New MCN January 4: Water-cooled BMW 1250 GS spied

 
New Kawasaki ZZR1400 first ride
The new Kawasaki ZZR1400 has astonished American testers with its performance and refinement, clocking a 9.64secs standing quarter mile – 0.5secs faster than a BMW S1000RR – at the US launch

 New water-cooled R1250GS spied
These world exclusive spy shots clearly show the all-new BMW R1250GS represents the biggest single overhaul of the massive-selling and class-leading bike in its 30 years with a new water-cooled engine.

Honda Fireblade test: 2011 vs 2012
The new Fireblade has moved the game on. MCN’s world first comparison test between the 2012 model and the current bike proves that the chassis and handling is a step forward.

 
Do we need electronic rider aids?
It’s one of the hottest bar room debates – do we need traction control and ABS? We took the new Yamaha R1 and a BMW S1000RR to the track with four MCN readers to find out.

WSB bikes ridden
Ex-MotoGP star Jeremy McWilliams rides all the top World Superbikes of 2011 at Portimao, Portugal.

The world’s toughest race
This year’s Dakar kicked off on New Year’s day and has all the makings of a classic, with Aprilia rider Francisco Lopez taking victory in the first stage.

Team WFR aim to blitz BSB in 2012
Myles Schofield is adamant his Team WFR Honda will emerge as one of the top teams in BSB – despite the fact that all three of his riders are up-and-coming young guns and relatively inexperienced in the superbike class.