To visit the BikeWise Mini Bike Club site, please CLICK HERE

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Next Meeting’s of the BikeWise Mini Bike Club

MBCThe next meeting(s) of the BikeWise Mini Bike Club will be on Sunday 30th October 2011 at Carrville Park & Ride, Durham.
Signing on at 1000hrs for a 1030hrs safety brief/start
If there is any doubt about the weather on Sunday morning then please contact the motorcycle office on 0191-3752136 before travelling.

Karting North East at Warden Law will be running their Mini Bike session tonight at 5pm

When you think you’re having a bad day–look at this !

When you're having a 'bad' day at work or can't get out on your bike have a look at this and realize how lucky we are



And after you’ve put away the Kleenex………. on a funnier note have a read of this one :
Next time you have a bad day at work, think of this guy. Rob is a commercial saturation diver for Global Divers in Louisiana. He performs underwater repairs on offshore drilling rigs. Below is an E-mail he sent to his sister. She then sent it to The X, 103.2 on your FM dial in Ft Wayne IN, who was sponsoring a “worst job experience” contest. Needless to say, she won.
Hi Sue,
Just another note from your bottom-dwelling brother. Last week I had a bad day at the office. I know you’ve been feeling down lately at work, so I thought I would share my dilemma with you to make you realize it’s not so bad after all.
Before I can tell you what happened to me, I first must bore you with a few technicalities of my job. As you know, my office lies at the bottom of the sea. I wear a suit to the office. It’s a wetsuit. This time of year the water is quite cool. So what we do to keep warm is this: we have a diesel powered industrial water heater. This $20,000 piece of equipment sucks the water out of the sea. It heats it to a delightful temperature. It then pumps it down to the diver through a garden hose, which is taped to the air hose.
Now this sounds like a darn good plan, and I’ve used it several times with no complaints. What I do, when I get to the bottom and start working, is take the hose and stuff it down the back of my wetsuit. This floods my whole suit with warm water. It’s like working in a Jacuzzi.
Everything was going well until all of a sudden, my butt started to itch. So, of course, I scratched it. This only made things worse. Within a few seconds my butt started to burn. I pulled the hose out from my back, but the damage was done. In agony I realized what had happened. The hot water machine had sucked up a jellyfish and pumped it into my suit. Now, since I don’t have any hair on my back, the jellyfish couldn’t stick to it. However, the crack of my butt was not as fortunate. When I scratched what I thought was an itch, I was actually grinding the jellyfish into my butt. I informed the dive supervisor of my dilemma over the communicator. His instructions were unclear due to the fact that he, along with 5 other divers, were all laughing hysterically. Needless to say I aborted the dive.
I was instructed to make 3 agonizing in-water decompression stops totaling 35 minutes before I could reach the surface to begin my chamber dry decompression. When I arrived at the surface, I was wearing nothing but my brass helmet. As I climbed out of the water, the medic, with tears of laughter running down his face, handed me a tube of cream and told me to rub it on my butt as soon as I got in the chamber. The cream put the fire out, but I couldn’t poop for 2 days because my butthole was swollen shut. So, next time you’re having a bad day at work, think about how much worse it would be if you had a jellyfish shoved up your butt.

The Scott Trial–Saturday 22nd October 2011

Scott Trial

Richmond & District Motor Club’s Scott Trial which dates back to 1914 will be held tomorrow – riders departing on the arduous 85 mile route around the North Yorkshire Moors from 0900hrs.

Of the 210 riders starting the trial  - previous winners Graham Jarvis and James Dabill will be setting off just after 1000hrs on numbers 202 & 207.

World Superbike riders Leon Camier & Leon Haslam will be setting off about 0925hrs on numbers 87 & 84 and inbetween then on 86 is BSB team boss and former Moto GP rider Rob McElnea.

 

For further details of the Trial visit : http://www.richmondmotorclub.com/

This years spectator guide is available to download here:  Scott Trial Spectator Guide 2011

Time to get out the hiking boots and watch take in an extreme motorcycle event on our doorsteps

 

 

Scott-Trial-2010-Map

BikeWise Trained …..

