April | Page 53

Bimota rescue bid fails

01 April 2002

A buyout of ailing superbike firm Bimota has fallen through, leaving rescue plans in tatters. In December last year, the firm – which was being auctioned off by Italian courts after falling into...

Chainstore deals, individual service

01 April 2002

Wide choice and the kind of great deals we demand from a bike superstore, is one thing. Combining that with the sort of service and knowledgeable staff you expect from your local friendly bike shop is...

Rider’s blind faith at 150mph

01 April 2002

Reckon you could ride this at 150mph? In a blindfold? With earplugs in? Graham Hicks is both blind and deaf, but he’ll be aiming to pilot this Super Blackbird-based device to a new world record this...

Italians unite to drive down costs

01 April 2002

Italian manufacturers are teaming up to prevent being undercut by their Japanese competitors. Piaggio and Aprilia have already agreed to a trade alliance to secure cheaper parts and Ducati is being...

Have you seen the new MCN?

01 April 2002

We want to know what you think about the new MCN. It’s out now with an exclusive first road test of the Benelli Tornado, first pictures of an all-new Triumph and unique insight into the Ducati V4...

Suggs’ insurance madness

01 April 2002

Pop star and TV presenter Suggs – real name Graham McPherson – was left thinking he wasn’t the only nutty boy involved when insurers refused to cover him to ride a Moto Guzzi. The Italian firm’s UK arm paid for the Madness frontman to pass his test and had a freebie 72bhp California Stone lined up for him for publicity purposes. But insurance firms wouldn’t cover him. They feared he would be...

Benelli Tornando first test

01 April 2002

Benelli has allowed us a first taste of its new Tornado Limited Edition – and preliminary impressions are that the £22,500 machine goes as good as it looks. You can read Marc Potter’s full test in...

Bonnie gets the cafe treatment

29 April 2001

German tuner LSL has taken a new Triumph Bonneville and created a real café racer called the LSL Bonneville Clubman. LSL has changed as few parts as possible to keep the price down. The most obvious...

Can’t tour on an on-the-edge 600? Think again

29 April 2001

THERE were some decent enough reasons for making this voyage of intense pleasure and crippling pain. My new 2001 GSX-R600, in its glorious black and yellow, needed a good thousand miles of running in...

First ride on bigger-bore C1

29 April 2001

Riding a 175cc bike from Bracknell, around the M25 then up the M1 to Kettering may not sound like a lot of fun to most people. But then, you probably haven’t tried it on one of the oddest looking ”...

Now you know why they call him "Big" Dave Jefferies

22 April 2001

Somehow, eight-stone Daijiro Katoh might not have the right physique for the rigours of The Island

KTM reveals official sketches of LC8 Rallye

22 April 2001

KTM is planning a Rallye version of its new monster trailie, the LC8 Adventure. The bike, which will make its racing debut at Dakar 2002, will form the basis of a production race replica version which...

Four new bike sections now open

22 April 2001

Follow the ‘BIKES’ link at the top of the page and you’ll immerse yourself in a world of facts and figures, tests and tips on the motorcycles you own, admire and lust after. The latest additions to...

Why you can rely on a buy from New Bikes Direct

22 April 2001

COLIN KAY is a Scot. He is also a senior bank manager for a major High Street concern. In short, he knows a thing or two about the value of money. Perhaps that’s why he is the first person to have a...

Making a break from the norm with the BMW R1150R

22 April 2001

WHEN I mentioned to someone that I was about to take delivery of a new BMW, the first question they asked was: ” Which one? A three-series? ” The reaction is understandable. BMW cars have a strong,...

No lightweights, these

22 April 2001

They might call the 250 race the Lightweight, but it’s a race for the real heavyweights of The Island.

Mugello test reveals Tornado almost ready

22 April 2001

TESTS earlier this week in Mugello reveal Benelli’s WSB hopeful, the Tornado, is almost ready for action. The Italian firm first presented their three cylindered hopeful to a receptive audience at...

First test of the best sports twins

22 April 2001

It’s twice the price of an SP-1. It’s six grand dearer than the RSV-R… It can’t be that much better, can it? I mean, how can you need more than the Honda or Aprilia? On the road, or anywhere? The fact...

