news Archives - T80GSA.com - The Official TBNI.Blog

Portrush Air Show Cancelled

February 14, 2020February 13, 2020 by TomBoyNI

Portrush Air Show Cancelled : Today it has been confirmed that the 2020 Portrush Air Show (Airwaves) has been cancelled thanks to budget cuts by the Causeway Coast and Glens Council.

Somehow the council has found itself £68,000,000 in debt so in its wisdom has decided to cut one of the events that brings huge tourism to the area. Estimates suggest that the Portrush Air Show brings around £2,000,000 to Portrush and the North Coast annually in revenue. The Council funding the Air Show runs to the region of £240,000 – so remove £240k and loose £2 Million. How do these decision makers get in power, why do we vote them in and moreso how do they get their area £68 Million in debt?

The North Coast area of Northern Ireland should be buzzing just one year after The Open came to Royal Portrush Golf Club but instead Portrush is losing events and facilities that should have been securing money to the area and the Portrush Air Show is not all that has suffered.

The full extent of the cuts that the Council will be making can be found here : https://www.causewaycoastandglens.gov.uk/uploads/general/200212_SCM_Item_4_Savings_for_Inclusion_in_rates_Estimates_V2_REDACTED.pdf

But here are some the main points :

The Portrush Air Show is Cancelled.
Waterworld will be closed.
Other Leisure and Environmental Services will be cut.
Rates will increase by 7.65%
New Parking Charges will be introduced.
Bins (Black) will now one be collected monthly.

So really what that means is all the good work and rejuvenation of Portrush in recent years is now wasted. The nostalgic reasons for visiting Portrush for local Northern Irish people is diminishing away to nothing as are the reasons for foreign visitors. Barry’s future is in question, Waterworld will be closed and the Air Show is no more. What was becoming a increasingly desirable place to live with new sea view and sea side apartments popping up everywhere will now suffer with a rates hike. Your rubbish will be emptied once a month, so the amount of vermin will increase, fly tipping will increase and the place will be dirtier – simple science. You’ll get charged for parking, but the good news is there will be loads of spaces because no one will be visiting.

The NW200 is still secured thanks to a new sponsorship deal with FonaCab and Nicholl Oils but this has been a bad and sad day for the North Coast.

Of course there are still reasons to visit one of the most beautiful and one of my personal favourite parts of Northern Ireland, such as the Giant’s Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, The Dark Hedges, Bushmills, Ballintoy Harbour and of course the simply glorious Causeway Coastal Route -so please make sure you do visit and support the area, just don’t expect anything good from the Council whether you are a visitor or resident!

The Future of Irish Road Racing is in the Balance

January 29, 2020January 29, 2020 by TomBoyNI

I am going to ‘Stickie’ this post until around the start of the Season because I think all road racing fans need to read and share it. The future of Irish Road Racing is in the balance and that balance is slowing tipping the wrong way!

It is relatively bleak reading, but it raises some very valid points. In 2020 we have definitely lost the Enniskillen Road Races with that event opting to relocate to a circuit. Also the Ulster Grand Prix looks very like it will not have a 2020 event – its future beyond that looks grim if the rumoured figures of debt are even remotely true and Cookstown have went on record saying that another bad year or two will put their event in real jeopardy.

Does motorcycle road racing on public roads in Ireland have a future?

2019 Irish Motorbike Awards : Results

January 20, 2020January 20, 2020 by TomBoyNI

The 2019 Irish Motorbike Awards in association with Cornmarket Insurance and Charles Hurst Motorcycles were held at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Belfast on Friday 17th January 2020. Here is the full list of the winners.

Check out the Official Facebook Page here : https://www.facebook.com/motorbikeawards/

Check out the Official Twitter Feed here : https://twitter.com/bikeawards

2020 Isle of Man TT Prize Breakdown : Race Winners’ Payout

January 13, 2020January 13, 2020 by TomBoyNI

It’s 2020 and we are now in almost into the preseason. Chat and rumours are flying about who is moving where? Who is staying put? And who do we still not have a clue about? Then there is the reason you are here – what is the 2020 Isle of Man TT Prize Breakdown?

