Motorbike Advice: make the most of motorcycling

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.

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

From Wimbledon to F1 and the Olympics... Suzi Perry has done it all

08 March 2021 by Michael Guy

In a career that has spanned more than 20 years, Suzi Perry has weaved her way into the fabric of motorcycle racing. Having interviewed riders from Carl Fogarty and Mick Doohan to Valentino Rossi,...

How to buy a used motorcycle and not get ripped off: Your step-by-step guide to avoid buying a lemon

04 March 2021 by Adam Oldfield

Buying a pre-loved motorbike is one of the most exciting experiences there is, but with so much money changing hands it can also be stressful. Buying a lemon can be costly, inconvenient or even...

The Great Malle Rally offers two-wheeled escapism without a passport

04 March 2021 by Jordan Gibbons

Raindrops on hairpins and cold sandy beaches, bright chrome air cleaners and damp tyre screeches, hiding your smartphone so it never rings, these are a few of my favourite things. Cream-coloured...

Let the fun begin! There are loads of new and used supermotos in 2025, but here are our favourites

22 February 2021 by Tom Willard

Sensible? No. Practical? Not often. Good fun? Always. This is supermoto. Supermotos are the royalty of motorcycle hooliganism, with all practicality traded in for entertainment. These bikes have a...

Twin peaks: a history of Ducati's iconic V-twin engine

05 February 2021 by Phil West

This year is a milestone for Ducati’s iconic, Desmodromic V-twin – or ‘L-twin’ as the Italian firm call their 90-degree engine layout. Related articles from MCN 75 years of MV Agusta Two tribes go to...

Captain Sir Tom Moore, 1920 – 2021

02 February 2021 by Jordan Gibbons

Former British Army despatch rider, motorcycle racer and charity fundraiser Captain Sir Tom Moore has died after contracting coronavirus. Capt. Moore burst into the public conscious in April 2020,...

The rise, fall and rise of Aprilia: 50 years of motorbikes from Noale

29 January 2021 by Phil West

Just weeks after its world launch, the most eagerly anticipated bike of 2020, Aprilia’s RS660, is proving to be well worth the wait. The 100bhp twin, complete with mould-breaking, ultralight 169kg...

Learner-friendly fun: find out how to buy the best 125cc motorbike for you with our expert guide

22 January 2021 by Michael Neeves

If you’re looking for the best 125cc motorbikes money can buy, you need to come to the title that tests the most bikes – MCN. Our expert team of road testers are among the best in the world, and can...

Best naked 125s of 2021

22 January 2021 by MCN

Looking at buying a naked 125? Well, MCN has got you covered with this handy pick of the bunch. The sporty naked 125 market is currently saturated with both new and used examples from almost all of...

Bucketlist: Ride a classic banked circuit

03 January 2021 by Phil West

Most bikers have experience of race circuits, either through racing, trackdays or simply spectating. It’s an experience that rings a far greater appreciation of the adrenaline-fuelled thrills and...

Get your stoppers gleaming: how to clean your motorbike's brakes

02 January 2021 by Bruce Dunn

Cleaning your brakes is an important step in motorcycle maintenance and a fairly easy one to do. The tools required are basic (allen keys, a socket set and a torque wrench) and the payoff is instant.

Buy your dream bike – now!

01 January 2021 by Richard Newland

I’ve been dreaming of this moment for 18 years. To be honest, I never thought it would happen – but several things conspired to form a perfect storm, and the dream has finally become a reality. Oddly,...

Watch: Nick Sanders on the Snowdonia 360

16 December 2020 by Gareth Evans

In this week’s special 5-in-1 MCN we have a supplement about inspirational things you could plan to do in 2021. Among them is Nick Sanders MBE’s trip around the Snowdonia 360 – Wales’s answer to the...

Ohvale UK Cup: How Peter Hickman is nurturing the next generation of UK racing stars

04 December 2020 by Dan Sutherland

Peter Hickman is one of the most versatile British motorcycle racers of the modern age. Having won the National Superstock 1000 Cup championship 16 years ago, he’s since become a multiple British...

Evel Knievel Laverda leaps back into the limelight

25 November 2020 by Phil West

A bike used by Evel Knievel has been discovered, restored and put on public display. Knievel, who died in 2007, is best remembered for using Harley-Davidson XR750s in the 1970s, most notably for his...

How to prepare your motorbike for winter

20 November 2020 by Bruce Dunn

Preparing your motorbike for the colder weather, salt on the roads and slippery conditions is an important task if you don’t want to watch it rot away in front of your eyes. As well as the tips in...

Boxer goodies: Polish custom house create stunning café racer BMW R100RT

18 November 2020 by Dan Sutherland

A Polish motorcycle custom house have transformed a 1982 BMW R100RT into a modern café racer. Warsaw-based Eighty Six Gear Motorcycles spent a year-and-a-half turning the 49,700-mile classic into the...

The Tesi H2 marks Bimota's return – but where did it all begin?

13 November 2020 by Phil West

With orders now being taken for the supercharged, hub-centre-steered Bimota Tesi H2, it’s worth revisiting the Italian brand’s glittering, yet chequered, history. Related articles on MCN Bimota KB4...

MTB to motorbike: The Mod 1 test

06 November 2020 by Adam Binnie

Given how everyone I know with a motorbike says the first practical test is harder than the second, I was surprised to discover it usually takes about 15 minutes and mostly involves riding around...

Our bikes: Richard Newland's Ducati 996

05 November 2020 by Richard Newland

There’s something exceptionally pleasing about big V-twins. The flatness of their delivery, their deceptive speed and gluttonous dollops of torque. The way they build power with a surging tide that...

Dream Ducatis: Michael Neeves tangos with a trio of Superleggeras

04 November 2020 by Michael Neeves

Ducati’s Superleggera is a rare, exotic beast. Only 1500 have ever been built: 500 magnesium-framed 1199s in 2014, 500 carbon-framed 1299s in 2017 and new for this year 500 carbon-framed V4s. They’re...

Thanks for the memories: Honda Ron Haslam Race School calls time after 24 years of expert tuition

03 November 2020 by Dan Sutherland

After 24 years and an estimated 87,000 customers, the chequered flag has fallen on the Honda Ron Haslam Race School. Having announced that 2020 would be their final year of operation back on...

Celebrating Black History Month: As one of the few mixed race riders in bikesport, Asher Durham hopes he can inspire others

30 October 2020 by MCN

Asher Durham is a BSB Junior Superstock 600 racer who started in motocross and then became the youngest ever rider to compete in the 125cc British championship at the age of 13. He went on to be a...