 

BikeWise-Training-3 James Alder
James Alder
Bikewise-Training-Banner-wr
Trevor Shields
Trevor Shields
Samantha Parkhouse
Samantha Parkhouse
David Parkhouse
David Parkhouse
Dennis Coleman
Dennis Coleman
Andrew Watson
Andrew Watson
Trishia Snaith
Trishia Snaith
Chris Mitchell
Chris Mitchell
Paul Noble
Paul Noble
Lyn Hogarth
Lyn Hogarth

Congratulations to Lyn Hogarth, Paul Noble, Chris Mitchell, Andrew Watson, Trishia Snaith, Dennis Coleman, Samantha & David Parkhouse, Trevor Shields & James Alder who have been out with Mick & Bob during the last few weeks and completed a days BikeWise Training.


For further details about BikeWise Training please Click Here & to read what the riders thought of their Training Day, please Click Here

Photo’s online from last BikeWise Mini Bike Club meeting

Click Here to view the Photo'sPhoto’s are now online from the last meeting of the BikeWise Mini Bike Club which was held at Carrville Park and Ride on Sunday 9th October.

Some great riding by all riders and a warm welcome to our latest members

‘Many Thanks’ to all who helped build (and take down) the track, for signing riders on and marshalling throughout the day.

We couldn't run the events without your support.

No date has been set for our next meeting at Carrville (but we hope to get another in before the bad weather starts), so keep checking the website and your emails.

Warden Law will be running on Monday 24th October

 

To view the pictures of the Carrville event please CLICK HERE and then click on the relevant thumbnail image.

GNAA–Mystery Ride Out–Photo’s online

GNAA  2011 - 179

The Great North Air Ambulance held their Mystery Ride Out on Sunday 25th September, as usual leaving from the Police HQ at Aykley Heads, Durham.

Unfortunately the Boundary 500 group had organized a Bacon Butty Run to High Force and MAG had organized their motorway protest to European Legislation on the same day – however there was still a large turnout who took off on the days trail.

Members of Durham Photographic Society turned up at HQ and took pictures which are now online in the gallery : CLICK HERE

HM Plant Honda Ends Season On A High

HM Plant Honda Double race winner - Shane Byrne Shane leads the pack into the first corner
The HM Plant Honda team missed out on the British Superbike Championship title this year, but at Brands Hatch yesterday (Sunday) Shane 'Shakey' Byrne put in a sensational performance to celebrate a double race victory to end the season on a high for the team.
In the second race of the weekend on Sunday morning, Shakey got off to a flying start from the front row as he moved into second at the first corner but quickly took the lead and continued to head the field until the chequered flag. Kiyonari meanwhile finished in sixteenth place in the second race of the weekend.
In the final race of the season on Sunday afternoon, Shakey again demonstrated the impressive pace of the HM Plant Honda Fireblade to secure the final win of the year by 4.434 seconds, which secured him third place in the overall standings. Kiyo just missed out on a top ten finish in eleventh place and finished sixth in the championship overall.
The National Superstock 1000 Championship race was unfortunately cancelled following a crash that caused the race to be red flagged and Jason O’Halloran was therefore unable to complete the final race of the year.
Shakey said: "That win in the first race of the day race felt like I had just won the championship! We gave it everything at the weekend and I wanted nothing less than two race wins on Sunday. We had a good start but in the first laps I didn't do a very good job of avoiding the damp patches and I had a few moments - in fact more than I think I have had in my whole career! I didn't know who was behind me but I knew I wasn't prepared to let them through as I wanted that win badly. The second win was great for me and the team but at the same time I felt a bit empty as all that hard work and great wins but for no championship title.
“After the first race of the day I didn’t initially realise I couldn’t still win the championship, but then the boys said to me just get out there and enjoy it and that’s what I did. Every lap I kept thinking why did Donington and Silverstone go so wrong? I was desperate to achieve the last two wins of the season and on Sunday we won the battle but we didn’t quite manage the war. The double win was a great result for the HM Plant Honda team for all their hard work all season. Missing out this year means I have something to come back for next year and I will certainly be throwing some grenades then!”
Kiyo said: “It has been another difficult weekend for me and I am disappointed that I couldn’t have a better result to end the season. We have worked hard and I need to thank the HM Plant Honda team for their support to try and help me improve over this year.”
Jason said: “I was really looking forward to the final race of the season as we really wanted to end on a high for the HM Plant Honda team, but unfortunately it wasn’t possible. We had been improving all weekend and I was feeling confident for the race, but I just want to thank the HM Plant Honda team for their support this season, particularly when I was injured.”
Team Manager Havier Beltran concluded: “Shakey did a fantastic job by taking the double win at Brands Hatch and he couldn’t have done any more. At the beginning of Sunday the championship was realistically unfortunately out of reach so all he could do was end the season with two victories and that is exactly what he did and it was a classy performance from him and we couldn’t have asked for more.
“It has been a difficult season for Kiyo; with him the HM Plant Honda team has won three BSB titles and scored 43 race wins which makes him the most successful rider in BSB history. We want to thank Kiyo for the successes we have celebrated together over the years. He will always be part of the Honda family and we wish him all the best for the future, in whatever he decides to do, as he will not be returning to the HM Plant Honda team in 2012.
“For Jason it was disappointing that the race was cancelled and he was unable to end the season with a result and full race but we obviously want to send our best wishes to the riders involved in the accident that caused the stoppage. We are now already looking ahead to winter preparation for next season where we will be looking to come back even stronger.”

