Bike news

Calls for tougher enforcement as minister warns of £90 fine for driving on the phone

Calls for tougher enforcement as minister warns of £90 fine for driving on the phone

Plans to increase fines for using a phone while driving need to be backed up by tougher enforcement, according to the Institute of Advanced Motorists. Fixed penalty fines for a variety of motoring...

BMW's anniversary special: The NineT

BMW's anniversary special: The NineT

BMW’s soon-to-be-launched R1200-based café racer – designed to celebrate 90 years since the firm launched its first bike – will be called the NineT. It’s been months since BMW revealed its plans to...

Staff Blog: Prepping for Italian adventure

Staff Blog: Prepping for Italian adventure

In just a few days I am heading to Italy on the Multistrada 1200 S Touring and I am getting the final bits sorted. I’ve done loads of European riding in the past and I much prefer to get all of my...

Great service

I just wanted to say what fantastic service I received when I bought my BMW K1300S from Williams BMW in Manchester. Their salesman (Dave Barrowcliffe) was extremely helpful getting panniers and decals fitted on the Friday morning so I could make the ferry that same night for Assen WSB. Very friendly and with a ‘can’t do enough for you’ attitude, this dealership is one of the best I’ve ever bought...

KTM confirms electric scooter for 2015 release

KTM confirms electric scooter for 2015 release

KTM has confirmed that its cheeky electric E-SPEED concept scooter, which was shown at the Tokyo show, will be joining the range line-up as a 2015 model. Harald Plöckinger, KTM Executive Board Member...

122mph speeder jailed after forum boasts

122mph speeder jailed after forum boasts

A motorcyclist has been jailed for eight months after boasting on a forum about lying to police over a speeding offence. Andrew Kelly, 37, was filmed speeding at 122mph by a speed camera van but told...

You Ask/You Answer: Have the prison sentences handed out for speeding slowed you down?

“This is not a question about whether the punishment fits the crime, my personal view is ‘no way’, it’s what the thought of jail has done to my behaviour. “I’ve enjoyed powerful bikes for a good many years now and over that time I, like many riders, have had points for speeding. “I’ve deserved those points and will hold my hands up to admit my guilt, but the recent prison sentences have really...

Staff Blog: Daily smiles from CBR500R

Staff Blog: Daily smiles from CBR500R

My only fear with Honda’s CBR500R was whether it would be a little too tame and that I’d get bored with it all-too quickly. Just over a month and 1000 miles in I can categorically state that I’m still...

Is MotoGP's move to BT a good idea?

Is MotoGP's move to BT a good idea?

BT Sport’s successful bid for the live MotoGP TV rights in the UK in 2014 will be confirmed this week, with MCN learning the multi-million pound deal will be formally announced in London tomorrow...

Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service offer free Biker Down courses

Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service offer free Biker Down courses

Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service are offering free ‘Biker Down’ courses to local riders. The courses, which last approx 3 hours, include first aid, collision scene management and a discussion on...

Should Marquez be applauded for his tough riding antics?

Should Marquez be applauded for his tough riding antics?

Eight years ago Valentino Rossi won the Jerez MotoGP race from Sete Gibernau with a hard final corner overtake that put the Spainiard in the gravel. Sunday’s Jerez race saw a near-repeat of the...

Staff blog: A lecture from the rozzers

Staff blog: A lecture from the rozzers

You might think your licence would be safe on a scooter but I’ve already been in trouble with the rozzers a week after picking mine up.   The Suzuki Burgman 650 ABS Executive has two automatic modes:...

Calling Triumph owners

Calling Triumph owners

We’d like to hear from owners of the ’09 ’10 Triumph Bonneville SE and ’06/’07/’08 Triumph Speed Triple for a forthcoming feature in MCN. We want to know why you bought the bike, what you like about...

What do you think of Norton?

What do you think of Norton?

MCN have an exclusive this week on the new Norton TT racer, which they’re running two of at this year’s event. However, the bike is a prototype only machine, and won’t be on the roads any time soon.

Video: FJR old vs. new

Video: FJR old vs. new

Is the new Yamaha FJR1300 worth selling your old one for? MCN took the sport tourer out for a comparison test…

Aprilia RSV owners needed

Aprilia RSV owners needed

MCN is looking for Aprilia RSV owners for an upcoming feature! We need: Original model (RSV-R and RSV) 1998 – 2003 Twin pipe model (RSV-R and RSV-R Factory) 2004 – 2010 V4 RSV4-R and Factory 2009 –...

Bike Shop Star of the month

Bike Shop Star of the month

Vote for May’s Bike Shop Star of the month and be in with a chance of winning a pair of BSB tickets. MCN are on the look-out for men and women in the motorcycle trade who have gone that extra mile,...

Would you encourage your kids to become motorcyclists?

Would you encourage your kids to become motorcyclists?

