Motorcycle festival comes to Matlock Bath

10 July 2008

Motorcyclists from across Derbyshire are invited to celebrate the art of motoring on two wheels at Bike Plus 2008.

Organised by the Derby and Derbyshire Road Safety Partnership, the event on Sunday 27 July will offer visitors to Matlock Bath the opportunity to admire the latest machines, test their skills on Honda's motorbike simulator and pick up a free copy of The Bikers' Guide to Derbyshire.

They can also learn about discounted training, enjoy a virtual tour of the nation’s best roads by watching Highways Agency movie Great Roads Great Rides and enter a prize draw for the chance to win a t-shirt signed by British MotoGP contender James Toseland.  

B and M Honda, CMC Motorcycles, Triumph World, Stratstone and Harley World are among the Derbyshire motorcycle dealers who will be exhibiting bikes at the event.

Robert Hill, the manager of the road safety partnership said: "Hopefully Bike Plus 2008 will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship! We want to build strong relationships with the motorcycling community and work with them to cut the number of riders coming to grief on our roads.

"Bikers are drawn to the Derbyshire countryside because it offers great rides – but too many of them are running into trouble.  Nearly a third of the people killed or badly hurt on our roads last year were motorcyclists."

Robert added: "We want bikers to enjoy our countryside year after year rather than leaving the county in an ambulance or a hearse."

The bikers' guide on offer at Bike Plus 2008 is a free pocket-sized booklet containing advice from the partnership about how to survive the eight countryside routes which they have identified as biker crash hot spots. The guide also includes an application form for Bike Plus - the subsidised rider development course after which this month's festival of motorcycling is named.

Thanks to Derbyshire County Council, bikers can usually take advantage of the training for as little as £50 if they live in Derbyshire or £90 if they live outside the county. Bike Plus instructors are approved by the Driving Standards Agency. They teach bikers to spot hazards and tackle challenges such as cornering and overtaking with greater confidence.

At Easter, the partnership sent billboard vans bearing the message 'Bikes aren't dangerous. Bad riders are' onto some of the countryside roads where the majority of crashes are caused by rider error. The vans, which formed part of a wider publicity campaign, also warned motorcyclists not to get caught out in Derbyshire by difficult roads, speed cameras and extra police patrols. 
 
Andy Adlington, the road safety partnership’s motorcycle project officer, said:

"Since the beginning of the leisure biking season, I've been out on my bike listening to the views of fellow riders and discussing how to survive Derbyshire's crash hot spots.

"I'm looking forward to getting to know plenty more riders at Bike Plus 2008. We've got lots of giveaways for visitors who want to share their views with us including nearly 300 magic mugs from the regional road safety organisation Shiny Side Up – pour hot water in and a message appears! Don't leave it too late though because it's first come, first served!” 

Staff from the partnership’s member organisations will be on hand at the event to talk to visitors about their road safety work. 

Bike Plus 2008 is taking place in the Derwent Gardens at Matlock Bath and will be open between 11am and 4pm. Admission is free.