the way up to 1000cc capacity, with something for pretty much every level of ability. The CB500 is all points and angles, fully living up to its insectoid name, with a sleek modern nose containing a hexagonal headlight. Hexagonal! Will wonders ever cease? 

The CB750 has a larger light with an outline that vaguely resembles a stylised, angular cat head. Or, if you squint a bit, you could even say it looks a bit like Batman. Does this mean the Hornet is the arch enemy of Ducati’s Streetfighter? 

Suzuki Katana

The Katana is arguably Suzuki’s flagship bike. Back in the eighties it was the name of its sports tourer, which was one of the fastest production motorcycles on the market when it was launched in 1980, and was massively influential on how sports bikes developed throughout the following decades. 

The modern incarnation was launched in 2019 and is based on the GSX-1000, removing much of the fairing giving it a sharp, minimal modern look with an absurd amount of power making it a worthy successor to the name and legacy of the original. The headlight’s a fairly standard parallelogram shape, but as with the rest of the bike it’s a well judged update on the classic original look.

Motorcycle insurance you can trust  

No matter which type of bike you own, you’ll want the right insurance for your motorcycle. Bikesure can help you find a policy that works for you and your bike without any of the fuss that usually comes with searching for motorbike insurance. 

Call us on 0808 369 8580 or book a callback for a quote.

The post The top seven streetfighter bikes on the market appeared first on Bikesure Blog.

Motorcycle Live, the UK’s premium motorcycle show, returns to the NEC arena in Birmingham this year where thousands of bikers will gather to see the new metal being released over the next 12 months, as well as meet some of the industry’s biggest names, including Bikesure’s very own Usernamekate. 

The show in association with Bikesure Insurance, will see the two brands continue their partnership, delivering the UK’s number one motorcycle show.

What is Motorcycle Live?

Known as ‘The UK’s Biggest Motorcycle Show’, Motorcycle Live has over 100,000 bike fans pass through its doors every year and is held over nine days at the Birmingham NEC.

Fans will be able to take part in free test ride zones, meet world famous stars such as Usernamekate, and see live shows and presentations from the world’s most famous manufacturers.

The show started in 1931, and it moved to the NEC on an annual basis in 1989. It was known for some time as the International Motorcycle and Scooter Show but was renamed Motorcycle Live in 2010.

Whether you enjoy biking as a hobby or as a sport, everyone looks forward to Motorcycle Live. As well as hundreds of motorbikes, there’s expert talks, custom builds, interactive activities, breathtaking displays and much more.

Win a Ducati

This year, Bikesure is giving one of you a chance to win Usernamekate’s modified Ducati, all you have to do is fill in your name and contact details and you will be in the draw to take home this stunning bike.  

Kate used this bike to travel from her native Manchester all the way to Bologna! And you can see her documented journey below, plus how well the Ducati handles all the different types of terrain and weather conditions encountered along this enthralling journey. 

Visit the Bikesure stand to meet Usernamekate

As one of Bikesure’s ambassadors, Usernamekate will be at Motorcycle Live on November 16-17, where you will be able to meet her, get an autograph and have a chat with our insurance experts who can help you save money on your bike insurance.

That’s not all, on the 16th Kate will be hosting a motorcycle themed pub quiz from 2pm on the main stage in Hall 4 with some very exciting VIP guests and other biking influencers. This will be shortly followed by filming a brand new video, which you can be a part of! 

That same afternoon at 3:15pm on the same stage, Kate will be chatting with James Whitham and Girl on a Bike, about how they became motorcycle influencers and what it’s like being a woman in a male dominated industry. 

On November 17th Kate will be at Bikesure’s stand where she will be doing a meet and greet to sign autographs, take photos and give out tips on how to win her modified Ducati.

Tickets are still available to buy for Motorcycle Live on their website with prices starting at £28. 

And if you are heading to MCL this year, why not listen to Kate’s road trip playlist to get you in the mood?    

Motorcycle insurance you can trust  

No matter which type of bike you own, you’ll want the right insurance for your motorcycle. Bikesure can help you find a policy that works for you and your bike without any of the fuss that usually comes with searching for motorbike insurance. 

Call us on 0808 369 8580 or book a callback for a quote.

