October

Staff bikes: Ducati Diavel - No pain, no gain

Staff bikes: Ducati Diavel - No pain, no gain

As with all my motorcycle adventures, it started with poor timing and a torrential downpour. The panic to make the 8.15pm Brittany Ferries sailing from Portsmouth to St Malo meant I had to average...

Ducati launches 'Fight For Me' aftershave

Ducati launches 'Fight For Me' aftershave

A bunch of pretty Italian ladies turned out last week to mark Ducati’s latest launch – the ‘Fight for Me’ range of male grooming products. Starting with the Fight For Me aftershave (£22 for a 100ml...

Staff bikes: MV Agusta Brutale - Brutale turns storm chaser

Staff bikes: MV Agusta Brutale - Brutale turns storm chaser

The plan was simple enough. The reality turned out to be a tiny bit different thanks to the howling gales that affected the North of England courtesy of Hurricane Katia. It was supposed to be a...

Destination dealer: Alpha Motorcycles

Destination dealer: Alpha Motorcycles

ADVERTISING PROMOTION Essex-based official Yamaha and Suzuki dealer, Alpha Motorcycles has over 100 new and used bikes in stock across its 3000sqft showroom – and some incredible offers on bikes and...

Gilsons Type 1: New Brit café racer

Gilsons Type 1: New Brit café racer

Owned by a trio of die-hard biking enthusiasts, this is Gilson’s first creation: the Type 1 Café Racer, yours for £12,500. Jules and Mike Gilson and Mark Robbins have based the retro custom on an...

Win a free copy of Pass the Bike Test (and be a great rider too!)

Win a free copy of Pass the Bike Test (and be a great rider too!)

‘Pass the Bike Test’ is the first book for beginners which tells you everything you need to know to be a safe, confident rider: not just how to pass the test from scratch, but how to – choose a good...

Changes to bike test revealed

Changes to bike test revealed

Changes to the motorcycle test aimed at improving safety have emerged. Exercises in which many learners have crashed will be conducted at lower speeds to make them safer. Previously learners have been...

MCN Mark Our Bikes campaign victory!

MCN Mark Our Bikes campaign victory!

A bike insurer is giving away free theft-preventing security markings, weeks after MCN called for the move. The firm, which insures one in five UK motorcyclists, has launched a free offer for anyone...

No helmet and toddler on tank

No helmet and toddler on tank

Police have released footage of a man riding an off-road bike with a no helmet and his toddler son sitting on the petrol tank. Ryan Ward was filmed riding on roads and footpaths by a police...

2012 Kawasaki ER-6n - first impressions

2012 Kawasaki ER-6n - first impressions

MCN’s Senior Road Tester, Adam Child, is putting the new Kawasaki ER-6n through its paces at its European launch in Faro, Portugal. The latest variant of Kawasaki’s popular middleweight has been...

New pub honours 100mph TT hero

New pub honours 100mph TT hero

Pub chain Wetherspoon has named its new boozer in Caerphilly after a Welsh TT hero who lived in the town. The Malcolm Uphill, which opened on Cardiff Road yesterday, celebrates the life of the first...

Kawasaki refuses to deny new Versys 1000 adventure bike

Kawasaki refuses to deny new Versys 1000 adventure bike

Kawasaki is refusing to deny the authenticity of a new 1000cc Versys that appears in spy shots emerging from French online motorcycle magazine Moto-Net.com, saying simply it ‘has no details’ about the...

2012 Yamaha R1 - first impressions

2012 Yamaha R1 - first impressions

We’re in Spain riding the 2012 Yamaha R1 at the Valencia MotoGP circuit. Aside from a few very minor tweaks the main change to the Yamaha is its new six-stage traction control. We’ve just done our...

The Monotracer: What do you think?

The Monotracer: What do you think?

This is a Monotracer; a £100,000 fully-enclosed motorcycle powered by a BMW K1200 engine. In one form or another, they’ve been around for decades, and MCN has generally placed them on the pile marked...

MV Agusta F3 prices confirmed

MV Agusta F3 prices confirmed

MV Agusta has just announced the price and availability of its 2012 models including the eagerly awaited new F3 and F3 Brutale. As expected, the F3 sportster – a direct rival for the Triumph 675...

New MCN October 12: Race of the decade

New MCN October 12: Race of the decade

In this week’s issue of MCN, on sale October 12, we speak exclusively with Ducati chief Claudio Domenicali about Ducati’s all-new, 195bhp V-twin engine. Plus, Kawasaki reveal three new models – the...

'TT3D: Closer to the edge' nears DVD release

'TT3D: Closer to the edge' nears DVD release

TT3D: Closer to the edge is set to be released on DVD and 3D Blu-ray on 28th November 2011. The brilliant biking movie, which smashed into the box office top 10, documents the 2010 races at the Isle...

