Bike Devil’s Week on Two-Wheels: 28 April 20
It’s the last Bike Devil round-up for April, next week, we’re heading into May!
We’d like to start the update with how fantastic it is to see and hear of all the great things motorcyclists across the country are doing to support vulnerable people and help the emergency services.
In the last update, we talked about the ‘NHS ride of thanks’ Facebook group and the support it had gathered – it currently has over 15,000 members and counting – but it’s been fantastic to see publicity of localised medication and food runs for those self isolating as well as the country-wide network of Blood Bikers taking vital supplies between the hospitals who need it. The Bike Shed has also set up their own group – The Bike Shed Community Response Volunteers. It just shows what caring and considerate people ride bikes to the wider public, confirming what us motorcyclists knew anyway.
Hopefully this good feeling will go a long way to banishing negative stereotypes about riders which – unfortunately – still exist. In fact Oxfordshire County Council described motorcyclists as a ‘danger to themselves’ and suggested that motorcycles are ‘environmentally unsound’ – we must say that they have issued an apology since.
Onto some other great news – Norton Motorcycles has been sold! To cut a long – and seemingly complicated story – short, in January, it was announced that Norton had gone into administration. Many soon-to-be Norton owners had put down deposits for bikes and as a result didn’t know if they would receive them and jobs were in jeopardy. It’s been bought by TVS Motor Company for £16 million. The company has said they will keep manufacturing in the UK and see that those who paid deposits will get their bikes.
We’re in times like we’ve never had before – don’t we know it – and there was yet another ‘first’ last week, when the price of a barrel of oil was actually negative. Yep, you read that correctly, producers were actually paying the buyers to take it away due to not having enough storage space themselves. Although it’s easy to see how the world’s consumption has dramatically changed.
Since our last update, we saw a lot of people getting excited – us included for the record – when the news came out that Lego announced a new addition to its ‘Technic’ range: a Ducati Panigale V4R with moving parts and a two-speed gearbox! But hold your horses, it doesn’t come out until June and is priced at £54.99. We have a feeling they’re going to be very popular and not just with kids…
While there’s no racing, the championships have been busy creating some cool content with teams and riders to help us pass the time – like the guys over at MotoGP who handed over their Instagram account to Maverick Viñales to show what he gets up to. He’s also been learning guitar too so he gave a little preview on what he’s learnt to play so far. Plus the PETRONAS Sepang Racing Team have started a weekly LOCKDOWN! quiz on their Facebook page. Last week featured Team Manager Wilco Zeelenberg, Moto2 rider Jake Dixon and Moto3 rider Khairul Idham Pawi – if you want a laugh it’s definitely worth a watch and this week’s quiz will feature MotoGP rider Franco Morbidelli! The WorldSBK social channels are also sharing lots of historical races and onboard videos…
News just in as we were putting together our update and drinking our morning cuppa… the Suzuka 8-hours has been put back, again, to 1 November. Originally postponed to 19 July, the announcement has been made that the 43rd edition of the iconic race is now to take place even later in the year – and will be the deciding race of the 2019/2020 season.
So, that’s it for us now, until the next time!
#StaySafe, #StayAlert, #StayPositive and keep washing those hands (yes, it’s still important!).