The BikeWise Team would like to thank the HM Plant Honda Racing team for all the support they’ve given to BikeWise throughout 2011 and hope they enjoy a well deserved rest before taking up the challenge again in 2012.

For more info on the team visit : http://www.honda-racing.co.uk/

Next meetings of the BikeWise Mini Bike Club

MBCThe next meeting(s) of the BikeWise Mini Bike Club will be on Sunday 9th October 2011 at Carrville Park & Ride, Durham.
Signing on at 1000hrs for a 1030hrs safety brief/start
If there is any doubt about the weather on Sunday morning then please contact the motorcycle office on 0191-3752136 before travelling.

Karting North East at Warden Law will be running their Mini Bike session tonight at 5pm

Photo’s online from last Mini Bike Club Meeting

IMG_0317 IMG_2628 IMG_0337

Photo’s are now online from the last meeting of the BikeWise Mini Bike Club which was held at Carrville Park and Ride on Sunday 11th September where club member Matthew Ward celebrated his 7th birthday with other members, whilst riding his new Rossi replica Polini.

Some great riding by all riders and a warm welcome to our latest members

‘Many Thanks’ to all who helped build (and take down) the track, for signing riders on and marshalling throughout the day.

We couldn't run the events without your support.

No date has been set for our next meeting at Carrville (due to holiday commitments for Mick & Bob), so keep checking the website and your emails.

Warden Law will be running on Monday 26th September

To view the pictures of the Carrville event please CLICK HERE and then click on the relevant thumbnail image.

BikeWise Trained…….

John Lambton
John Lambton

Header-660x150 Craig Lambton
Craig Lambton
Mark Hipkin
Mark Hipkin
Yvonne Golightly
Yvonne Golightly
Keith Dunn
Keith Dunn

Congratulations to John & Craig Lambton, Keith Dunn, Mark Hipkin ( Your local ‘biker’ lawyer) and Yvonne Golightly who have been out with Mick & Bob during the last couple of weeks and completed a days BikeWise Training. 
For further details about BikeWise Training please Click Here & to read what the riders thought of their Training Day, please Click Here

Motorcycle tolls lifted at Tyne Tunnel

Tyne TunnelFrom Monday 12th September 2011, motorcycles will be able to travel toll-free through the Tyne Tunnel.
The Tyne and Wear Integrated Transport Authority (TWITA) has agreed to allow free passage for motorcycles in order to reduce delays at the toll plaza caused by motorcyclists attempting to pay their tolls, and reflecting the minimal wear and tear created by these vehicles upon the tunnel infrastructure.
Paul Fenwick, New Tyne Crossing Project Director for the Tyne & Wear Integrated Transport Authority, said: "The Authority has been sympathetic to the case for motorcyclists to use the Tyne Tunnel without paying a toll and it agreed at its meeting in August to abolish it for this class of user. The physical difficulties motorcyclists encounter when using the tolls, for example the need to take off gloves to find the right coins, often meant delays for other motorists.
"The financial impact of the change will be negligible. Revenue from the 157,000 financial transactions involving motorcyclists in 2010/11 was only 0.26% of overall Tyne Tunnel revenue."
Motorcycles will be automatically recognised by the operating system installed at the new toll plaza, which came into use in February this year as part of the New Tyne Crossing project.
There will be no need for motorcyclists to obtain permits to enable their free passage, as the barriers will lift automatically on their approach, freeing up traffic movement through the plaza.
This announcement comes months before the second vehicle tunnel is due to come into operation. With two tunnels in use capacity at the river crossing will more than double, removing congestion at this traffic pinch point and transforming traffic flow on the A19.
Refurbishment of the 1967 road tunnel has made excellent progress, with the tunnel due to be commissioned for use by December this year, on programme and on budget.
Many Thanks to Dave Summers for the info.

