A New look for Touratech’s Premier Event

Touratech UK’s flagship store, will once again be holding its massively popular Travel Event on May 4th-6th 2013 in Ystradgynlais, South Wales.

This will be the 5th annual Travel Event held at this location and it attracts people from all over Europe. This year the Touratech Travel event will see a big upheaval and its going to be great! They have all the old favourites - talks, workshops, off road and on road ride outs (including the famous Walters Arena open for riding on the Sunday), but this time they can do even better than that!

This year you will be able to browse the extended showroom which is 3 times bigger than last year, you can hear from new speakers, listen to live music in the evenings and you can try your hand at the Brand New Touratech Trophy. The Touratech Trophy is a new idea for this years event. A friendly team competition, it will see competitors put into random teams of ten. The teams will then compete over the Saturday and Sunday to be the best team. The genius of Touratech’s idea is that the teams will be picked out of a hat. This encourages the competitors to mix and meet new like-minded people while at the same time you don’t get 1 team of top riders that no-one has a hope of beating. This means the best people in the team will have to help the weaker riders improve if they want to win! On the Sunday afternoon the winning team of ten will go into an every man for themselves final. Nick Plumb, MD of Touratech UK says “It’s a great way to have a friendly competition, and it gets rid of any elitism! Most competitions like this cost hundreds to enter but at £30 to compete and only £10 to come to the event it’s great value. We are really excited!”

The Travel Event starts on Friday evening (04/05/13) with a quiz and open mic night, On Saturday and Sunday they will be offering talks, workshops, ride outs and of course some retail therapy. All while being able to watch the various rounds of the Touratech Trophy. In the evenings there will be talks including Austin Vince and Nick Sanders, a great talk show from Graham Hoskins and live music. Sunday will also see the opportunity for people to go up to Walters Arena and play off road! Finally on the Bank holiday Monday there will be a last ride out and a final goodbye before everyone starts heading home at midday. Tickets to attend (including camping) is £10 a person and to enter the Touratech Trophy is just £30 (which includes a T-Shirt and Competitor medal). See you there!

For more information visit: http://uk.touratech.com/en/travel-event.html

An ABR from Guildford is planning to ride 12,500 miles across two continents, 19 countries, mountain ranges and deserts to raise funds for Help for Heroes.

Will Moore, 44, will be leaving London on 3 September bound for Johannesburg, South Africa. His journey aboard a Suzuki Van Van will take him across some of the toughest terrain on the planet with little more than his wits and 125ccs of oomph to get him there.

“I am taking an under-powered Van Van to get the attention this cause deserves. And because it's just funny,” says ex-soldier Will. “Our brave Servicemen serve our country with such professionalism, pride, dedication and determination. I need the Great British public to get behind my challenge.”

Thank you to the hundreds of you who entered our recent competition to win a fab pair of Sidi Armada Gore boots.  This has been one of our most popular competitions so far and after receiving over 300 entries,  we have a winner.

We asked you, who is the founder of SIDI?  The answer is of course, Dino Signori.

The winner of the ABR online competition to win a pair of Sidi Armada Gore boots is ……...Stacey Booth! Congratulations Stacey!  Your new boots will be on their way to you shortly.

To all of you who entered but did not win this time, do check out our latest competition where three lucky readers will win a Tutoro chain oiler deluxe kit, one of whom will also win free fitting!  The Tutoro competition ends on Thursday 18th of April so get your entries in asap.

Good luck, ABRs!

The Tutoro Auto is an all-new automatic chain-oiling device with a completely unique ground-breaking self-actuating system.

Beautifully engineered and constructed from the highest grade materials, the Tutoro Auto raises the industry benchmark for quality and strength while its unique autonomous, self-actuation system negates the need to connect it to any of the motorcycle’s electrical, engine or air induction systems.

The Tutoro Auto is suitable for DIY installation and takes 45 minutes or less to do so. No specialist tools or knowledge are required. The Auto is approximately 100mm long and 45mm in diameter, so it’s easy to find it a home on your bike while still holding sufficient oil for over 1,000 miles of riding!

The Tutoro system works by using the vertical inertia direction changes and extending the apogee dwell period of the primary valve. The system is both robust and sensitive resulting in a device that functions correctly on every road surface.

The Tutoro Auto comes with comprehensive fitting instructions and the additional benefit of a range of instructional videos available on the website. If you’re not sure about fitting it yourself, a qualified mechanic will be able to do it for you in less than half an hour. The Tutoro Auto is available in a range of three kits. For more information go to www.tutorochainoiler.com

For this week’s ABR online competition, we have 3 Tutoro Auto Deluxe Kits to give away to three lucky winners, one of whom will also win a free fitting by Tutoro themselves!  (This will be by appointment at Tutoro’s business unit in the Forest of Dean).  To win one of these fab prizes, simply answer this question:

"What specialist tools are required to fit the Tutoro Auto?"

As usual, send your answers by email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The closing date for this competition is Thursday 18th April and the lucky winner will be announced on this website on Monday 22nd April 2013, so good luck and watch this space!

Please note, ABR Online competitions are only open to members of the ABR Magazine website and UK residents only.  If you are not already a member and wish to sign up, simply click on the box entitled ‘Register’ at the top right hand of this page. The winner will be chosen randomly from all correct entries received and the Magazine’s decision on all matters related to the competition is final.

