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Motorbike Advice

Your one-stop shop for all motorbike advice, including how-tos, getting a motorcycle licence, servicing, maintenance and more.

Find out which bikes you should be choosing in our expertly curated Best section, or find the perfect kit and accessories at MCN Product Picks.

For those looking to learn how to ride a motorbike, head to our Learning to Ride hub, where we cover all you need to know about getting into this wonderful lifestyle.

If you've already got going, check out our Riding Tips section for the best guides and top techniques.

Looking for somewhere to go? Don't miss our Places to Visit area for some ideas for your next rideout.

And when you get home, learn how to look after your bike in our Bike Maintenance hub.

Year: ALL

MCN's expert guide on removing bug splats, tar or any other stubborn stains from your motorcycle

01 August 2024 by Bruce Dunn

MCN's expert guide on removing bug splats, tar or any other stubborn stains from your motorcycle

Summer in the UK brings with it lots of positives for bikers. Bright mornings, long evenings, warm sunshine and sticky tarmac are all positives but the downside is that your fairing, headlamp and...

Fan favourite: How to check your motorcycle cooling system

01 August 2024 by Jim Blackstock

Fan favourite: How to check your motorcycle cooling system

Checking your motorcycle cooling system is important. In the past, most bikes were air-cooled. Although that’s a bit of a misnomer; it was a combination of air and oil-cooling, with the oil being...

Save money and learn how to do basic oil and filter servicing on your motorcycle with MCN's expert

31 July 2024 by Bruce Dunn

Save money and learn how to do basic oil and filter servicing on your motorcycle with MCN's expert

The oil in your motorbike’s engine plays an incredibly important role. It acts as a cushion between moving parts, such as between camshaft and head, reducing friction and wear. Jump to: The right...

Keep on stopping: How to change motorcycle brake pads

31 July 2024 by Jim Blackstock

Keep on stopping: How to change motorcycle brake pads

It’s inevitable that if you carry out your own maintenance, sooner or later you will be changing motorcycle brake pads. They are, after all, consumable and will need replacing more or less often,...

Plug and play: How check and change your motorcycle spark plugs

31 July 2024 by Jim Blackstock

Plug and play: How check and change your motorcycle spark plugs

Unless you own a diesel motorcycle, then the spark plug in your petrol engine is probably one of the most key components if you want to operate your bike. Of course, there are others – tyres, brakes...

Sub-£5k superbikes: they might break the speed limit, but these sizzlers won't break the bank

30 July 2024 by Jon Urry

Sub-£5k superbikes: they might break the speed limit, but these sizzlers won't break the bank

Sales of new sportsbikes may have dwindled but the used market is as hot as ever – and that’s no surprise given the range of quality machinery on offer. Look in any dealership and super sport 600...

Taking on the French TET with a purpose-built KTM 690 Enduro R | The ultimate adventure bike?

25 July 2024 by Michael Guy

Taking on the French TET with a purpose-built KTM 690 Enduro R | The ultimate adventure bike?

Welcome to the fourth episode of MCN Sports Editor, Michael Guy’s video series on buying and adapting the perfect adventure bike. Watch the previous episodes: Michael chooses, buys and modifies...

Fancy an old-school four? These are the used buys our expert reckons should be on your shopping list

22 July 2024 by Jon Urry

Fancy an old-school four? These are the used buys our expert reckons should be on your shopping list

There’s no more definitive genre of motorcycle than the naked, big-bore, twin shock, retro-style Japanese fours which proved hugely popular between the mid-1990s and mid-Noughties. Bikes like...

Let it all hang out! Prepare for high-octane thrills on five of the best big-cc naked bargains

17 July 2024 by Jon Urry

Let it all hang out! Prepare for high-octane thrills on five of the best big-cc naked bargains

The popularity of naked bikes has been on the rise ever since our sports bike infatuation started to wane. And is it any wonder? On a naked the exposed and upright riding position not only puts...

True sporting icons: the GSX-R range defined Suzuki for generations. So which to buy?

15 July 2024 by Jon Urry

True sporting icons: the GSX-R range defined Suzuki for generations. So which to buy?

It’s a rather sorry state of affairs that now, in 2024, Suzuki only have two GSX-R models in the range – and one is a GSX-R125! There’s the new GSX-8R too, of course, which had won fans thanks to its...

How to ride a motorcycle while staying on the right side of the law

10 July 2024 by Charlotte King

How to ride a motorcycle while staying on the right side of the law

Riding a motorcycle can be great fun but if you aren’t clued up and careful, you can get caught out. It’s worth reading up on the things to be aware of to keep yourself out of trouble. This is doubly...