James Toseland retires from racing

WSB 2010 - 0236 JT at BIkeWise 2005 James Toseland - 2009

Double World Superbike Champion, James Toseland is retiring from professional motorcycle racing with immediate effect following a visit to Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Mike Hayton, yesterday. The visit confirmed Toseland’s worst fears that the damage sustained to his right wrist during a testing crash at Aragon earlier this year is irreparable and no amount of physiotherapy can repair the injury.

The crash which has turned out to be career-ending took place at the Spanish circuit in March this year and the 31-year-old’s resulting battle to return to full fitness has been well publicised. However, having struggled with the injury during recent races and following a further crash at the last race at Nurburgring in Germany, the Yorkshireman has been told that it is no longer safe for him to continue his career in professional motorcycle racing.

Damage caused by the first crash has left James with a severely restricted range of movement in his right wrist, making it difficult to operate a motorcycle throttle properly and almost impossible to navigate right hand turns. The unexpectedly premature end to what has been an outstanding career, has understandably been extremely upsetting for Toseland, who has tried every treatment and recovery option possible to return to racing.

Consultant Mike Hayton said: "JT has shown dedication and determination in our aim to recover the best possible function in his right wrist. We acted quickly to repair the damage with surgery and rehabilitation and, initially, believed that this had gone well, but we had also been clear from the outset that this was a potentially career-threatening and devastating injury.
"While his approach to recovery has been admirable and he has continued to make good progress, he has not recovered enough range of movement in the right wrist to continue as an elite motorcyclist. We had a difficult discussion on his future career, in which he showed a true sense of professionalism and an unselfish approach to making way for young, talented riders. To work with athletes like JT is a privilege and makes us do what we do."
James added: "2011 has been a tough year for me and this week has been one of the most difficult of my life, but advice from professionals has made it clear that my crash at Aragon has left me with a permanent disability, which means that I will never again be able to ride competently at this level.
"While that’s hard to hear, I have to place the emphasis on the safety of other riders in the paddock as well as myself and I realise that it’s not fair to occupy a World Superbike seat with a team as professional as BMW Motorrad Italia when there are fit and talented riders available who are desperate for this type of opportunity.
"I’ve been extremely fortunate to have enjoyed a long and successful career doing something I love and I’m really grateful for that. I’ve been lucky enough to bounce back from serious injuries in the past and I’ve had the support of a great family, brilliant friends and a fantastic fanbase to see me through the highs and lows.

James visited BikeWise show in 2005 as a result of his close friendship with HM Plant owner John Jones. James has continued to carry an HMP Plant logo on the front of his helmet visor throughout his career.

The BikeWise ‘team’ would like to thank James for all the pleasure he has given to fans throughout the years with his riding skills, and wish him a long and healthy retirement

Mystery Ride Out- GNAA–Sunday 25th September

Great North Air Ambulance website

Well it’s that time of year again to get out your map’s and compass !!

We are again running the motorcycle Mystery Ride Out in 2011, with all proceeds going to the Great North Air Ambulance.

This is our fifth year of running the event with the GNAA and it is getting bigger and more popular with bikers each year.

The event starts from Durham Police HQ at Aykley Heads, Durham, from 10am on Sunday 25th September 2011.
Departures will be staggered from between 10am and 11am.

