The 2023 Sunflower Trophy was held at Bishopscourt Race Circuit on 21st and 22nd October 2023 and marks the end of the Ulster Superbike Championship.
With horrendous weather stopping activities on Friday 20th October 2023 (main qualifying day) the organisers made the difficult (but absolutely correct decision) to amend the schedule, cancelling the Friday sessions and moving them to the Saturday. The Saturday’s schedule was then shifted to Sunday.
The result was two excellent (maybe a little chilly, but we can’t complain about that) days that enabled the full schedule to run and 2 brilliant days of track racing action to wind up the 2023 Season.
TBNI.Blog is happy to bring you an absolutely huge gallery from the 2023 Sunflower Trophy Races.
Over 450 photos are on the Official TBNI Facebook Page, the album is public so you don’t have to ‘Like’ the Page, but of course that would be very welcome too!
I was unlucky, in that I was only able to visit on the Sunday, but the overall set up was excellent. I have also heard and read only positive things for the live entertainment on the Friday and Saturday evenings and on may arrival on Sunday I couldn’t help but feel a little jealous of all the campers and campervans that were parked up for the weekend and had had the opportunity to enjoy the previous evenings’ entertainment.
As for the Sunday event. It was great. From things getting underway at around 09:30 am there was rarely a time that there was not bikes on the circuit, and there is the secret to a good biking event – get bikes out there and keep things moving.
The only noticeable break, was for lunch, and I am a big fan of how Bishopscourt plans a lunch break, it means you don’t have to decide what session you are going to miss.
Paddock, parade laps and racing…
A quick walk through the paddock early on Sunday morning was a mixture of bikes getting prepped and bacon baps getting made. Bacon, brown sauce and fumes… What more do you want on a Sunday morning?
Dubshed 2022 : Saturday 2nd – Sunday 3rd April 2022 : Eikon Centre, Lisburn, Northern Ireland :
“Dubshed returned to the Eikon Centre, Lisburn, Northern Ireland over the weekend 2nd – 3rd April 2022.
GTINI has grown Dubshed from small beginnings at the King’s Hall in Belfast, to a massive 2 day show encompassing a wide variety of car based entertainment for all the family.
Attracting show cars from all over the UK and Ireland, it is the biggest car show in Ireland today.”
What you will find here is a photo slideshow of a selection of the show cars from the interior halls.
The main hall features the VAG vehicles DUBSHED is famous for and Hall 2 was open to all manufactures and had some great vehicles on show right across the modifying spectrum.
If you own any of the cars and would like the full size image sent to you please also feel free to get in touch. After the embedded video you will find the photo gallery.
2022 BMW Club Photo Rally : The BMW Club (Ulster Section) have announced the points for the 2022 Photographic Rally.
If you are from ‘Up North’ and the thought of the entire Irish Photo Rally is a bit too daunting for you at the moment, or your are new to the idea of a Motorcycle Photo Rally then maybe the BMW Club’s Ulster Photo Rally is your perfect starting place?
I have been doing this rally for many years and every year it is a great motivator to get out and do a few extra road trips, for no reason other than to see somewhere and photograph something.
About the BMW Club Photo Rally : (Ulster Section) :
The Photographic Rally is all about getting the motorbike out and hopefully travelling new roads and visiting new locations, not forgetting to take your camera with you. This event is open to all riders, you do not have to be a club member to participate.
Some how we have found 9 more new places all across Ulster for you to ride along to and take your pictures. With some of our entries getting more and more artistic feel free to be as creative as you like. All that is required is for you to visit as many of the locations (hopefully all 9) and take a photograph of your bike and the subject at the location, if you have a pillion they are to be included also. This year our chosen charity is Macmillan Cancer Support (NI).
Irish Photo Rally is an annual motorcycling event that takes place all over Ireland. Participants take photographs of their motorcycle at a number of predetermined locations. Certificates are awarded by the judges for everything they deem worthy of praise or ridicule.
The basic aim of the Irish Photo Rally is to encourage people to get “out there” on their motorbike(s) and have some element of fun, travel and adventure. “Out there” will, ideally, be a bit off the beaten track and/or feature an unusual, historical or picturesque subject.
The event is run on a 32 county basis but the inland counties are lumped together – they can be dull compared to the coastal counties. Dublin and Louth are the exception, they are paired off because there are small counties and some numerical provincial balance is required. There are 24 locations and a close provincial balance – there are only 5 counties in Connaught so Leinster gets one extra anyway (7).
For full details, how to take part and to learn more about the event check out the Irish Photo Rally website.