The post Win a Ducati and visit Usernamekate at Motorcycle Live appeared first on Bikesure Blog.

Television presenter and architect George Clarke is the latest guest on the second series of motorcycling podcast Full Chat. 

The Sunderland native is best known for hosting a range of housing and interior design shows for Channel 4 and Channel 5 for more than 20 years, including most notably, George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces.

The 49-year-old sat down with hosts Iwan Thomas and footballer-turned-presenter David Prutton to discuss biking history, his new book and his architectural career.  

George Clarke details what his Triumph Ghost is modelled on   

During the episode Clarke showed the boys his custom made Triumph Ghost and how his idea for the bike came about. 

“Everything for me is about aesthetics. I was a brand ambassador for Triumph for a while, and I rode a lot of their bikes, Clarke revealed. 

“I just love the brand, but again it had to be a beautiful bike for me to ride it. I’ve just customised one, I’ve customised the Scrambler 1200 and really went to town on that.

“Having a customised bike, I love that, I think they’re just more unique.”

Asked whether he customised it himself, he joked: “If I did that, I’d make the bike really dangerous. I wouldn’t trust myself to ride it if I did the work!

“To be honest it was a time thing, I would’ve loved the time to do it. I really would’ve done, but I had a team that did it. 

“Triumph called me up and asked ‘if you have the 1200, what would the redesign be inspired by?’ And I was on holiday and I love my photography, I love taking pictures, and I was literally on holiday with the camera and I looked at it and thought ‘why don’t we make the bike look like a Lycra Ghost camera?’

“So my bike is called the Triumph Ghost and it’s grey like the camera is, and even little tiny touches like even on the Triumph logo on the tank it’s got ‘Ghost’ under it. It’s the first ever Triumph Ghost motorbike and it looks identical to my favourite camera. So that’s how nerdy I am about aesthetics.”         

Plenty more episodes of Full Chat to enjoy

Series two’s engine is well and truly warm, but we’ve got a host of episodes for you to listen to if you’ve missed the previous series of our motorcycling podcast.

You can listen to Full Chat on Spotify, Apple, YouTube or various other platforms if you want to see what all the fuss is about.

The post Full Chat podcast: George Clarke shows off his custom-made Triumph Ghost  appeared first on Bikesure Blog.

From bitter British winds to freezing temperatures, we all know that riding in the cold isn’t for the fainthearted and the winter motorcycle gear you choose should match up to these chilly conditions.

Here we’ll outline the best motorcycle gloves on the market, so you can keep your hands toasty in the wintry weather.

What you need to consider

When selecting the right winter gloves for you, there are a few things you should consider:

• They need to be protective, offering knuckle, palm and wrist protection
• Don’t compromise on the control of your bike, choose material that doesn’t add too much bulk
• While a thermal lining will offer you more warmth, it can also make the gloves significantly bulkier so bear that in mind
• Make sure that your gloves are waterproof to keep your hands dry when it’s sleeting, raining or snowing
• Gloves with a long cuff will keep your wrists warm and protected, while a reliable fastening will improve security, comfort and fit.

Leather or textile gloves?

Both types of gloves have pros and cons. Textile gloves can offer better protection against the weather and are often cheaper. However, leather tends to be more robust than textile, and the gloves can become more comfortable and better fitting over time as the supple material shapes itself around your hands. As such, you should buy leather gloves that are slightly too tight, so the material can stretch.

Let’s take a look at the safest and warmest options available in our winter motorcycle gloves review.

1. Dainese Funes Gore-Tex® Gloves

These leather gloves are designed to keep your hands warm in freezing temperatures and also incorporate Gore-Grip technology, enabling you to ride with control and confidence. Durable and ergonomic – you can’t go wrong with the knuckle reinforcements and palm protection this pair offers.

The gloves are padded and securely fasten around your wrist and also feature touchscreen capability and sheepskin reinforcements for added warmth. They’re comfortable and fit to the shape of your hand perfectly.

Official source: View
Material: Goatskin leather and synthetic suede
Waterproof: Yes
Insulated: Yes
Price: £169.00

2. Alpinestars Jet Road Gloves

Here in the rainy UK, waterproof motorbike gloves are key – and the Gore-Tex membrane makes the Alpinestars a great option. They also feature thermal PrimaLoft® lining and PU-coated reinforcement zones.

