New MCN Jan 30: World first BMW R1200GS test

The World Is not Enough
The legendary GS has been with us for over 30 years, and is BMW’s best selling motorbike worldwide, making the new 2013 update the most important bike in BMW’s history. Almost every component has been changed, with a new chassis, impressive electronics package, and  – controversially – a new partially water-cooled boxer engine. But is it any good?

‘I Think It’s F*****g Great’
Proudly British admirers of Japanese engineering, good with their hands and determined to plough their own furrow, Guy Martin and the founders of exhaust and special-building firm Racefit are like-minded fellows. So it makes sense to get them together around Racefit’s latest flagship, at Guy’s Lincolnshire workplace.

Can A2 Bikes Be Fun?
This month saw the introduction of the new A2 licence, restricted to 47bhp. For new riders aged 19-21, an A2 licence is the best they can get under the new rules. We look at some of the top contenders in the A2 category to see if these 47bhp limited machines can still be fun to ride.

Kevin Ash 10.12.59-22.01.13
MCN columnist Kevin Ash died last Tuesday. This is how MCN – and the motorcycle world at large – will remember our friend Ashy.

Panigale Test Washout For Ducati
Ducati’s new WSB racer, based on the Panigale 1199, is replacing the 1098R that won two world championships and over 50 WSB races. But the very different Panigale 1199RS has not exactly given its rivals sleepless nights in recent tests in Spain – even in the hands of 2011 champ Carlos Checa.

A Deal Forged In Hell 
Ben Spies’ career has been upwardly mobile since he won the first of a hattrick of AMA titles in 2006. After winning the 2009 WSB title, Spies arrived in MotoGP in a whirlwind of expectation a year later, soon landing a factory ride in the best team in MotoGP. But his career hit the buffers in 2012, the same year Rossi gave up on Ducati. So it seems an odd choice to take a ride on a second-string satellite cursed bike

Honda Prodigy Marquez: Can He ‘Do A Rossi?’
Marc Marquez is already Moto2 champion at just 19 years old, winning the 2012 title with brutal determination. He’s realistic about his rookie year chances in MotoGP, but might just ‘do a Valentino’ – spend a ‘learning’ season in the class before decimating his rivals the next season, as he did in Moto2. Whatever the case, be prepared for quite a ride.