2007

‘Bikes need lower speed limits than cars’

‘Bikes need lower speed limits than cars’

Speed limits for motorcycles need to be lower than those set for the rest of the traffic, two leading transport advisors have said.  Stephen Plowden and Mayer Hillman, transport authors and advisors...

Part of IOM TT course to change for 2008

Part of IOM TT course to change for 2008

The Department for Transport has reached an agreement with the ACU to seek funding for a new stretch of TT course to run from The Nook to Governor’s Bridge. The existing road is to be abandoned...

Bonus chance to win with Devitt's Hunt the Bike

Bonus chance to win with Devitt's Hunt the Bike

You could win a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the final MotoGP round of the year at Valencia in Spain, or free insurance worth up to £1000 arranged by Devitt Insurance Services Limited or a TRACKER...

Video: Auto 66 at Elvington part two

Take a look at the video below to see what happened when MCN road tester, Adam Child put the Suzuki GSX-R600 through its paces.   Adam’s technically-gifted brother, Mark, and long-suffering dad finally got the old GSX-R600 ready for Elvington, the last meeting at the airfield track with Auto 66.   The motor  was up and running, Mark has even fitted a crank case breather system, all home made,...

KTM’s RC8 motorcycle is ready for the road

KTM’s RC8 motorcycle is ready for the road

KTM is putting the finishing touches to the KTM RC8 1190 superbike as these exclusive pictures show. The test KTM motorcycle has the final version of the 1199cc engine to be fitted in the 2008-model...

New MCN out Wednesday, October 17, 2007

New MCN out Wednesday, October 17, 2007

In MCN this week, we ride the bike James Toseland rode to the World Superbike championship.  Not only that, but our World Superbike reporter Michael Guy got to ride Max Biaggi’s Corona Suzuki –...

Yamaha shows new XS-V1 Sakura motorcycle

Yamaha shows new XS-V1 Sakura motorcycle

Yamaha will reveal this new prototype retro motorcycle at the Tokyo Motor Show next week. The Yamaha XS-V1 Sakura is designed to hark back to the firm’s first four-stroke machine, the 650cc XS-1 of...

Small plate grief in Gwent

Just returned from a long weekend in mid and south wales with two of my friends. We arrived on sat night and planned to tour wales from sunday onwards. 10 minutes into our sunday tour we were stopped by gwent police who told us that we had done nothing wrong of which we already knew but they wanted to talk to us about road safety as there had been a number of road deaths in the area over the past...

Hizzy still going over the mountain

Hizzy still going over the mountain

Here’s a picture taken last week of Hizzy coming over the “mountain”!

Overtaking ban on “Helmsley TT”

Overtaking is to be banned on stretches of a road nicknamed the Helmsley TT by motorcyclists. The B1257 in North Yorkshire is to get double white lines on a 20 mile stretch from Helmsley to Stokesley. Anyone caught crossing the lines will risk three penalty points and a £60 fine, or a £1000 fine and a ban in court. The move follows a series of motorcycle crashes on the road, including a fatal...

Triumph Rocket 3 Touring unveiled - plus exclusive MCN spy shots

Triumph Rocket 3 Touring unveiled - plus exclusive MCN spy shots

Triumph Motorcycles has finally unveiled the long-awaited Triumph Rocket III Touring to its American motorcycle dealers yeterday (Sunday, October 14, 2007). The finished motorcycle has a new frame,...

Share your pictures and videos from MCN Live! at Butlins, October, 2007

Share your pictures and videos from MCN Live! at Butlins, October, 2007

Have you made it home from the MCN Live! event at Butlins in Skegness on October 12-15 2007 with pictures and videos from the weekend? Then why not share them with other MCN readers? Whether it’s an...

Road debris

I understand that BMF are to campaign for cleaner roads and quicker clean up after problems. My experience today suggests they’ll have their hands full. As I passed a busy junction (entry to a supermarket) I had to swerve to miss a construction barrier that was supposed to be protecting a road centre excavation. Along with all the other 3 sides, it had been pushed over, obstructing both...

MCN on the Maldives

MCN on the Maldives

Couldn’t do without my MCN on hols in Meedhupparu island, Maldives.

Trip to Isle of Skye

Trip to Isle of Skye

Well it was Friday 4th of May and were were all set to have our second attempt to create Scotlands lovely lands into the best race track ever. There were 5 of us. ADI, CHRIS ,MARK, SAM and ME. The...

My first excursion on to three lanes

Re your article this week about Motorways made easier (BikeMart page 28) and how to cope with your first excursion on to three lanes. I just thought I’d tell you about my first excursion 30 years ago. I’d just passed my test on my BSA Starfire 250 and went out for a ride with my mate. Somehow we found ourselves going along the M3, we were tanking along getting the thing up to 65mph. After several...

Infinity Motorcycles is up for sale

Infinity Motorcycles is up for sale

The Infinity Motorcycles group is currently up for sale, with stores closed for stock checking. The chain, which has 12 stores across the country, has “temporarily frozen it’s business activities as...

James Toseland and MCN Live! Butlins winner announced

James Toseland and MCN Live! Butlins winner announced

One lucky MCN reader has won the chance to meet World Superbike champion James Toseland at the MCN Live! event at Butlins tonight, and an apartment for four people for the weekend event. James...

