Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

Biker attempts to beat London marathon record... in traffic

AS BRITISH favourite Mo Farah prepares to challenge the British record at the London Marathon this weekend, an enterprising biker has decided to try it himself – in the thick of London traffic. On closed roads a man vs machine race would be a bit one-sided, but with the average speed of a fast marathon runner being 12.43mph and the average speed of a motorbike in London traffic being 12.5mph, the result turned out not to be so clear-cut – the biker missing out on the record by a full five minutes. Using the same BMW F800GS Adventure as is loaned to the marathon organisers, Michael Mann of online community Bike Social followed the route as closely as possible, albeit with a few extra loops where the runners will take advantage of closed one-way streets.

Fiat 500 Electric 2012 launch

The Fiat 500 Electric Concept was at the Detroit Motor Show this year At the 2010 Detroit Motor Show Fiat brought along an electric concept version of the Fiat 500, together with a Chrysler-badged Lancia as a clear indication that times are changing at Chrysler. And it would appear they’re changing even more quickly than we expected with the announcement that the Fiat 500 EV is going in to production, and will go on sale in the US in 2012. Obviously spurred on by the unexpected success in recent years of that other motoring retro icon the MINI, Fiat are pushing ahead with plans to introduce the regular Fiat 500 in to North America in 2010, although that will be preceded by the 500 Abarth and 500C Abarth, which will be the first versions of the 500 to reach American shores.

2013 Rolls Royce Ghost updates

Three years on from the launch of a Rolls Royce for owner drivers – the RR Ghost – Rolls Royce has made some updates for 2013. Believe it or not, it’s three years since the Rolls Royce Ghost arrived at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show as a more ‘Sporty’ take on the RR ethos and aimed at owner-drivers; the sort of chap who’s outgrown big Mercedes and BMW but still likes to drive. Three years on from launch, we’re still waiting for RR to deliver a Ghost Coupe (perhaps the Corniche?) and a Ghost DHC, so when we saw an email from Rolls Royce with 2013 updates we got quite excited.