Once you arrive and sign in, at the cost of £5 per person, you will be given a clue, solve the clue and it will give you a destination, choose your route to the location and once there you will find another……

There are two different sets of clues, so if there is a group of you participating in the ride together make sure you get the same colour clue.
Most the mystery locations have food and toilet facilities for you, so why not make a day of it and enjoy your ride out.
If you’ve managed to solve the clues and find your way around the north east it should lead you back to Police HQ, where hopefully (subject to being called out to an emergency) the Air Ambulance will be landing for you to have a look at and talk to the crew.

All you need to bring is a map, a sense of direction and your clue solving skills, if you haven’t got any of them make sure you team up with someone who has!!

If you need any further information about the event or helping raise funds for the Great North Air Ambulance please contact Mandy or Lynne at GNAA on 01325 487263.
Hope to see you there.
The BikeWise and GNAA teams

http://www.greatnorthairambulance.co.uk/

Next Meeting of the BikeWise Mini Bike Club

MBC

The next meeting of the BikeWise Mini Bike Club will be on Sunday 11th September 2011 at Carrville Park & Ride, Durham.

Signing on at 1000hrs for a 1030hrs safety brief/start

If there is any doubt about the weather on Sunday morning then please check the Mini bike club website or members check your emails before travelling.

Photo’s from our last meeting at Carrville can now be viewed in the Gallery on the website – www.bikewiseminibikeclub.org.uk

BikeWise Trained……..

 

Sean Byrne
Sean Byrne
Richard Spensley
Richard Spensley
Mike Horner
Mike Horner
Richy Tough
Richy Tough

Congratulations to Sean Byrne, Richard Spensley, Mike Horner & Richy Tough, who have been out with Bob this week and completed a days BikeWise Training.

For further details about BikeWise Training please Click Here

A689rd through Weardale closed at Ireshopeburn

Ireshopeburn
The main A689 road through Weardale is closed at Ireshopeburn between Causeway Road and Carway Bank, due to a burst water main.
The road is likely to be closed throughout the Bank Holiday weekend.
We believe diversions are in place along some very minor roads !
Please take care

Does the Bike Fit ?

Bike Fit

An interesting website link – sent to us by one of our readers, Andy Irwin…  (Thanks Andy)

If you're thinking of a new bike and wonder how it might suit you for size then visit the site and enter your height, inside leg length etc and you will see how you might look and feel on it.You can even put your feet on the ground to see if you will be able to touch the ground.

You can view multiple bikes at the same time and if the bike of your choice is not there, then you can notify the site and they will put it on for you.

To view the site please CLICK HERE

Steve Hislop Memorial Run

Steve HislopThe 9th Steve Hislop Memorial Run will be held on Sunday 4th September 2011

To take part in the run – Meet in DENHOLM GREEN for a 10.30am depart.

The Route will take in the following places :

Haughhead, Bonchester, Carter Bar, Bellingham, Whitfield, (stop 30 mins, Midday), Alston, Slaggyford, Milton, A689 towards Carlisle, A7 Longtown, Langholm, Hawick, Denholm and will finish approx. 3pm

(Approx. 165 miles)

to view the full route please CLICK HERE

Check out the local weather on the website before going for a ride

WeatherMost day’s, before we go for a ride, it pays to check out the weather.

We’ve put together a few of our favourite weather sites onto one page so that you can check the weather easily without having to search for three or four sites.

If you visit the What's On page of our website you will see that at the bottom of the page there is a line which says :

 “ To check the weather in Durham, please CLICK HERE “

If you click on the ‘CLICK HERE’ link it will take you into a new page , Weather, where some of our favourite weather sites are shown -

 

The first three shown –

metcheck, XCWeather.co.uk & RainToday are clickable links which will take you into their respective web pages.

The other two are BBC weather and Met Office which show you local weather.

Remember to ‘bookmark’ the page and it will hopefully be able to better prepare yourself for that next ride out in the sunshine !!

To visit the page now, CLICK HERE

BikeWise Trained…

Stuart Proctor
Stuart Proctor
Dawn Proctor
Dawn Proctor
John Whittle
John Whittle
Anita Craggs
Anita Craggs
Congratulations to Dawn & Stuart Proctor and Anita Craggs and John Whittle who have been out with Bob & Mick this week on a days BikeWise Training.
For further details about BikeWise Training, please Click Here