December

Review of the Year 2001

30 December 2001

Join us for a look back at the motorcycling news of the year. If you think we missed anything important, let us know by posting on the news board in Talk Bikes. April 23: Foot and Mouth hits the TT:...

Macs at the ready

30 December 2001

Formation dirty old mac wearing

The new bikes of 2002

30 December 2001

We’ve gathered together the bikes of 2002 in this one, easy access section. Follow the links, right to see them all.

A year’s worth of magic motorcycling moments

30 December 2001

We asked for your personal descriptions of the moments that made your motorcycling year in 2001. Here are some of the best we received. One will receive a signed copy of Neil Hodgson’s new book, which...

High old times on grass

30 December 2001

Cones do not helmets make

Put it back on!

23 December 2001

Catwalk fashion, Purple Helmets style

Alarms may go off… but they don’t work

23 December 2001

Testers ” stole ” a bike from outside a police station with its alarm blaring… and no one lifted a finger to stop them. It’s just one of the depressing findings of a RiDE survey into public reaction...

Taking tweaking to extremes

23 December 2001

The moment some people get a new toy, they have to start modifying. For most of us, that means maybe a mild bit of tuning, a new shock and re-worked forks. But some people want to follow that road a...

If Santa used scooters…

23 December 2001

Tis the season to be jolly… so have some Purple Helmets

Finally, the Kawasaki ZX-10R

23 December 2001

Kawasaki’s ZX-9R is a much admired sports bike. But it has started to lag behind the new breed of 1000cc superbikes. What’s really needed here is a ZX-10R: Enter TTS. Tuning firm TTS has bored out...

KTM’s new road bike spotted on test in Austria

23 December 2001

These exclusive spy-shots show for the first time the latest bike in KTM’s range to use the firm’s new V-twin engine, the LC8. While the first dedicated road bike to use the new engine was expected to...

Yamaha R1

23 December 2001

Steve Jenks has spent £11,000 tweaking his Yamaha R1 The roll call of his added extras is pretty impressive but he reckons he’s done it on the cheap. At full cost the total would have been over...

Guzzi continues air-cooled development

23 December 2001

Those who prefer the traditional sound of an air-cooled Guzzi to the Euro-conformity of a water-cooled engine will be relieved to hear that the company has not stopped development of it’s water-less...

Suzuki GSX-R1100

23 December 2001

Lee workman, 31, is a manufacturing engineer at Land Rover. He has forked out £12,000 spicing up his GSX-R 1100M Aaah, the sight of a Suzuki GSX-R1100M. No matter the guise, there are few things as...

Whatever the weather

23 December 2001

The Purple Helmets show the right way to ride in the wet

State of confusion

23 December 2001

I was following this star… and then… it was gone

Win a bike and other prizes: answers now added

23 December 2001

How do you fancy adding a Suzuki DRZ400 worth £4699 to your Santa’s sack? How about Axo jackets, trousers, helmet and gloves worth more than £700? Kushitani gloves more your thing? Teng tools worth...

Helmets on parade

23 December 2001

Junior Kickstart, it ain’t

Suzuki Hayabusa GSX1300R

23 December 2001

Ian Burgess, 44, runs his own building firm. He has shelled out around £10,000 on top of his stock Hayabusa. Ian Burgess wanted an even bigger engine in his Hayabusa so he took it to TTS. In common...

Up in smoke

23 December 2001

Red Arrows? No the Purple Helmets

Loads of mistletoe

23 December 2001

You too can join in the hugging and kissing… if you win

Malaguti shows shape of things to come

16 December 2001

Developed as a prototype, Malaguti’s Super Climber has been debuted in Bologna to gauge public reaction. ” We want it to show people that Malaguti is thinking about motorcycles. We will see how people...

BMW introduces "challenging" R1150R paintscheme

16 December 2001

BMW won critical acclaim when it unveiled the R1150R – for making a bike that truly tempts the eye. But, as Prince Charles once said, ” rather like a carbuncle on the face of a much-loved friend ” ,...

We wunt to be togevva

16 December 2001

Close racing… at a time of year when you didn’t have to huddle together to keep warm.

Learners will fail car test if they aren’t bike aware

16 December 2001

From October next year, learner drivers will be tested to see how good they are at scanning the road for bikes. Test candidates will be shown video clips filmed from the top of a car, and tested on...

Haydon signs up with Foggy for WSB

16 December 2001

Yamaha British superbike star James Haydon has signed to ride with Carl Fogarty’s Petronas team in WSB for 2002. Haydon will be replaced in the Virgin Yamaha line-up by Simon Crafar, making a return...

Ninjas at the ready

16 December 2001

Remember the balmy days of the British superbike season.

Administrators confirm M&P closures

16 December 2001

The administrators dealing with troubled chain M&P have confirmed that half its shops were closed in a sudden move on Friday. Branches in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Harrow, York, Welwyn Garden City, Stroud and Peterborough are now no longer trading. The administrators say they have been closed because no-one had shown an interest in buying them since the firm was put into administration. Shops in...

Czech supermoto arrives in the New Year

16 December 2001

The 610cc Praga four-stroke off-roader has a hand-built engine and aluminium fuel tank, a choice of Paioli or Marzocchi forks and Brembo brakes. And those features are just part of the appeal of the...

Foggy picks Mick in dream team but still says he’d beat him

16 December 2001

If Carl Fogarty could choose from all the riders he’s ever known to ride in his new Petronas team he’d sign up Mick Doohan and Kenny Roberts (snr). And Foggy took the opportunity of a live web chat on...

Now you can submit your road tax responses

16 December 2001

Have your say on Government proposals to change road tax for bikes with this new website address. The original address published showed you the proposals but didn’t link to a response form. Use the...

Corser’s deal with Foggy delayed by fineprint

16 December 2001

The chances of Troy Corser confirming his deal to ride in the all-new Foggy Petronas WSB squad before Christmas are fading. But he is still expected to sign up within the next 10 days. The only...

Government report says ban on dark visors should stay

16 December 2001

Dark visors should remain banned from UK roads because we can’t be trusted to work out for ourselves that we should switch them for clear ones when the sun goes down. That’s how a...

Carl Fogarty: In his own words

16 December 2001

Jonny: Carl how long do you think it will take to get a race win with the new bike? CarlFogarty: Oh, it’s impossible to say really. It would be great to have one in the first year, although that’s unrealistic. But certainly in 2003 Dave: How difficult will it be to stop yourself jumping on the bike during testing to get the fastest lap times? CarlFogarty: Oh that won’t be difficult at all.

I guess we have a winner…

16 December 2001

Playing conkers on bikes was best left until after the race

Strange but true…

16 December 2001

Here’s our latest line-up for bike-related oddities from around the planet. If you know of something worthy of inclusion in our next collection, e-mail jon.urry@emap.com AUSTRALIA: Not content with...