2007

MCN takes a trip to Goa

MCN takes a trip to Goa

MCN makes it to Palolem beach south Goa, India. This is the ultimate hang-out for hippy / rocker / backpacker types wishing to ride a real iron bullet, dodging coconut trees and water buffalo. Alan...

MCN needs your help

MCN needs your help

Have you had trouble booking ferry crossings just because you’re a biker? Has a ferry company ever refused to take your booking because you’re travelling on a bike? Have you ever had your bike damaged...

No justice over friend's death

No justice over friend's death

Matt Bailey was a very good friend of mine and I cannot believe the sentence that was given to the person who killed him. A motorcyclist can get a custodial sentence for speeding yet a man who shows...

Brough Superior up for sale

Brough Superior up for sale

The most famous name in motorcycling history is being sold-off at auction next month. Alec Card, 80, has decided to sell the Brough Superior name off to the highest bidder on May 5 as part of the...

Bike-friendly bull bars

Bike-friendly bull bars

4x4s are being fitted with bike friendly bull bars made from a shock absorbent plastic material. From May the sale and fitment of metal bull bars will be made illegal by the Department for Transport,...

New MCN: April 18

New MCN: April 18

This week in MCN we reveal the world’s first pictures of the new BMW Sportboxer. This new bike will feature no the racetrack soon in the Le-Man 24-hour endurance race. Also in this issue, available to...

Aprilia V-Twin Shiver first impression

Aprilia V-Twin Shiver first impression

We’re at a top secret test track in Italy riding a pre-production version of Aprilia’s new 750cc V-Twin Shiver. It’s due to go on sale in June and should cost less than £6,000, which means if you are...

Speed cameras for sale

Speed cameras for sale

The owners of speed camera manufacturer Pips Technology has put the company up for auction. The organisation supplies speed cameras to the police, Government and other local authorities. There are a...

Ducati's record sales

Ducati's record sales

Ducati North America has announced record sales of its motorcycles for the first quarter of 2007. The sales were 15% up on the figures from the first quarter of 2006. The arrival of the much...

Video: Hornet, Z750 and FZ6 group test

Video: Hornet, Z750 and FZ6 group test

There’s a whole new bunch of middle-weight naked bikes for 2007 so we took them all out on the road together to see which is best. Check out the video below for the first comparison test of the new...

Starting young

Starting young

Here is a picture of my 18-month-old daughter, Keira, trying to ride my Honda CBR.

Scotland's three falls

On a trip to Scotland last May, my mate dropped his Fireblade in a car park at very low speed. We continued on our way to Inverness and he lost it again, this time on a corner and ended up in a ditch. He was okay and the bike was a bit bent but rideable …we thought. We set off and two miles down road, just yards from a cafe stop, his front wheel locked and he went flying thru the air and hit the...

RoadLok Sniper for custom choppers

RoadLok Sniper for custom choppers

One of America’s most famous chopper designers Eddie Trotta of Thunder Cycles, Florida is now using the all new RoadLok Sniper on his choppers. The RoadLok Sniper is available for most Harley...

UK's shortest yellow line

An 18 inch yellow line has been painted between two parking bays in Highbury, North London. The line, roughly the length of one motorcycle wheel, is to separate the public parking bay from the resident’s bay. Council chiefs insist that no one has received a ticket so far.

Bad night out riding

Thought I’d share this crazy night’s riding with you… Six people thought they’d meet up at the Ace Café, on a dry warm Wednesday night. Five of them arrived on time. One lad said he’d laid his bike down while trying to get his knee down going around a roundabout earlier in the day (diesel!). He had dented a section of aftermarket exhaust but managed to wedge himself between floor and fairing to...

New BMW superbike

New BMW superbike

This is the first official image of the Sportboxer and the closest thing to a Superbike BMW has ever built. The 140bhp, 195kg (fully-fuelled) Sportboxer is leading BMW’s assault on an all out, no...

Knox V2 protectors

Knox V2 protectors

These new upgrade shoulder, elbow and knee armour pads from Knox are claimed to give class leading impact protection, passing the CE standard by giving 33% more impact protection than is needed to...

Hertz unveil Spanish bike rental scheme

Hertz unveil Spanish bike rental scheme

Hertz car rental announced last week that it will be offering BMW motorcycles for rental in Spain. The bike choice includes BMW F650GS, F800S and R1200 models from branches in Madrid, Barcelona,...

African Superbike

African Superbike

I spotted this beauty near Pongola in Zululand, South Africa. The owner has a roadside stall alongside the road, at the top of a steep hill. In the morning he loads his wares on the bike and pushed...