The roads are a dangerous place for a biker these days, with more traffic than ever. So, would you ever let your kids ride a bike? Would you worry about their safety too much? Or do you jsut let them...

New MCN May 8th: Norton TT plans revealed

New MCN May 8th: Norton TT plans revealed

In this week’s MCN, out May 8th, we reveal Norton’s 2013 TT plans. We look at BMW’s new 800 GS, and we test Ducati’s Hyperstrada. Also this week: Yamaha FJR 1300 old vs new test, all the latest news,...

Staff Blog: Roll on summer

Staff Blog: Roll on summer

If someone told me a few years ago, I’d want a bike with panniers and a centre stand, I’d have thought they were mad. But here I am, about to spend the summer with the 2013 Ducati Hyperstrada – a bike...

Staff Blog: A bundle of fizzing fun

Staff Blog: A bundle of fizzing fun

Two weeks in to ownership of the Street Triple R and I’m cementing the bond with the bike. I’m remembering the little joys of owning a Triumph, like the braided steel brake hoses and tyre valves...

Into the Ride

Into the Ride

My son Andrew is travelling around the world on his 1991 Yamaha Tenera motorcycle. His gearbox broke so for the last six weeks he has been stranded in Temuco whilst he could source out the parts he...

Staff Blog: Running In or Running Out!!

Staff Blog: Running In or Running Out!!

I arrived back from my trip to Normandy with the bike a little over the first service mileage of 600 so instead of being out in the lovely sunshine, getting more miles under my belt and practising my...

50 quick road miles on the new Honda CBR600

50 quick road miles on the new Honda CBR600

There’s still snow on the fields as I head out onto the back lanes of Cambridgeshire. It’s four days since the near-washout of the track launch and this new CBR600RR — just 90 miles on the clock —  is...

What happened to the ES1?

What happened to the ES1?

Six years ago, this British design was going to be the future of superbikes. So where is it? The trouble with bold claims is they can come back to haunt you. If you say you’re making the fastest,...

Video: How to fit a Pinlock visor insert

Video: How to fit a Pinlock visor insert

MCN’s consumer editor Tony Hoare shows you how to easily fit a Pinlock anti-fog insert to your visor.

MCN exclusive on new Norton V4 TT racer

MCN exclusive on new Norton V4 TT racer

Norton is putting the finishing touches to the latest V4 race it will contest the 2013 Isle of Man TT in just three weeks with virtually every part of the bike new for this year. The team hope the...

Staff Blog: Seriously versatile

Staff Blog: Seriously versatile

Times are changing. A once bland and boring middle-weight class has morphed into one of the most exciting and competitive bike genres today, breeding a new wave of superior machinery. Enter the...

Staff blog: The toughest test ever!

Staff blog: The toughest test ever!

This year is going to epic, one I’m going to look back on for years to come and it’s mainly going to be down to my lovely ZX-6R. Just last week I took delivery of my new Kawasaki and unusually for me,...

Staff blog: I'm back

Staff blog: I'm back

Do not swear. I know I can’t, but I’m bursting to. The Triumph Street Triple R I’m running for the year is absolutely [insert your swear word of choice here] brilliant. I was in love with it within a...

Techwatch: Cars v bikes: let’s be grown up about this

Techwatch: Cars v bikes: let’s be grown up about this

For acceleration it’s two wheels, but what about braking? Down the pub, we all like to imagine ours is the best. But in a no-holds-barred shoot-out, who gets there? Let’s start at the start. Bikes...

Beta Tools release Milwaukee rep toolbox

Beta Tools release Milwaukee rep toolbox

Italian tool company Beta Tools is sponsoring the Milwaukee Yamaha British Superbike team and has released a limited edition toolbox kit. It’s a replica of the set-up the team wheel onto the grid at...

Arai 2013 TT replica revealed

Arai 2013 TT replica revealed

The fourth Arai official TT replica helmet has been unveiled, and it echoes the famous yellow and black colourscheme of TT legend Joey Dunlop. The design is part of Arai’s backing of the TT races and...

BMW unveil full Adventure-spec middleweight F800GS

BMW unveil full Adventure-spec middleweight F800GS

BMW has given the middleweight F800GS the full Adventure-spec going over for the first time so the manufacturer for the first time has a bike to tackle the Triumph Tiger 800 XC. The new F800GS...

“I can’t believe I only won one”

“I can’t believe I only won one”

Alan Carter was hailed as the next Barry Sheene in the early 1980s. But the young Brit never got the factory bikes he deserved and his career was a tale of unfulfilled promise. He recently returned to...

Which race series will you see live this year?

Which race series will you see live this year?

After a bit of a false start, racing season is properly upon us! With MotoGP, WSB and BSB in full swing and the road races just around the corner, we want to know – what are you going to see live this...