If you need to catch up have a read at the TBNI 2020 Road Racing Pre-Season Rumour Mill post here : http://tbni.blog/2020/01/01/2020-road-racing-pre-season-rumour-mill/ and then make sure to stay up to date with happenings moving forwards by following the TBNI Social Media Accounts and of course this website!

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/tbnicouk/
Twitter : https://twitter.com/TomBoyNI
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/tbni.blog/

One of the most read posts annually since 2017 on this site is the Winners’ Payout Details (with over 45k unique hits at the time of writing) and since 2017 I have updated annually it with the latest information from the current Regulations Booklet. You can read the entire 2020 book here : (may not be available after 2020) :

https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/iom-tt-races/tt_regulations_2020_v1-2.pdf

But if you are just here to see the 2020 Isle of Man TT Prize Breakdown and how much the competitors stand to win in each class then please read on.

Paulo Gonçalves : 12/01/2020 : Statement from the Dakar

January 13, 2020January 13, 2020 by TomBoyNI

January 12 ^th2020 – 10:36 [GMT + 3]

Paulo Gonçalves, racing on motorbike no. 8, has passed away from a fall sustained 276 kilometres into today’s special. The organisers received an alert at 10:08 and dispatched a medical helicopter that reached the biker at 10:16 and found him unconscious after going into cardiac arrest. Following resuscitation efforts in situ, the competitor was taken by helicopter to Layla Hospital, where he was sadly pronounced dead.

40-year-old Paulo Gonçalves was taking part in his 13th Dakar. He made his debut in 2006 and had finished four times in the top 10, including an impressive performance as runner-up to Marc Coma in 2015. Paulo Gonçalves, the 2013 cross-country rallies world champion, was sitting in 46th place overall after stage 6 of the 2020 Dakar.

The entire Dakar caravan would like to extend its sincere condolences to his friends and family.

2020 Road Racing Pre-Season Rumour Mill

January 1, 2020January 1, 2020 by TomBoyNI

Welcome to 2020 and the countdown to the start of the 2020 Road Racing Season. The winter break is now half over so I thought I would put together a quick post of some of the rumours (and facts) that have surfaced over the last couple of months.

If the news and gossip continues to come in at a similar I will need to do another one of these before April because there is a lot of interesting news to get through, unfortunately once you get past the positive and exciting stuff there is some really devastating news out there too, but more on that in a minute.

Happy New Year 2020 : May it be a great one for you all, and all of yours!

NORAD Tracks Santa – Follow the big lad as the presents get delivered!

December 23, 2019December 23, 2019 by TomBoyNI

As soon as Christmas Eve kicks off (in Samoa and Christmas Island) Santa gets busy to get all the presents delivered to all the people of the world.

If you are lucky the Santa might be brining you a new bike, bike parts or if not it may be a bag of coal for you!

Whatever you hope for and where ever you are I wish you a very Merry Christmas and I hope Santa is good to you.

To make things easy for you I have spoken to NORAD and Santa and TBNI / T80GSA will be live streaming Santa and his trip around the globe. So if you need to know where he is, maybe to get the kids off to sleep, or maybe to get your overly excitable other half to bed we’ll be right here keeping you all up to date from the early hours of Christmas Eve.

Happy a good one! Merry Christmas!

Motorcycle Live 2019 : Gallery

November 22, 2019November 22, 2019 by TomBoyNI

Motorcycle Live returns to the NEC, Birmingham in 2019 from 16th – 24th November 2019, so at the time of writing you still have time to visit the show and I can easily recommend that you do visit the show.

Official Motorcycle Live Website

I have reviewed the Motorcycle Live Exhibition a number of times of already – so have a look at them if you are undecided on your attendance. In summary though I have been going since 2014 and that trip requires getting up before 3am to make my flight and not getting home to around 11pm. That should be enough to make anyone think it is worth checking out – but let’s put it simply – it is a day walking about looking at bikes, talking about bikes, spending money on bikes or at least thinking about how you would spend money on bikes – how else would you rather spend a cold, damp November’s day?