Last Chance To Win DJ Bike

Last Chance To Win DJ Bike

You’ve got just a few days left to be in with a chance of winning this awesome, one-off David Jefferies replica R1worth more than £11,000. The winner will be drawn from all the entries next Monday,...

MCN and Bennetts competition winner

MCN and Bennetts competition winner

MCN Competition winner Joe Martindale rode away on his brand new BMW R1200GS last week thanks to Bennetts and MCN. Martindale picked his new £9,095 bike from his local dealer Alan Jefferies BMW in...

French villages

French villages

We found this village in Normandy (Northern France). We just had to stop and take a photo, before we fell off laughing.

‘Split engined’ bike shows how dirty standard fuel is

‘Split engined’ bike shows how dirty standard fuel is

This is British Petroleum’s split engine R1200GS Adventure, designed to show the benefits of using advanced fuels. One half of the engine runs on BP Ultimate and the other on ordinary fuel to...

MCN in Iraq

MCN in Iraq

This is me in the Iraqi desert reading my MCN. Thanks for sending them out for me every week, dad!

Video: World's first turbo-diesel production bike

Take a look at our MCN-exclusive video of the first turbo-diesel motorcycle in production, the Neander. Costing £65,000, you probably won’t see many on the roads, so our video is your best chance to see the air-cooled 1340cc parallel twin, which has been in development for seven years. It’s got so much torque that the only comparable motorcycle is the Triumph Rocket III, which has an engine nearly...

Video: Long Way Down preview

Take a look at this exclusive video below of  Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman‘s Long Way Down trip from John O’Groats to Cape Town.    Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman’s latest trip, following on from their Long Way Round adventure in 2004, includes the Nile and meeting locals in the villages in Africa among the highlights .   Over the last few months, MCN has exclusively brought the latest...

Ducati extend Desmosedici RR production run to 1500

Ducati extend Desmosedici RR production run to 1500

Ducati has announced it is to take orders for a further 250 Desmosedici RRs, bringing the production total to 1500. The £40,000 motorcycle is just about to begin rolling off production lines in the...

Honda design philosophy for the CB1100R

Honda design philosophy for the CB1100R

I have to say, I love the Honda CB1100R concept. It mixes retro styling with a modern twist and, to be honest, it’s about time Honda made use of their racing heritage and produced something that can...

Police admit at least four months of speeding convictions could be wrong

Police admit at least four months of speeding convictions could be wrong

Kent Police has dramatically admitted that people caught speeding with handheld laser guns during at least the last four months may have been wrongly convicted.  The admission came after details were...

Limited edition John McGuinness Honda CBR1000RR7 Fireblade

Limited edition John McGuinness Honda CBR1000RR7 Fireblade

Ten John McGuinness TT replicas are set to be up for grabs from Fowlers Honda in Bristol to commemorate the rider’s record-breaking win at the TT this year. The motorcycle will come with the HM Plant...

See exclusive Tokyo Show coverage here from October 26, 2007

See exclusive Tokyo Show coverage here from October 26, 2007

The 40th Tokyo Motor Show kicks off on October 26, 2007 and MCN will give you the latest news on the new motorcycles here. Check back to www.motorcyclenews.com/tokyoshow08 to see the first pictures...

Video: Onboard the 2008 Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa

Watch our exclusive video of the 2008 Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa flat out at Bruntingthorpe. MCN road tester Adam ‘Chad’ Child pushed the 2008 Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa to an indicated 200mph. Then watch the new Suzuki GSXR1300 Hayabusa take on the Kawasaki ZZR 1400, flat out again. Watch the breathtaking race between the two hypersports motorcycles around the track. And read more details of the test...

Ozzy Osbourne to sell motorcycle and quad collection

Ozzy Osbourne to sell motorcycle and quad collection

Rock star Ozzy Osbourne is selling his collection of off-road motorcycles and quads, including the Yamaha Banshee 350 he was nearly killed on in an accident in 2003. The 350cc two-stroke twin-cylinder...

2008 Husqvarna bikes in action

2008 Husqvarna bikes in action

Husqvarna motorcycles’ new 2008 range are the first production enduro motorcycles to be fitted with a fuel-injection system. It will be Husqvarna’s first release of new motorcycles since the...

Road test gallery: Ducati 1000SS

Road test gallery: Ducati 1000SS

Like all the best ideas, the one for ‘Project Twin Spark’ came up in a bar. Around this time last year over a few beers in Almeria, John Montgomery, Ducati Sporting Club’s track day organiser decided...

Video: Akrapovic adds more power to Kawasaki Z1000

Watch this exclusive MCN video to see the fitting of a full Akrapovic exhaust to my long term test Kawasaki Z1000 motorcycle, which not only dropped loads of weight off the motorcycle but also gave another 11bhp. The Kawasaki Z1000’s stock exhausts are the only ‘Marmite’ part of the motorcycle, judging by MCN readers’ comments, which range from ‘distinctive’ to ‘minging’. Find parts and...

Lonely Planet guide to New Zealand

Lonely Planet guide to New Zealand

New Zealand is a country of rare seismic beauty: glacial mountains, fast-flowing rivers, deep, clear lakes, hissing geysers and boiling mud. There are also abundant native forests, long, deserted...