Police are blind to the cause of crashes

22 April 2001

Research into the cause of bike accidents has consistently suggested that more of them are caused by car drivers than by us. So why are police forces suddenly claiming the vast majority are the result...

Moriwaki offers 150bhp SP-1

15 April 2001

Japanese tuner Moriwaki is launching a 150bhp version of the Honda SP-1. Called the MP101, they are hand built to order, with a range of specifications for use either on the road or track. The firm...

Take one Monster and add £6000 of Gallic flair

15 April 2001

DUCATI specialist Desmo Shop has employed all its engineering skill and used thousands of pounds-worth of carbon-fibre to create this year 2000 Monster 900-based special. The anodised blue frame,...

Go Johnny, go!

15 April 2001

McGuinness winds it on through Kirkmichael

2001 BMW R1150R, K1200RS and R1150RT ridden through France

15 April 2001

SPLATT! A direct hit, smack bang in the middle of my visor. Here comes another. Splatt! This one’s even bigger. It looks like the daddy. Splatt! Again, it’s a bull’s eye and the front of my lid is...

First test of Ducati’s ST4S

15 April 2001

Ducati’s choice of venue for the launch of its new ST4S sports tourer seemed rather odd at first. Rather than present us with maps and a demanding long distance road route, we were instead taken to a...

You wouldn’t want to do it daily

15 April 2001

It’s a hell of a long way from Barcelona to London. About 700 miles, in fact – as the crow flies. It’s a little farther by road. For those of you who haven’t ridden the latest generation of...

Buell to build full-on 1000cc sports bikes

15 April 2001

BUELL is finally going to make the bikes its founder has always wanted to – full-on, sports bikes. So far the Buell badge has been standing for grunt-laden bikes which are bags of fun but not quite on...

Foggy tribute Monster only available online

15 April 2001

Following internet sales success of the MH900e and 996R, Ducati will sell 300 limited edition MS4 Fogarty Monsters through online only. The order books will open in June, with deliveries starting...

£50,000-worth of retro Harley

15 April 2001

THE Trakker might be a Harley under the skin, but its looks might make fans of more sporting bikes drool. Designed to resemble a Harley board-track racer of the 1920s, it harks back to a time when the...

SV650 gets a winning makeover

15 April 2001

Suzuki’s V-twin SV650 is winning races in America against Ducati 750s, 250GP bikes and 400cc in-line fours. And all the parts that make it a winner are available to SV owners in the UK. Most of the...

Something to better the new GSXR1000…

15 April 2001

IF you lived in a small, remote village and had no transport or television, you probably wouldn’t have any idea what lay beyond the end of the field – until you actually crossed the fence that marked...

The ultimate Katana specials

15 April 2001

Yoshimura has got hold of five of the last Suzuki Katanas to be built and is turning them into jaw-droppers. After 20 years of continuous production, Suzuki has finally pulled the plug on the Katana,...

KTM reveals plans for muscle bike

15 April 2001

KTM’S plans to place more focus on road bikes have taken a major step forward with proposals for a 1000cc naked musclebike. The Austrian firm’s chief executive Stefan Pierer says it will be a bike in...

V8 is back… for £70,500

08 April 2001

REMEMBER the 850cc Morbidelli V8? Only four were ever sold when they went into production in 1997. But now the firm has announced the model’s comeback… if UK dealer George Beale can drum up enough...

The ‘sportiest’ sports tourer yet

08 April 2001

DUCATI’S new ST4S has uprated suspension, new brakes and the 996 V-twin engine and our first ride reveals that all adds up to the most sporting sports-tourer yet. On Wednesday (April 12), Kevin Ash...

Women on track days

08 April 2001

Girls on bikes used to mean pretty pillion passengers. And you blokes seemed more than happy with a stunner of a girlfriend who would sit limpet-like on your back for the ride to the races, then step...

Ducati boss admits plans for giant trailie

08 April 2001

THREE years after MCN first predicted it, Ducati is admitting a V-twin giant trailie is very much part of its plans. It will be very much in the mould of Cagiva’s Navigator. The firm’s boss, Federico...