the power and the story…
bg paid a visit to the local Atom factory to interview Ariel MD Simon Saunders on the new Ariel motorcycle, due late in 2012. We talked Atom, vehicle design, and gained a unique insight into development of the forthcoming bike. The converstion took place a few metres from one of the most inspiring production machines ever, the art object that is the Ariel HT5.
September 25th 2011: a day of UK rider protest has been called for, and start points chosen for a two wheeled demo. Predictably, however, the UK biker lobby is divided on the action. So what’s the bottom line here?
As far as bg are concerned, KTM’s 125 Duke is unquestionably the most important new motorcycle of 2011. The reason is straightforward: it’s specifically designed to engage with an endangered species on planet bike – the teenager. Unless fresh generations come into motorcycling, the whole concept of a biking future unwinds.
A random, expandable selection of top imagery related to motorcycles… feel free to add.. scroll through using arrows below or click on single image to enlarge…
Gay culture, camp concerns and motorcycling have been long term bed fellows, and Planet Bike is all the richer for it. We still need each other…
Biking has always had a special affinity with the gay world. Consider: the outsider image, with its stylised accoutrements and defined look; the thrill of the machines, and the implicit rejection of the straight, risk averse majority; the male camaraderie – all these things resonated in the bars of California’s naval ports and dockyards (already familiar landmarks on the queer map), when and where it all began: as the great disembarkation following WW2 got underway.
… belatedly slung a leg over the 11 Speed Triple for the first time. Glorious weather, demanding roads in a variety of guises.
I had the opportunity to ride the new model some time ago, but waited until I could do it justice – in decent conditions, and with sufficient time to get to grips with the bike. Apart from the redesigned lamps – and quite enough has been said about those already, bearing in mind the fact that you can negotiate a swop for the older variety – at first glance little seems to have changed. Beware of first glances: this is way more than a makeover. So let’s get down to business.
Part one of a bg investigation into the most important maintenance of all: improving vision. Plus the opportunity to get yourself on an exclusive training programme to maximise what you have… Free. (forward to Part Two )
People spend considerable sums of money on improving the experience of riding: they want to be faster, safer, more confident, generally as good as is reasonably attainable. The machine, the kit, the courses and the track days: we never stop trying to better the package, because the reward outweighs the investment. At least, that’s the theory.
Storm dashed from Spa to Mallory. Here’s a very select glimpse…
Endurance and classic machines: a match made in….erm, Belgium. Pretty much an orgy featuring everything we love. Scroll through this lot >
MotoGP (Mugello 3 July 11) YAM BAM THANK YOU MAN… Here at bg our colours are nailed to the sign of the crossed tuning fork. So it was great to see Jorge back on song and win in epic style at Mugello – leaving ‘expert’ punditry in smithereens (yet again). So why our allegiance? 1) … Read more
Word has reached bg from our Island correspondent that the natives are getting understandably restless about the needless carnage arising from the annual invasion of bikers during TT week. We’re not talking about race related incidents. Leaving them out of the equation, how many recorded accidents involving motorcycles took place during the festival? The answer: … Read more
