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April

M3 / M25 junction - The worst road I know

10 April 2007 by Laura

The worse road I know for motorbikes is not some suburban or even urban street, but the southbound M3 at its junction with the M25. The ‘day joints’ in the tarmac have been breaking up for seven or eight years now and are somewhere between 3″ and 12″ wide. What makes this so bad is that most traffic is either travelling at high speed and changing lanes to allow the traffic from the M25 to come...

Thanks from Durham Police

10 April 2007 by Bob Brown

Thanks from Durham Police

We had our third Easter Egg Run on Sunday and the turn out was fantastic. Tesco’s in Durham, who are very pro police/biker allowed us to assemble in their car park. We then travelled to...

What's left of my month old Corona

10 April 2007 by Andrew Mark Lovatt

What's left of my month old Corona

Here you go guys, this is what’s left of my one month-old 1000K6 Corona after a Taxi pulled out on me at the weekend. I was on the A44 at Broardwas in Worcester. The guy side swiped me as I was...

Video: MV Agusta F4 312 first ride

09 April 2007 by Angus Farquhar

Video: MV Agusta F4 312 first ride

MCN’s Michael Neeves traveled to Monza last week to test the all new MV Agusta F4 312. The bike replaces the F4 1000 and boasts an extra 9bhp which can take it to a top speed fo 312kph – hence the...

No thought for safety

08 April 2007 by beryl j green

No thought for safety

I took these photo’s when I was in the car with my son. It was a lovely day on April 8, 2007 at 2.44pm on the A10 near Waterbeach in Cambridge. We could not belive our eyes, this is how people give...

Stunning limited-edition 675

08 April 2007 by Ben Purvis

Stunning limited-edition 675

Jack Lilley Motorcycles are planning to offer an extremely limited-edition run of Triumph Daytona 675s in this JPS-inspired paint scheme. No more than five of the bikes will be offered, at £8999. As...

Hungarian bike firm back after 30 years

08 April 2007 by Ben Purvis

Hungarian bike firm back after 30 years

Hungarian bike firm Pannonia is being revived this year with a new V-twin cruiser. It’s just a 234cc motor, making 18.5bhp, but it’s the first bike to carry the Pannonia name since the mid 1970s, when...

Man punched by illegal rider

08 April 2007 by Rob Hull

Police are hunting for an illegal off-road rider who punched a 58 year-old walker who confronted him over his riding. The suspect was riding on a playground in Ellenbrook Lane in Hatfield on March 17 at 4.15pm, and punched the victim who was angered by his reckless riding. The man is described as a blonde-haired man in his 20s, wearing a blue/red helmet and riding an ‘adult sized’ bike. Call 0845...

Road improvements to cause delays

08 April 2007 by Rob Hull

A £2M road improvement scheme put in place to ease traffic problems is set to increase traffic as the works get underway. Work is to begin today to widen the approach to Bardills roundabout on the A52 in Nottinghamshire and also install traffic light. The dual carriageway will be reduced to one lane until the changes are completed in August.

Drink-driver reported by daughter

08 April 2007 by Chris Newbigging

A 70 year-old woman was banned from driving last week after being reported for drink-driving by her own daughter. Kathleen William’s daughter Helen was prompted to report her mother on her mobile after a near-accident while passenger in her car. She was found to be one and a half times over the legal breath alcohol limit. She was banned for one year and fined £140 plus £60 costs.

Kijima Monster S4R

07 April 2007 by Ben Purvis

Kijima Monster S4R

While most top-end European tuners specialise in making Japanese bikes go faster, in Japan the trend is to take expensive and exotic European machines and make them even more exclusive. Kojima’s...

Saxon Choppers for the UK

07 April 2007 by Ben Purvis

Saxon Choppers for the UK

American-made Saxon choppers could become available as complete bikes in the UK in the near future, as the firm’s European distributor is trying to find a British importer. The firm currently offers...

