1993 Honda Gold Wing on 2040-motos

Moto blog

Bahrain track days

A few months ago, expat (and ex racer) John Beddall made contact to ask if I fancied doing some track day instruction out in Bahrain.  After thinking about it for two seconds, flights were booked and a plan was put in place to look after around forty riders for a day at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC).  Young Taylor Mac was also recruited to look after any tasty riders that I couldn’t deal with   The Brits out there love their bikes, however, quite a few locals also turned up plus a few others from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.  Most were on high end Superbikes, like S1000s, Panigales and RSV4s but there was also a healthy number R6s and new 675Rs.   Although this fabulous Hermann Tilke designed circuit is around ten years old incredibly it has never hosted a bike race.  The highlight of the year there is F1 but being owned by the Bahrainian Royal family, there is no desperate need for the circuit to operate as a profitable business.  The track reminded me of Qatar but much more interesting as some great undulations have been built into its desert location. We shared the track with Supercars on the day (20mins on/20mins off) and as you might imagine it was betty swollocks for seven hours in the 30 plus temperatures.  As usual there was a few offs with poor old RS1000 Aprilia mounted Andy breaking his femur early in the day.  Two other buddies appeared to swap bikes mid air in another incident but fortunately escaped unhurt.In the evening everyone stayed for an al fresco dinner in the paddock with the craic going on for hours as the Fosters kept flowing.   All in all it was a brilliant trip and it has left me thinking there could be cost effective ways of getting Brits out there for track days next winter.  I'll keep you posted.Cape Town next to make my racing comeback at the Killarney 8 hour on a CBR150 Honda.  Hopefully I can manage the beast, I'll post a full report next week.

Honda Zoomer X Prototype – New Ruckus Concept Revealed in Thailand

Honda Thailand unveiled a new prototype at the 2012 Bangkok International Motor Show showcasing the next generation of the Ruckus scooter. Known as the Zoomer in other markets, the Honda Ruckus is probably best known for its non-traditional scooter styling, with the usual tiny tires and wasp-like body replaced by a fat rubbers and exposed tube frame. The Honda Zoomer X maintains the original’s rugged-looking tires but instead of the exposed tubes, the Zoomer X has a boxy-looking structure, though like the original the space under the seat is exposed to the elements, so if you want to store something there you might have to break out the bungee cords.

Win a Fireblade. Yes, really.

This weekend sees the launch of Honda's anniversary promotions for the Fireblade – marking 20 years since its introduction. The firm has created a prize-draw web page at www.honda.co.uk/fireblade and for a chance to win you just need to fill in your details, after which you'll be given a code which you must take to a participating Honda dealer on August 11 before 2pm. The winner will be announced at 3pm on the 11th, and if they've hung around in the dealership until then they'll also be given 10 tickets to Motorcycle Live 2012.