The latest G-Shock Unboxing I have for you takes the form of a well known favourite, the DW-6900. This collaboration DW-6900PF-1ER is a result between G-Shock and PLACES + FACES.
The bad news is that this watch is already sold out throughout Europe and G-Shock have not confirmed if there will be another run or even how many units were produced.
The result is as expected – the DW-6900PF-1ER is already an urban classic and another hard to find collectable G-Shock. (Which is already (July 2020) reselling at 50-100% above RRP)
From G-Shock.co.uk : https://g-shock.co.uk/dw-6900pf-1er : Introducing the latest addition to the DW-6900 series. The DW-6900PF-1ER is a DW-6900 collaboration with PLACES + FACES, as part of the iconic 6900s 25th Anniversary year. The PLACES+FACES x G-SHOCK DW-6900 pays tribute to this with contrasting luminescent P+F branding against matte black on the strap. The collaboration includes all the technologically advanced treatments of classic DW-6900 including shock resistance, 200M water resistance, backlight, flash alert, multi-function alarm, 1/100th seconds stopwatch, countdown timer and 12/14hr formats.
The P+F is easily identified throughout the branding on the watch – the glow in the dark strap is just awesome and really helps this watch stand out from just another DW-6900.
“Founded in 2013 by college friends Imran Ciesay and Solomon Boyede (aka Ciesay and Soulz), the project began when Ciesay spent a summer in New York living with a family relative.
While initially interested in videography, Ciesay felt that medium too boring and time consuming, and instead chose to focus on photography. Constantly attending hip-hop shows, he parlayed an old blog he founded two years prior into an excuse to enter the press booth. Before long, the 20-something began masquerading as a photographer from London shooting for so-and-so outlet, finessing AAA (All Access Area) passes at notable shows across New York. With only a DSLR, he worked to score non-traditional images that set him apart from other show photographers. Named after the pattern which they caption every photo—Place: [Location] + Face: [Person]—the account began to attract a cult following.”
PLACES+FACES G-SHOCK DW-6900 Specifications :
Construction Shock-resistant
Water Resistance 200 meters
Functions : Stopwatch: 1/100 second (00’00”00 ~ 59’59”99) / 1 second (1:00’00 ~ 23:59’59); measuring capacity: 23:59’59; measuring modes: split time Countdown Timer: Measuring unit: 1 second; countdown range: 24 hours; countdown start time setting range: 1 second to 24 hours; 1second accuracy; auto-repeat Alarm Multi-function alarm; hourly time signal
Other Functions Full auto-calendar; 12/24-hour format; EL backlight with afterglow; flash alert: flashes with buzzer that sounds for alarms, hourly time signals, countdown timer Accuracy at Normal Temperature ±15 seconds per month Battery Life 2 years on CR2016
Size of Case 53.2 × 50.0×16.3mm Total Weight Approx. 73g
Read on for an Unboxing Gallery and more detailed product shots :
The 2020 Irish Photo Rally has now been announced by the Iron Butt Association Ireland. So if you are looking for something fun to do on the island of Ireland this year then this may be the calling you are looking for.
This year the theme is ‘The End of the Line’ and features railways all throughout Ireland, past and present.
There are 15 locations to visit across Ireland between now and the end of September 2020 so plenty of time to get all over the island, as the map shows you will be everywhere.
Not only that, from April to September the IBA Ireland releases one other spot that is only valid for that month – ‘The Brief’ which will be another point of interest somewhere in Ireland. This year they have been kind enough to give some hints as to where ‘The Brief’ will be located so you can plan your trips to take in a few of the 2020 Irish Photo Rally points as well.
The entry is a very fair 10 Euros and I guarantee you will see places you had no idea even existed.
Finishing the Iron Butt Association Ireland 2020 Irish Photo Rally and the monthly ‘Briefs’ will probably put a couple of thousand miles on your bike, but every one of them will have a purpose of a very rewarding completion of the rally.
Enjoy.
Oh and in case you were wondering you don’t have to be an IBA Member to complete in this rally, although if you enjoy this you really should considering having a look at the qualifying rides that will make you a member, one specific to Ireland is a full lap of the island within 24 hours – that is an epic day out! (I have done it twice so if you would like to read a little more about those trips you can do so right here.)
If you would like an idea of where previous rallies took you then please read on…
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.
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…
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 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!
If you feel like you are having a shortage of motorcycle exposure at this year’s TT don’t panic – you are! However things are looking much more positive for two reasons!
Firstly tomorrow (03/06/209) is Race Day 1 – and it is going to be a whopper. Just look at this schedule :
TT2019 Schedule : Monday 3rd June 2019 : Race Day!
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