Red sheep entertain drivers

07 April 2007 by Rob Hull

Red sheep entertain drivers

A farmer has decided to “brighten things up” for motorists on the M8 in West Lothian by painting his flock of sheep red. The sheep, which graze in a field next to the road, have caused a stir with...

New gadget stops drink drivers

07 April 2007 by Chris Newbigging

A new device which makes car drivers take a breathalyser test before they can start their car is now available in the UK. Priced at £1,256, the device is linked up to an immobiliser in the glove compartment that only allows the engine to start once the driver has tested under 0.35mg per 100ml of breath. The product is already in use in Sweden and North America where government are drafting...

Burning sensation for Brough owner

06 April 2007 by Rob Hull

Burning sensation for Brough owner

£32,000 for a bike is a lot – you’re looking at Desmosidici RR and Honda NR750’s for that sort of money. But a telephone bidder at the end of March decided he wanted to spend his £32K on the charred...

Bike cop dies making overtake

06 April 2007 by Rob Hull

A bike Cop has been deemed to have died by accidental death last week after being thrown from his unmarked police bike when trying to overtake a Land Rover in North Wales. Off-duty police officer Phil Paddock tried to revive 46-year-old DC Richard Gostage at scene of the crash on the A5 at Cerrigydrudion. Gostage had clipped a kerb overtaking the 4×4.

£1.4 million test centre for Scunthorpe

06 April 2007 by Rob Hull

Construction company Bluestones has been awarded a £1.4 million contract to build a new test centre in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire. It will be used for both bikes and cars with test surfaces as well as a testing centre ready for the new motorcycle test that is due to change in 2008.

'Shared Spaces' to save A32 bikers

06 April 2007 by Rob Hull

A ‘Shared Spaces’ programme to reduce motorcycle accidents will start this summer, on a particular favourite route for bikers. The A32 in Hampshire, which runs through the Meon Valley, is set to get totally revamped in the coming months with a lot of road furniture being removed to reduce the number of signals being sent to riders and drivers. Ben Hamilton-Baillie, the man who termed ‘Shared...

Buy a MotoGP minibike replica

06 April 2007 by Rob Hull

Buy a MotoGP minibike replica

Honda’s old Ape 100 might not be the obvious starting point if you’re making a road-legal MotoGP replica – but that’s exactly why Japanese tuner Kijima has opted to do just that. The firm is...

Pay back for cutting up on the A2

05 April 2007

I thought I would put pen to paper with an amusing tale that happened to me recently. I regularly commute to London on my FZ6N travelling up and down the dreaded A2. On this journey there never fails to be some sort of incident and this ride home proved no exception. There had been an accident on the A2 and the outbound route was stationary. Now I am not a fast filterer as I think it’s...

Learn to ride with Suzuki

05 April 2007 by Ben Purvis

Learn to ride with Suzuki

Suzuki has linked-up with BSM to provide a new training scheme that will get riders through their test in just six days. As well as putting riders through their CBTs and Direct Access tests, using...

MCN travels to the Colosseum

05 April 2007 by M Campling

MCN travels to the Colosseum

This is me reading MCN at the Collesium in Rome last November. I took my wife there for her birthday treat!   Keep up the great work. Fantastic weekly news.   All the best M Campling

Speeding biker cleared of death

05 April 2007 by Chris Newbigging

A Harley-Davidson owner was cleared of death by dangerous driving last week after hitting a cyclist whilst travelling at twice the speed limit. 42 year-old Mark Pennycook from Battersea hit Jason Wang last year who had pulled out to pass an illegally parked car. He later died of multiple skull fractures.

Sisters launch scheme to cut bike accidents

05 April 2007 by Chris Newbigging

Two sisters who lost their parents in bike accidents launched a campaign to reduce the number of bikers who speed last week. Melanie and Kerry Smith’s parent died in separate bike accidents, and they launched ‘Operation Focus’ last week with the support of Leon Haslam to get bikers to slow down in areas identified as accident black spots.