Regular readers and visitors to this site will be familiar with the Pyle brothers’ eastern exploits, but for those ABRs still in the dark, here’s a quick recap…

In 2010, Canadian ABRs Colin and Ryan Pyle set out from Shanghai on a 65-day circumnavigation of China’s borderlands on a pair of BMW F 800 GSs. Their 11,184-mile adventure, dubbed the MK Ride, saw them travel through some of China’s most impenetrable and inhospitable parts, tiptoeing the China-Mongolia border, and busting through miles of red tape and close shaves to make the journey happen.

Their ride has since been recognised by Guinness as setting the world record for the most kilometres completed in a single country, in a continuous journey and without backtracking and repetition.

A documentary of their incredible trip called, unsurprisingly, The Middle Kingdom Ride, is due to air on the Travel Channel on Wednesday 10 April, at 8pm. We reckon it’ll be well worth a watch (especially if this weather continues).

Touring on a Ducati for many would be a dream adventure, and now with the Strada range of Ducati motorcycles, that dream is easier than ever to fulfil. The Strada concept began with the Multistrada and has now been expanded this year with the addition of the new Hyperstrada and the Diavel Strada.

The Strada Tour is an evolution of the popular Ducati Roadshow, which has run over the last three years, covering the length and breadth of the UK. This year, the Strada Tour will consist of 33 dates beginning on 6 April and running until 4 August and will feature extended rides up to a maximum of one-and-a-half hours.

These test rides have been designed to give customers more time to evaluate the bike’s touring and long-distance appeal. The local Ducati dealer will lead riders on a specially chosen route, taking in a variety of roads to fully test the bike’s touring capabilities and also give pillion riders the chance to assess the comfort of these machines.

Spain and Morocco offer a wealth of exciting routes for ABRs combining unbeatable riding, stunning scenery, and enticing history and culture, all easily accessible within a two-week holiday or even less. But with summer fast approaching and thoughts turning to planning tours, what’s the best way to get the most out of these top biking destinations? It seems everyone has an opinion, but what makes the difference between a pleasant ride in the sunshine and a truly one-off experience?

The adventure you’ve been waiting for, Tour the Pyrenees

We are offering long distance riding in the Spanish Pyrenees. The Pyrenees offers great opportunities for endless off road riding on fantastic tracks and routes with little chance of meeting others. This trip is the ultimate out door experience camping in mountain locations under the stars (or as we prefer in tents!), with a new location every night where a support vehicle will meet us so no need to carry bulk luggage.

Thank you to all those who entered our recent competition to win a set of the new Oxford Aqua range of waterproof luggage.  We gave two lucky winners the chance to win a 50 litre roll bag (RRP £69.99), a 30 litre back pack (RRP £59.99) and a 3 litre Bumbag (RRP £19.99).

To be in with a chance to win this fab luggage set, we asked you the following question:

This year, Oxford products is celebrating the anniversary of when the company was first established.  Which anniversary is it:

a. 20 year anniversary

b. 30 year anniversary

c. 40 year anniversary

The correct answer is c. 40 year anniversary.

We are pleased to announce that the two winners of Oxford Aqua luggage set are.......Stu Dowell from Leicestershire and Medwyn Evans from Conwy, Wales. Congratulations! Your prizes will be on the way to you shortly.

To all those who think you don't stand a chance, Medwyn Evans from Wales has now won twice! He was previously one of three winners of the Extreme Racing Gillets last November and has now won for the second time!  The winners are picked completely at random by an internet random number generator so everyone has an equal chance to win.  So come on guys. You've got to be in it to win it!!

So check out our latest competition currently running on our ABR homepage to win a pair of  new Sidi Armada Gore boots.  You do not want to miss out on a chance to win those! The closing date for this competition is Thursday 4th April 2013 and the lucky winner will be announced on this website on Monday 89th April 2013, so good luck and watch this space!

Once Shoei had gone to the trouble of introducing a helmet with an integral sun shield in the shape of the Neotec flip front, I guessed it wouldn't be long before they included this long overdue addition to other helmet types. Well they have and we at ABR got our sweaty hands on the brand new GT-Air full face lid for an exclusive review prior to them hitting the shelves.

The GT-Air utilises Shoei's AIM (Advanced Integrated Matrix) shell structure which uses complex layers of both glass and organic fibres to create a really hard surface. This is lined with EPS (expanded polystyrene) to help absorb and distribute any impact forces.

The shell design has been wind tunnel tested to provide ultimate stability, ventilation and noise suppression in all riding conditions, which will reduce fatigue.

This week I was in Sardinia for the press launch of the all new Aprilia Caponord 1200 and WOW they have produced a stunner!

Aprilia have slotted a 1200cc V twin engine into a new lightweight frame and developed a host of sophisticated electronics; ride by wire system with three engine maps; switchable two channel ABS; traction control (ATC) with three user settings; Aprilia Dynamic Damping (ADD) with 4 predefined spring preload positions and a very nifty automatic setting where the bike works out the loading and sets the damping accordingly.

There's also a very effective cruise control (ACC) which holds the desired speed up or down hill without having to adjust the throttle.

A height adjustable windshield for better wind protection. Even the exhaust silencer is height adjustable to give more ground clearance when the styled panniers have been removed and you fancy a back road scratching session!

A full review will be in the next issue of Adventure Bike Rider magazine out at the end of April don't miss it!

It’s competition time, ABRs, and you do not want to miss out on a chance to win this week’s prize; a fab pair of Armada Gore Sidi Boots, SRP £279.99!

In the 1970s, SIDI began specialising in cycling footwear and boots for off-road and on-road motorcycling. Dino Signori, founder of SIDI, combined a passion for cycling with more than 50 years’ experience manufacturing innovative sporting footwear and that pedigree is still very much alive in the company’s latest offering to the motorcycle market, the Armada Gore.