These offer some great safety elements, such as abrasion resistance, reflective piping and a longer design for extended coverage. 

Official source: View
Material: Synthetic leather
Waterproof: Yes
Insulated: Yes
Price: £189.99

3. Rev it! Taurus Gore-Tex Gloves

These gloves are both thick and lightweight, claiming to have four season usability and an outstanding warmth-to-weight ratio. The Gore-Tex lining provides waterproofing, while the PrimaLoft® insulation material will keep you warm and protect you against the elements.

The closure helps the glove contour around the shape of your hand and the product comes in a range of sizes, from S to 4XL. The gloves feature hard shell knuckles and finger patches, made from PU. They’re a pricier pick but well worth it. 

Official source: View
Material: Textile, leather and suede
Waterproof: Yes
Insulated: Yes
Price: £188.53

4. SPIDI Alu-Pro Evo H2Out

These thermal motorcycle gloves offer the ultimate warmth. The 150gr PrimaLoft® insulation provides extra comfort, and the knuckle protection and palm padding will also keep you safe.

The leather is durable and will help the gloves mould to your hand. Useful features, such as the gloves being touchscreen compatible, make the gloves practical. You can also purchase the gloves in three colourways – all black, black and red, or black with fluorescent yellow.

Official source: View
Material: Leather
Waterproof: Yes
Insulated: Yes
Price: £119.54

5. Richa Arctic Gore-Tex Gloves

The Richa Arctic Gloves are available for men and women, offering a wider variety of shapes and sizes – helping everyone find the perfect fit. The gloves are kitted with a waterproof Aquashell LTZ membrane, to keep your hands dry while you ride, and CE-certified knuckle protectors and a double wrist closure to keep you safe. 

These gloves are not insulated but they are windproof and feature a Tri-fleece lining.

Official source: View
Material: Goatskin and cowhide leather
Waterproof: Yes
Insulated: No
Price: £131.21

6. Spada Blizzard 2 Waterproof Textile Motorcycle Gloves

Motorcycle winter gloves must be cosy, and these gloves are just that but, with Thinsulate® lining, they won’t feel too weighty. These CE-certified gloves provide protection and warmth but they’re also a more affordable option.

The sizes range from XS to 2XL, plus they have an elasticated wrist for comfort. The reinforced panels will allow the glove to perfectly mould to your hands over time, while the elasticated cords add extra security. 

Official source: View
Material: Leather and textile
Waterproof: Yes
Insulated: Yes
Price: £49.99

7. RST Pro Series Paragon 6 Heated Gloves

For technical innovation, these heated gloves are bound to keep you warm while on the road. With a CE Certified Level 1 KP rating, this pair features a visor wiper and digital touch index finger on both hands, enabling you to use them on the go. 

With waterproof protection, padding on the palm and pre-curved fingers, these gloves will keep your hands protected in the event of an accident without restricting your movement. They’re also available for men and women.

Official source: View
Material: Leather and HTC fabric
Waterproof: Yes
Insulated: No
Price: £199.99

8. Triumph Dalsgaard Gore-Tex Gloves 

CE-certified and UKCA-certified, these Triumph gloves won’t let you down when it comes to comfort. They’re designed with a rubber visor wiper, a double wrist adjustment, and memory foam scaphoid padding for the perfect fit. We also appreciate the cantilever and stretch flex panels with grab tabs to make slipping them on as easy as possible. 

Waterproof and breathable, these gloves are ideal for battling the elements and thanks to the PrimaLoft® insulation, your fingers will remain nice and warm. 

Official source: View
Material: Leather, nylon and Spandex
Waterproof: Yes
Insulated: Yes
Price: £130.00

Keep in mind that how to keep your hands cosy isn’t your only consideration when riding in winter. The cold weather can also affect how you ride your bike and how you protect it. Stay safe!

Winter gloves secured; now it’s time for your insurance 

No matter what time of year, you’ll want the right insurance for your motorcycle. Bikesure can help you find a policy that works for you and your bike without any of the fuss that usually comes with searching for motorbike insurance. 

Call us on 0808 369 8580 or book a callback for a quote.

The post 8 of the best winter motorcycle gloves appeared first on Bikesure Blog.