Active Hayabusa gets supercharger

05 April 2007 by Ben Purvis

Active Hayabusa gets supercharger

Massively-powerful turbo Hayabusas might normally be the realm of American tuners but Japanese tuner Active has created its own take on the theme for the Tokyo Motorcycle Show. The firm has opted...

Teen bike nuisance threated with confiscation

05 April 2007 by Chris Newbigging

Police are threatening a 19 year-old with confiscation of his off-road bike if he is caught damaging a local moor land area again. Police have already arrested the teenager once on April 1 after he was spotted damaging Staines Moor (which is home to several rare animals) and cautioned him for criminal damage and possession of cannabis. If he is caught again he faces losing his Kawasaki off-roader.

Mum photographs injured son to 'scare him off bikes'

05 April 2007 by Chris Newbigging

The mother of a 20 year-old man who suffered serious head injuries in a bike crash has taken his picture whilst unconscious and seriously injured in the hope that it will ‘scare him off bikes’. Michael Holliday from Hartlepool suffered head injuries after crashing into a fence, and although he was described as ‘stable’ last week he had not regained consciousness.

Fatal crash exhibition

05 April 2007 by Chris Newbigging

An exhibition has just opened in Leeds depicting the aftermath of fatal crashes to convince motorists to drive carefully. The images are all staged by actors, and include accidents involving bikes. The exhibition at the Whitehall Waterfront is open until April 28, and will tour other venues across the country.

Biker injured in hit-and-run

05 April 2007 by Chris Newbigging

South Wales police are searching for the driver of a silver Ford Escort who hit a biker and drove away from the scene. The accident happened at 9:27 on the evening of Sunday, April 1 2007, on the junction of Addison Road and Moorland Road in Port Talbot. Anyone with information should call 01792 456999.

Disgraceful Derbyshire road

05 April 2007 by gary brough

I have seen your pothole voting story and had to let others know about the junction of Carr Lane to Northern Common in Dronfield Woodhouse, Derbyshire. It is an absolute disgrace and it is only a matter of time before someone comes a cropper at this junction due to its terrible state of repair.

Yamaha's response to owner's warning on XVS1100

04 April 2007 by Yamaha

Response from Yamaha: Naturally we are always sorry to hear of any Yamaha owner, who has experience a problem with their machine and also understand that they may be disappointed, in cases where they may be liable for any subsequent repair costs. We are aware of this particular customer who contacted us on several occasions last year, on the matter of his XVS1100 and seeking reimbursement /...

Owner's warning on XVS1100

04 April 2007 by Ray

I have had problems with my 2001, 5,000-mile Yamaha XVS1100 that I think others should be warned about. It is my first Yamaha after 34 years with Honda and Kawasaki and I’ve been disappointed with the bike – mainly due to a problem with the starter clutch. I soon found that my bike was becoming hard to start. This turned into a banging noise when starting and eventually there was one almighty bang...

Police hunt speed camera thief

04 April 2007 by Chris Newbigging

Police hunt speed camera thief

Thames Valley Police are hunting a man who stole a £20,000 fixed speed camera last week. The camera was taken between Thursday evening and the early hours of Friday from London road in Sunningdale,...

Manchester bus lane offenders cut

04 April 2007 by Chris Newbigging

Manchester bus lane offenders cut

CCTV cameras monitoring bus lanes in Manchester have helped cut the number of people illegally using the lanes by a quarter. Drivers using the lane illegally face a £60 fine if caught by the cameras...

Active Kawasaki ZRX1200R

04 April 2007 by Ben Purvis

Active Kawasaki ZRX1200R

Certain bikes are legendary in Japan and one surprising favourite is the old Kawasaki GPZ900R. But despite initial appearances, this isn’t a GPZ. Instead of taking the old GPZ900R as the basis of its...

Babe of the day: The sunglasses clan

04 April 2007 by Sarah Carnell

Babe of the day: The sunglasses clan

Join us in getting shady…