Full prisons mean killer driver goes free

A driver who caused the death of Matthew Bailey escaped a jail sentence because of overcrowded prisons. Judge Charles Kemp at Lewes Crown Court gave 59 year-old Malcolm Legrys a one year sentence suspended for two years, 200 hours of unpaid work and a 12 month driving ban, rather than imprisonment as recommended by Sentencing Advisory Panel for the crime of death by dangerous driving.

A bit of RG bargy

A bit of RG bargy

It was 1986 and, having just got married and I bought a house, I grudgingly agreed to tuck my trusty 8 year old XS750 away in the garage (just for a year or two to concentrate on home improvements and...

Firm bans thousands of staff from riding bikes

Firm bans thousands of staff from riding bikes

Thousands of employees of a multinational company have been banned from riding motorcycles under threat of disciplinary action, it emerged today. Johnson Controls Ltd has banned motorcycles as a form...

Video: Bimota Tesi 3D in the factory

Video: Bimota Tesi 3D in the factory

IN a recent visit to the Bimota factory we managed to get an excluasinve ride on the development version of the New Tesi 3D and sneak a peak inside their workshop. Check out the video to see the...

Bikers banned from Speed Ferries

Bikers have been told by Speed Ferries, operating from Dover to Boulogne, they can no longer travel with their bikes. Speed Ferries operates a high-speed service across the Channel but claims it is no longer able to accommodate motorcyclists. In a cancellation letter sent to customers by Speed Ferries it blames high turnaround time due to loading and discharging bikes and high claims for...

Buy a bike with help from the BBC

Buy a bike with help from the BBC

If you’re in the market to buy a new bike or scooter, the BBC is looking to help you. The television channel is looking for motorcyclists to appear on the daytime consumer affairs programme “Don’t Get...

Is it my turn now dad?

Is it my turn now dad?

I’m hoping that one day, my three-month-old son, Bailey, will share my passion for biking. I can’t wait to buy him his first lid and leathers!

Honda hareem

Honda hareem

How do you like my Honda harreem?

Biking in Spain

Biking in Spain

Here are a few shots of where we ride and quad in Spain. All these bends to ride round! Poor old us!

AMD Euro Custom Championships: P-Tang bike

AMD Euro Custom Championships: P-Tang bike

The overall top-rated bikes from the 2007 AMD European Championship might be grabbing all the attention, but in the smaller classes there’s still some hot metal to ogle. The P-Tang from Young Choppers...

Video: Backstage with the Bennetts Babes

Video: Backstage with the Bennetts Babes

MCN can exclusively take you backstage with this year’s stunning Bennetts Babes. The footage was taken at the first official photo shoot as the twelve girls got to know each other. You’ll be seeing a...

Hours left to save bikes from road pricing

Hours left to save bikes from road pricing

Today is your last chance to sign MCN’s petition against road pricing before it is given to Tony Blair. As this was written, the list of names had reached 4,411 and was still growing by the minute,...

Worst roads

I think that the worst roads are in Swansea, South Wales. The potholes, surface corrosion, and general state of the roads is a disgrace. All the council have to say is that due to a high number of damage and injury claims they haven’t got enough money to repair all the roads. So what is our road tax for? I thought it was to pay for the upkeep of the roads so there won’t be any claims!

Nightmare Gloucestershire roads

I agree with Richard whole heartedly. Having been out for the first long run of the year today, I can quite honestly say that the county’s roads are absouloutly atrocious. This is unless you happen to go through the Forest of Dean where there seems to have been a major resurfacing scheme going on along the A 4136 to Monmouth. But get into Wales and you might as well be in a different continent.

Win a CBR6 with Spring Spectacular

Honda is running a special promotion campaign throughout April where you can win loads of great prizes, including an HM Plant replica CBR600RR7. All you have to do is go to your local dealer, fill in the form and drop it in the Spring Spectacular box. And anyone who test rides a Honda over 125cc gets entered into a free prize drawer to win a CBR600, Hornet or a VT750DC Shadow Sprint.

McGregor jacket raises £2600

A jacket worn by Ewan McGregor on his documented Long Way Round journey was sold at auction last month for £2600. The auction was held by Edinburgh University to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support and the Students Supporting Street Kids charity.

MX rider killed by barbed wire

An Italian farmer is under investigation for manslaughter after a motocross rider was killed by a piece of barbed wire stretched across a country track. Marco Badiali, 48, was out riding with seven friends in Pavullo in the Appenines to celebrate his birthday when he was virtually decapitated by the wire that was stretched five feet high across the path. Reports said there was a history of...