New ZZR1400: “Fastest accelerating production bike”

New ZZR1400: “Fastest accelerating production bike”

The 2012 ZZR1400 will be the fastest production bike in the world off the line, according to manufacturer Kawasaki. Specifications haven’t been officially revealed but sources in Japan say power is in...

Kawasaki ER-6n revamped

Kawasaki ER-6n revamped

Kawasaki’s ER-6n has been heavily updated for 2012 as these pictures show. The naked middleweight shares mechanical components with the faired ER-6f and gets the same changes as that bike, including a...

Triumph Announces 'Young Guns' Finalists

Triumph Announces 'Young Guns' Finalists

The three finalists in Triumph’s Young Guns initiative are Adam Robinson (17), Lee Jackson (16) and Chrissy Rouse (16). They were the three riders to most impress judges – including Frankie Chili and...

Ducati reveal 195bhp V-twin 'Superquadro'

Ducati reveal 195bhp V-twin 'Superquadro'

This is the radical, all-new 1200cc ‘Superquadro’ engine which will power Ducati’s eagerly awaited new superbike, the 1199 Panigale – and it’s set to revolutionize superbikes. In this week’s MCN – out...

Suzuki Hayabusa ride

After years of waiting I at last rode a Suzuki Hayabusa. I thought it was very impressive. No way to take it to top speed in Holland, though.

Best of Bikeshop: Modern classics up for grabs this week

Best of Bikeshop: Modern classics up for grabs this week

We’ve been browsing MCN bikes for sale every day to bring you some of our top picks from over 18,000 motorcycles for sale.              Read more modern classics news and features Here’s just a few...

BMW S1000RR giveaway

BMW S1000RR giveaway

Three free motorcycles including a BMW S1000RR are to be given away in a competition launched by an insurance firm. The class-leading superbike is offered in prize draw along with a Yamaha XJ6 and...

Dangerous drivers face tougher sentence

Dangerous drivers face tougher sentence

Dangerous drivers who cause serious injury could face five years in jail under plans announced by Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke. A new offence of “causing serious injury by dangerous driving”...

Editor’s Picks: Yamaha FZS1000 Fazer

Editor’s Picks: Yamaha FZS1000 Fazer

A comfortable streetbike with an R1 engine, the FZS1000 Fazer could have been a sportsbike destroyer, but it’s actually a soft, easygoing machine with plenty of punch. Arguable the ultimate...

First Zero Type 9 lands in UK

First Zero Type 9 lands in UK

The first production Zero Type 9 from Japan has just arrived at the company’s UK distributor Krazy Horse Custom Cycles in Bury St Edmunds. The £30,566, 1450cc fuel-injected Harley-Davidson Twin...

Aprilia SR Max 300: Taken to the Max

Aprilia SR Max 300: Taken to the Max

Aprilia’s new SR Max 300 fits neatly into the overcrowded maxi-scooter class, but with a less than subtle difference from its rivals – the Aprilia actually looks exciting to ride. With styling...

Video: Envy motorbike stand

Video: Envy motorbike stand

This new stand from Envy is great if your bike doesn’t have a centrestand. Watch the video for an idea of how easy it is to use, and marvel at the sudden cut to an incongruous scene of scantily clad...

World's top 5 worst exhausts

World's top 5 worst exhausts

There’s little doubt we are leaving the age of the aftermarket end-can. With legislation tightening, Daily Mail readers not going deaf in sufficient numbers and many simply becoming annoyed by the...

Video: Club MSV first trackday guide

Video: Club MSV first trackday guide

The idea of riding on track is an appealing one, with the rare chance to explore the potential of your bike on the same stretches of tarmac fought on by racing legends, but tackling your first track...

MV Agusta 750S Classic Concept

MV Agusta 750S Classic Concept

Here’s my idea for a MV Agusta Classic 750S. It would use the engine and frame of the F4 and have look of the 750S of the seventies.

Every Triumph that came out of Meriden

Every Triumph that came out of Meriden

This mammoth collection of classic Triumphs has just been revealed by a US collector, and represents a near-perfect history of the British marque’s pre-Hinckley production. The 98-strong fleet – which...

The bike that Guy built: a 500bhp cafe racer

The bike that Guy built: a 500bhp cafe racer

You’d think Guy Martin would get enough kicks from 130mph laps of the Isle of Man. Apparently not, that’s why he’s building a 500bhp turbo cafe racer. “It’s the scariest thing I’ve ever ridden,” he...

Buy your MCN T-shirts here!

Buy your MCN T-shirts here!

We at MCN have been slaving over a hot computer for the last few months, designing a range of T-shirts, hooded tops, sweatshirts and even boxer shorts! Now you can buy the lot online and show the...

Staff bikes: Ducati Monster 1100 Evo - Monster's hot in the city

Staff bikes: Ducati Monster 1100 Evo - Monster's hot in the city

The first Thursday of each month is Italian night at London’s Ace Cafe, so before the 160-mile round trip becomes a teeth-grittingly sub-zero affair, I made the effort to head down after work a few...