A round-up of this week's other motorcycle-related stories in brief ...
RDS bike and scooter show
THE IRISH Motorbike and Scooter Show takes place this weekend, from Friday to Sunday, at the RDS in Dublin.
This year’s event promises to be a motorcycle feast for all five senses.
Ireland’s champion stunt rider Mattie Griffin will be there to wow the crowds with his daredevil stunts in the Freestyle Arena.
The hilarious Purple Helmets will no doubt generate amusement, and the World Speedway, where four riders keep turning left over four laps of an oval track, racing on 500cc single-geared machines with no brakes, should get the audience’s adrenalin pumping.
With plenty of shiny new 2009 bikes to drool over and an abundance of family entertainment, this year’s show should take your mind off the gloomy recession for a few hours.
For more information, go to irishmotorbikeshow.com
Peek at BMW's superbike
BMW MOTORRAD will be previewing the superb new S1000R Superbike at the show.
For the first time ever, BMW will be competing in the Superbike World Championships in Australia in March, with Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus racing for the team.
According to Motorrad Manager for BMW, Kate Short, this will be the first time this bike is revealed to the public.
“The production model has literally just started to roll out and no one in the country will have seen this exciting and extreme bike before,” she says.
The S1000R has a 999cc in-line 4-cylinder engine and produces about 200bhp.
It can be ordered in BMW dealerships.