Cost of riding guide | Discover the cost of a motorbike to keep your ride financially free

09 July 2024 by Phil Clarke

Cost of riding guide | Discover the cost of a motorbike to keep your ride financially free

Once you’ve learned to ride a motorcycle, you’re finally ready to take the most exciting step — buying one for yourself. But, it can be difficult to know just how much you should expect to spend on...

Motorcycle buying guide | Learn how to find the right bike for you and get in the saddle

09 July 2024 by Phil Clarke

Motorcycle buying guide | Learn how to find the right bike for you and get in the saddle

It’s never been a better time to start learning to ride, and the adventures you share with your first motorbike will stay with you for life. It’s an exciting place to be when you’re choosing your...

How to save fuel while still having fun on your motorcycle

09 July 2024 by Robin Kirkley

How to save fuel while still having fun on your motorcycle

Whether you’re learning to ride or an experienced hand, biking is a passion that offers a unique sense of freedom and adventure. But with rising fuel prices and increasing environmental concerns,...

Essential motorcycle maintenance checklist to keep your machine running smoothly

08 July 2024 by Robin Kirkley

Essential motorcycle maintenance checklist to keep your machine running smoothly

Part of learning to ride, is learning how to look after your bike: keeping it in good shape is important for its lifespan, performance, and your safety. Regular checks can stop unexpected breakdowns...

The A2 motorbike licence is a crucial step towards bigger bikes for young riders. Here's how to pass

05 July 2024 by Gareth Evans

The A2 motorbike licence is a crucial step towards bigger bikes for young riders. Here's how to pass

The A2 motorbike licence is the single quickest and most cost-effective way for 19-year-olds to learn to ride a motorbike and progress to a full UK licence. In order to gain an A2 licence, you’ll...

The MCN test | best supersport motorbikes of 2024

27 June 2024 by Michael Neeves

The MCN test | best supersport motorbikes of 2024

We’ve never really thought of Triumph’s Street Triple as a supersport bike before. From its 2006 inception it was always the tamer, more real world take on the Daytona 675 race rep, but not anymore.

How to ride a motorcycle with a pillion passenger

26 June 2024 by Gareth Evans

How to ride a motorcycle with a pillion passenger

Riding with a pillion can be the best way to get friends and family understanding just what you love about biking – and possibly tempt them to learn to ride themselves. But there’s a real art to...

Expert guide to filtering on a motorcycle | laws and advice

26 June 2024 by Mark Edwards

Expert guide to filtering on a motorcycle | laws and advice

It’s a question we get asked a lot: how do you filter safely and legally on a motorbike? As cars and 4x4s get ever fatter, the lanes we use for filtering (otherwise known as ‘lane-splitting’) are...

How much does it cost to learn to ride a motorbike?

26 June 2024 by Curtis Moldrich

How much does it cost to learn to ride a motorbike?

The feeling of freedom you get when riding a motorcycle is unlike anything else, but a lot stands in the way of the thinking about learning to ride and finally passing your test. From theory tests and...

Learning to ride: How to change gears on a motorbike

26 June 2024 by Gareth Evans

Learning to ride: How to change gears on a motorbike

If you’re learning to ride, the likelihood is that you’ll need to know how to change gears on a motorbike. While there are a handful of automatic, hybrid and electric motorbikes and quite a few...

How to pass your motorcycle theory test first time

25 June 2024 by Gareth Evans

How to pass your motorcycle theory test first time

When you’re learning to ride a motorbike, you’ll need to pass the motorcycle theory test. This is the second element of passing your full motorbike licence, occurring before the two practical modules...

Fun in the sun: Tips for riding your motorbike in hot weather as summer finally arrives in the UK!

21 June 2024 by Gareth Evans

Fun in the sun: Tips for riding your motorbike in hot weather as summer finally arrives in the UK!

Right from when we learn to ride a motorbike, it’s long days of cruising in the sunshine, or hot and sticky trackdays, or quick blasts to the coast in the hot weather, that we imagine and look forward...

We take three hardcore adventure offerings both on and off-road, to see which machine reigns supreme

20 June 2024 by Carl Stevens

We take three hardcore adventure offerings both on and off-road, to see which machine reigns supreme

Nowadays, adventure bikes come in all shapes and sizes, for every different style of rider. For some, the perfect adventure bike is a light, low-capacity machine that’s capable of being ridden...