Just for reference in case anyone – cough BMW Motorrad cough – is feeling generous this is now top of my wish list…

BMW R Nine T GS Urban 'Option 719' — BMW R Nine T GS Urban ‘Option 719’

Previous MotorcycleLive Resources :

Motorcycle Live 2014 : Includes the first pics of the new Africa Twin – that was exciting and a dyne testing of the Kawasaki H2

Motorcycle Live 2015 : A gallery

Motorcycle Live 2017 : MCL in a Day – from Northern Ireland : A detailed review on the event as a traveller – getting flights, getting fed, getting round the show and getting back to Northern Ireland all for about £50 – and this is still the method I use.

Motorcycle Live 2018 : A detailed review on the event with some highlights picked out – from Best Display – to Most Wanted – to Bike that Got Me Thinking.

Back to Motorcycle Live 2019 :

At the bottom of this post you will find my full Motorcycle Live 2019 Gallery, but it is worth checking out my Instagram for a regular boost of Motorcycles | Technology | Photography – I would really appreciate the follow.

A few other bikes really caught my attention – this Suzuki DR800S has 5 miles on the clock!

Apple TV+ 1 Year Free Trial Not Showing Up?

November 2, 2019November 2, 2019 by TomBoyNI

Apple TV+ launched on 1st November 2019, and if you purchased an iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod Touch or Mac (iMac, MacBook Air / Pro, iMac etc) after 10th September 2019 then you will be eligible for an Apple TV+ 1 Year Free Trial!

NOTE : You only have a limited time to take up this offer. I believe that limited time is 3 months so do not hang about too long.

However some users are reporting that when they go into their Apple TV app on their device it seems to only be offering 7 days of a trial – then the billing starts at £4.99 / month.

There is a very easy work around for this issue (I was one such user who experienced this).

2020 Isle of Man TT Schedule

November 2, 2019November 2, 2019 by TomBoyNI

The 2020 Isle of Man TT Schedule has been released and we have all the important dates and times to help you plan your trip, or if you can’t make it to the island at least you will know what time to tune into Manx Radio to ensure you don’t miss a thing.

Peter Hickman at the Isle of Man TT Races

Two things of note though. The first may actually benefit you if you are heading over for practice week from Dublin – the first scheduled practices are now on the Sunday of Practice week. Traditionally the first day of practice was Saturday, however the first 2020 session will now be on Sunday 31st May afternoon – so if you are on that Dublin sailing think sharp – get off the boat and you will hopefully catch some Sunday qualifying.

Secondly – and sadly – there will be no TT Zero qualifying or racing in 2020 and 2021. The class has been dropped for two years, allegedly to ‘allow development’. TT Zero has been running for a decade and the electric machines from Mugen are responsible for a 121.824mph lap. I get that the entry is low and also that the Mugen will win, but still, TT Zero showed innovation and look at that lap time! I fully understand that many argue passionately that a TT Zero win shouldn’t really be counted as a TT win. I am all for opinions, but that opinion is one I’ll just have to disagree with. It may ‘only‘ be 1 lap – but that one lap is potentially 120+mph and considering the lap size of 37 miles then it really isn’t to be sniffed at. That one lap is still more than most full length Irish and Northern Irish National races. Hopefully come 2022 more teams will be in the field, on the track and ready to race!

Finally – this schedule is subject to change and given the weather we have had over the last couple of years this schedule will change. At the time make sure to follow :

And of course don’t forget the TBNI Road Racing Calendar – that will keep you up to date with all the Irish / Northern Ireland and Manx Road Racing Schedules.

TBNI Road Racing Calendar – Totally FREE and Totally PRIVATE

But here are some the main points :

January 12 th 2020 – 10:36 [GMT + 3]

Previous MotorcycleLive Resources :

Back to Motorcycle Live 2019 :

January 12 ^th2020 – 10:36 [GMT + 3]