August

Year: 2002

Month: August

AA and RAC oppose phone ban

19 August 2002

Two of Britain’s leading motoring organisations have come out against the complete ban on mobile phone use behind the wheel currently being considered by the Government. The AA argues that there are...

Arashi helmet winner

12 August 2002

Congratulations to Tony Kenneford from the Forest of Dean, he’s our winner of a limited edition Arashi Tsunami helmet, worth £230. Tony correctly identified Tilium as the product that Arashi uses for...

Riders ‘strike fear’ into motorists

12 August 2002

Next time you pull behind a car, spare a thought for the poor driver. According to a new nationwide survey conducted by Bennetts the insurers, a third of all motorists are intimidated by...

Longterm report: CCM R30

12 August 2002

Choosing between two bikes in the garage in the morning is a luxury I’m not accustomed to and before I get accused of being a free-loading hack, let me make it clear that I actually own the Yamaha...

MCN wants replica riders

12 August 2002

Foggy, Ben Bostrom, John Reynolds and Karl Harris are just some of the racers with replica bikes created in their honour. If you’ve got one, we want to hear from you. MCN is planning a feature on...

Video: R1 for sale

12 August 2002

Test

1999 Kawasaki ER-5

12 August 2002

Picture this. I’m 24, it’s January, I’m living in London and after spending a year listening to my housemate talk about the freedom, liberation and sheer excitement of owning a motorbike I have decided to bite the bullet and do my test. After all, why shouldn’t I? My dad passed his test last year and my girlfriend (now fiancée) has always loved bikes. But here’s the rub. I’m 24, it’s January...

This is what makes us tick…apparently

12 August 2002

Rider skills experts The Edge has commissioned a university researcher to examine what makes motorcyclists tick. Geoff Crowther, from Huddersfield University, is working on a three-year project for...

Play ‘Spot dpc’ all next week

12 August 2002

MCN’S David Cushman (or dpc, to give him his motorcyclenews.com user name) is touring the UK on his Kawasaki ZZ-R1200 from Sunday (August 18) until the following Friday (August 23). If you spot him on...

Joey TT scholarship announced

12 August 2002

A scholarship in commemoration of Joey Dunlop has just been launched for budding TT racers. It’s backed by MCN and our parent company Emap, the ACU and the Motor Cycle Industry Association (MCI). The...

2002 Suzuki GSX-R600 (1)

12 August 2002

So the new GSXR 600 leans casually on its stand looking like it’s doin’ 90 standing still – maybe its the Telefonica graphics, the luminous green chequered flag on the electric blue paint or just the sharp styling of the whole package ,anyway ,whatever it is it sure does it for me and I have a feeling it would still do it if it was wearing a coat of grey primer. Most people who stop for a look...

Swansea is worst Gatso hotspot in UK

12 August 2002

Spare a thought for the people of Swansea, their home town is the easiest place in the UK to lose your licence. On one single 1.2-mile stretch of road in the city’s Fforest-fach area there are an...

US Marine Corp enlist Harleys

12 August 2002

Recruiters for the United States Marine Corp will receive new two-wheeled weapons to entice young men to sign up to serve their country. 16 Harley-Davidson Fat Boys have been custom painted red with...

CBR600 will get Suzuka RCV lights

12 August 2002

Honda’s RCV-inspired CBR600, revealed exclusively in MCN, will debut the firm’s new high-tech headlight design – as seen on the RCV GP bike that Mick Doohan showed off at Suzuka last week. The lights looked ready to go into production when they appeared on the RCV. They will certainly help to make the radically-restyled CBR, first shown in MCN on July 31, stand out from the crop of other new 600s...

FireBlade now tops the user reviews

12 August 2002

A flurry of entries overnight and into today has seen Peter Bullock’s review of his 1997 Honda FireBlade sweep past James Apps’ GSX-R600 to top our user review poll. A strong third is Stephen Badham’s...

2002 Kawasaki ZX-6R J2

12 August 2002

A 600cc sportsbike, brand new, for under £5k? In yellow? (I know, humour me). Trade-in the svs? Certainly sir, walk this way. Difficult with these legs, but thank you, I’ll have one, no test ride needed. All that took place in February this year, and in March I was the proud owner of said new ZX-6R. In truth, being a short arse, the ZX6 was the best option for my height of all the 600cc sports...

Kawasaki’s wild muscle bike revealed

12 August 2002

This is the machine everyone is going to be talking about. In the latest issue of MCN, out August 14, you can see the first picture of Kawasaki’s new ZX-9-powered muscle bike. The image has been...

Spot ‘dpc’ on tour on Sunday

12 August 2002

MCN’S David Cushman (user name dpc) is touring the UK this week on his Kawasaki ZZ-R1200 long termer. Look out for his panniered-up silver bike today as he makes his way from Cambridgeshire, west on...

