The 2018 Northern Ireland Motorcycle Festival (MotorcycleFest) ran at the Eikon Centre, Lisburn from Friday 2nd February 2018 – Sunday 4th February 2018. The event has been running at the Eikon Centre since 2016 and seems to be going from strength to strength.
So what’s it like?
I think pretty much every motorcyclist now accepts that hearing protection is an essential piece of kit.
For years it was a very neglected part of motorcycle safety, however now we are well aware of the dangers of prolonged exposure to loud noises. In fact some reports state that a mere 30 minutes of exposure to motorcycle engine noise is dangerous enough to potentially cause long term damage to a person’s ears.
Being honest though I came a little late to the hearing protection idea.
However since starting using hearing protection I have been using or rather trying out a lot of different options, from disposables to a pretty expensive custom fitted set of ear plugs and struggled to find my ideal set. I found the disposables pretty good – however they tended to work their way out of my ear over a pretty short period of time. Comfort wise I found them spot on, but there isn’t much point in wearing something that doesn’t stay in your ear.
Then take the custom made ear plugs. I got these in work so didn’t personally fork out for them – thankfully. I have no doubt they offer top class protection however they are so uncomfortable that they actually verge on painful – and that pain comes quickly, maybe after an hour or two my ears and head are thumping.
Then I have tried numerous reusable options -which all have a similar look to this reviewed product :
The start list for the Senior Manx Grand Prix has now been published, along with the final qualifying lap times.
In an interesting innovation the full grid will line up in qualifying lap order for the blue riband event, including the top twenty.
Friday 1st September – Senior Manx Grand Prix Race Day
Roads Close at 0930 until no later than 1700 and, if required, 1800 to 2100.
1015: Senior Manx Grand Prix Race (4 laps)
1225: Roads scheduled to open
Congratulations to Darren Cooper on his Manx GP win in the 2017 Lightweight Race. Second place went to Andy Farrell with Barry Evans taking the third spot on the rostrum.
See below for official race timings and speeds.
Congratulations to Michael Evans on the Junior Manx GP win, second place going to Darren Cooper and third filled by a Jamie Williams.
See below for official race timings and speeds.
With the turn of the new year it is time to open up the tbni.blog sponsorship programme again.
This is very simple and also exceptionally good value for our sponsors (Prices start from FREE!). The sponsorship only runs until 31st December 2017 and resets itself in the new year to allow new sponsors a chance to get in.
What does it involve? Basically you get a slot on one of my panniers – (Details below) – for you to put your company logo.
You then get your logo / brand out there everywhere my bike goes and is kitted out with the boxes. You also get your brand / logo added to this site which attracted over 30,000 unique visitors in 2016. Remember though that these visitors are looking for this site and it’s content. We don’t buy visitors – our figures are genuine and only consist of people who are looking for information on what we post. The people you want to see your branding will, as all of our visitors want to be here!
You will also get exposure via the Twitter and Facebook Pages.
Revenue generated goes back into tbni.blog to keep it running, up to date and to enable the addition of new content.
For more information get in touch with us via :
or via this contact form :
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All decisions on Sponsorship will be made by me – I will only endorse products that I feel to be useful / beneficial / fun and positive to this site. I will not enter communication as to why I feel your brand / logo may not be suitable or has been unsuccessuful in being selected for inclusion in this program. If you want to be added to the waiting list for this program then please let me know.
The new biking season has just kicked off properly in the UK, although as I sit here typing this out tonight I look outside and boy does it look cold! I can further evidence this by the fact that it is 0 degrees celcius outside!
So there you have it, it is officially freezing!
Official statement from #GuyMartin:
Plenty of folk have been asking what I’m up to this year.
I fancy a change of scenery. I’ve been racing the TT for 11 years. All I’ve really done since I was 18, except the trucks, is race motorbikes and my brain needs something else.
Every year’s the same: testing, racing, then start again. It brought it home to me when I was lying in hospital after the Ulster Grand Prix crash.
I’ve been on about the Tour Divide, the toughest pushbike race in the world, for three years and I thought I’ll blink and next thing I’ll be 45, so I’m going to do it this year. I like breaking myself mentally and the Tour Divide will be tough, but it’s same time at TT, so that’s forced me to make a choice.
I’m not done with motorbikes. I’m attempting the Wall of Death record in the spring and having a go at the land speed record in the summer and if I do race on the roads it will be with TAS.
After the Tour Divide I might never want to see a pushbike again – or never want to go road racing again, I don’t know. But I do know Bruce Anstey and John McGuinness are still racing the TT, and they’ve got a few years on me, so maybe I’ll come back next year. Or maybe I’ll find something else interesting to do.
I’ve got more interests than just motorbikes and I just think let’s bloody have ‘em.
Thanks very much as ever for the support.
Guy.
Unfortunately to me that reads as a ‘farewell.’ Hopefully it is more of a ‘see you later’ than a ‘good bye.’