Whether you’re a weekend warrior or a globetrotter, these are the best adventure motorbikes in 2024

18 June 2024 by Adam Oldfield

Whether you’re a weekend warrior or a globetrotter, these are the best adventure motorbikes in 2024

Let’s clear the air before we start; any motorbike can be used to go on an adventure. This page, however, will concentrate on the adventure bike market sector that covers mostly middle and heavyweight...

How to give your bike a proper clean | MCN's expert guide to getting a motorbike gleaming

14 June 2024 by Bruce Dunn

How to give your bike a proper clean | MCN's expert guide to getting a motorbike gleaming

Whether you love or loathe the task of cleaning your motorbike, if you want it to shine all summer or survive the grime and salt of winter unscathed, then you need to give it more than just a quick...

The new middleweight sportsbike class is rammed with epic machinery but which one reigns supreme?

13 June 2024 by Carl Stevens

The new middleweight sportsbike class is rammed with epic machinery but which one reigns supreme?

The notion of a thrilling middleweight sportsbike has changed drastically over the past 20 years. In the 2000s, sportiness and lap times trumped everything – meaning that engine capacity and design...

This pair of supermotos are built for skids and wheelies... but which one's best? Let's find out!

05 June 2024 by Carl Stevens

This pair of supermotos are built for skids and wheelies... but which one's best? Let's find out!

Look up the word ‘fun’ in a dictionary and (depending on what school you went to) there really should be a big fat picture of a supermoto staring back at you. Built to be raw, aggressive and minimal...

Cut through the jargon! Here are the common biking phrases and what they mean

03 June 2024 by Gareth Evans

Cut through the jargon! Here are the common biking phrases and what they mean

If you’re new to biking, there’s a huge amount to learn, and where better to start than with this handy glossary of common biking words and phrases? Got more? Why not email me and I’ll add them to...

2024 BMW R12 vs Harley-Davidson Nightster Special | Can BMW's new cruiser out-perform the H-D on UK roads?

30 May 2024 by Phil West

2024 BMW R12 vs Harley-Davidson Nightster Special | Can BMW's new cruiser out-perform the H-D on UK roads?

BMW can’t stop shooting at the US cruiser heavyweights, Harley and Indian… first with the R18 and now with the new R12. But this time it’s different. Where the R18 was an all-new, air-cooled, boxer...

Find the best off-road motorcycle: an in-depth buyers' guide to the bikes, tracks, trails and gear

29 May 2024 by Adam Oldfield

Find the best off-road motorcycle: an in-depth buyers' guide to the bikes, tracks, trails and gear

Riding an off-road motorbike is a brilliant past time. Whether you are looking to build new skills, explore new areas, or when it gets damp and chilly on the race track and you need some winter saddle...

How to pass your CBT and ride a motorbike on L-plates

24 May 2024 by Gareth Evans

How to pass your CBT and ride a motorbike on L-plates

If you’ve decided you want to learn to ride a motorbike, the first thing you’ll need to do is complete a Compulsory Basic Training, or CBT course. It may be a small step down from your dreams of...

Group testing the Triumph Speed 400 vs Royal Enfield HNTR 350 Vs Husqvarna Vitpilen 401 | Little beauties

23 May 2024 by Jon Urry

Group testing the Triumph Speed 400 vs Royal Enfield HNTR 350 Vs Husqvarna Vitpilen 401 | Little beauties

Who needs a big bike when these A2-legal offerings are so good?  In the UK there is a huge number of what are referred to as ‘dormant bikers.’ While this may sound like someone who sticks their...

Learning to ride: How to pass your full UK motorbike licence

22 May 2024 by Gareth Evans

Learning to ride: How to pass your full UK motorbike licence

Inevitably, when learning to ride, at some point you’ll want to pass your full UK motorbike licence – known as a ‘category A licence’ – opens the door to one of the most exciting and liberating...

BMW F900GS Adventure vs Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro | The best of
both worlds

16 May 2024 by Jon Urry

BMW F900GS Adventure vs Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro | The best of
both worlds

Looking at the current crop of big-capacity adventure bikes, I have a concern about history repeating itself. Let me explain, in the early 2000s sportsbikes suddenly experienced a huge hike in...

Indian Challenger Dark Horse vs Harley-Davidson Road Glide | Battle for bagging rights!

02 May 2024 by Jon Urry

Indian Challenger Dark Horse vs Harley-Davidson Road Glide | Battle for bagging rights!

Here’s a sentence I never thought I’d be writing – today we are testing two race reps from Harley-Davidson and Indian. No, seriously we are. Believe it or not, the Indian Challenger and Harley Road...