One in the eye for Gatsos

12 August 2002

Some people lash out on sophisticated Gatso-dodging electronica, some people just slow down for them. But one rider has come up with a method of avoiding a speeding ticket James Bond would be proud...

2002 CCM 604e

12 August 2002

If like me you spent New Year’s Eve with various friends and beverages and at some point someone produced the home brew you will not remember much about it. Mission accomplished. The same philosophy applied when I passed my DAS. Not knowing much about bikes, and not being mechanically minded, I thought the best way to measure any new bike was how it felt, how I felt, as opposed to top speed or...

Have you ever beaten a star?

12 August 2002

World-class racers like Chris Walker, Neil Hodgson, Troy Bayliss and Valentino Rossi weren’t always gods. All of them had to start somewhere, and all of them must have been beaten plenty of times...

MCN seeks sub-editor

12 August 2002

MCN is looking for an experienced sub-editor to join its production team. If you love bikes and have at least two years behind you working on a newspaper, magazine or quality consumer website in a...

Vote for your bike review winner

12 August 2002

Now’s your chance to vote for your winner in our MCN Road Tester for a day competition. All you have to do is read the users reviews we’ve published, by clicking on the link on the right. Then e-mail...

1986 Honda CB350

12 August 2002

The minute I saw this bike I wondered if I had read the advert wrong, 1986 D reg it said and my mate told me it was basically a Superdream. With its red Harris frame and modern Fazer like tank this was one sexy lookin bike but will this thing go after all its only a 350cc twin cylinder engine putting out 35 bhp . 3 months later and I can say with one mega grin that this machine rocks, In this...

1998 Kawasaki ZX-7R

12 August 2002

Overweight, outdated, underpowered? Not the words I would associate to Kawasaki’s finest Ninja, despite all the magazine articles I’ve read on this bike over the past couple of years, indicating that the model was ready for the skip. Aggressive, agile and stable more suit the character of the 750 kwakajack. I can only come to the conclusion that my bike must have undergone modifications at the...

@1999 Yamaha R1

12 August 2002

The R1 is not a difficult bike to review. Think of something a supersports bike should be good at and write down that the R1 excels at it. For MCN, introduce as many hackneyed clichés as you can come up with, plus a sprinkling of contradictory errors, and you’re away. Here goes nothing… The R1 is a very fast bike. I had a ’93 ‘Blade for a few years before buying my R1 new in September ’99, so its...

Getting the family look

12 August 2002

Suzuki has revamped its Burgman 250 and 400 maxi-scooters for 2003 – in line with the styling of the newer Burgman 650. They keep the same four-stroke motors, but will get fuel-injection as Suzuki...

Benelli v MV v 998 v RSV

12 August 2002

It’s the ultimate in silly money road tests: In the latest issue of MCN, out August 14, we pitch the new £22,500 Benelli Tornado Tre against its rivals for the title of: ” Best Road Bike Money Can...

GSX-R600 tops your bike reviews

12 August 2002

James Apps’ reviews of his 2001 GSX-R600 is your top of the bike review pops according to the latest information from our poll. If he stays at the top to the end of the week, August 16, he’ll win a...

New Momo lids for headcases

12 August 2002

When even fluffy bunny ears are commonplace, the best way to stand out could be a mad helmet from Italian firm Momo. It’s latest line-up is guaranteed to appeal to extroverts, but each helmet meets...

Japanese scooter stupidity

12 August 2002

FES250 TRIKE Liked to be looked at? Even if it’s for the wrong reasons? You might want to have a gander at this Honda FES250 scooter. It’s been triked with raked-out forks and 12in back wheels from a...

Evel Knievel in tax trouble

12 August 2002

Two things you can rely on in life are death and taxes, but having postponed one, Evel Knievel is now under fire from the taxman. The motorcycle daredevil has had two charges filed against him for...

2000 Aprilia RSV

05 August 2002

Two years have passed since with a heavy heart and hand I parted with the readies to secure my Blue Mille RSV. Would she live up to expectations or alternatively was I throwing more wedge into the...

2001 Suzuki GSXR600

05 August 2002

After moving to England from Australia all I wanted was a Suzuki GSXR600 to replace the one I had left behind. As a kid, all I would do is read all the English bike magazines and dream of riding...

KTM reveals its CRF beater

05 August 2002

Since the FIM announced that from 2003 four-stroke 450s would be able to compete with two-stroke 250s, companies have rushing to release hardcore 450s to rival Honda’s CRF450. And now it’s KTM’s...

1999 Yamaha Fazer

05 August 2002

Parts bin special, ugly, too common – just some of the accolades that have been heaped upon the Fazer! So, who is going to buy it? Me for one (and a few thousand others). So what do you get for your money? a detuned Thundercat engine producing 85-95 hp giving plenty of go. Brakes from the R1 giving plenty of stop. All held together by a capable chassis with a comfortable riding position and...