Bike news

Michael Neeves blog – Off Road Skills

Michael Neeves blog – Off Road Skills

I’ve just returned from two days in Wales with Paris Dakar legend Simon Pavey, at his off-road school, or the ‘Odd Road Skills, powered by World of BMW and Husqvarna’, to give it its full name. It was...

Bad drivers caught on film as helmet cam sales double

Bad drivers caught on film as helmet cam sales double

Bad drivers are increasingly likely to have their antics caught on camera and posted online as more and more motorcyclists routinely use helmets cameras. Sales of the devices have doubled in two years...

New Aprilia SRV850 superscoot debuts

New Aprilia SRV850 superscoot debuts

Aprilia has just released this picture of its new maxi-scoot – the SRV850. It’s basically an updated, face-lifted version of sister-company Gilera’s GP800. The Noale firm took a similar approach...

New MCN October 19: Aussie rules

New MCN October 19: Aussie rules

In this week’s issue of MCN, on sale Wednesday 19 October, we examine Casey Stoner’s MotoGP world championship win in an eight-page special, with MotoGP legends Rainey, Gardner and Doohan on why...

Destination dealer: Big savings at Lidsdirect.co.uk

Destination dealer: Big savings at Lidsdirect.co.uk

ADVERTISING PROMOTION If you are in the market for a new helmet – or other biking accessories – check out Lidsdirect.co.uk Lidsdirect.co.uk is the fastest growing online motorcycle helmet, clothing...

Big Sur Endurance

Big Sur Endurance

Here’s my design for an old-school endurance-styled bike.

Maximum muscle, minimum cost: GSX1400 v XJR1300 v CB1300

Maximum muscle, minimum cost: GSX1400 v XJR1300 v CB1300

How times change. In the late 1970s and early ’80s, bikes with silhouettes the same as these machines would have been called superbikes. Capacity was king and the bigger the cubes the better.

Hailwood lid sells for £6250!

Hailwood lid sells for £6250!

The actual helmet worn by the late, great Mike Hailwood during his final TT in 1979 has sold at auction for a whopping £6250. The full face Kangol Falcon, in Mike the Bike’s distinctive white, gold...

Editor’s picks: Aprilia SL1000 Falco

Editor’s picks: Aprilia SL1000 Falco

The Aprilia SL1000 Falco is a half-faired ‘street sports’ version of the RSV that never quite took off in the way it could have. The fact it is often overlooked makes it a great second hand buy. The...

Forces go free as Harley exhibit wraps up

Forces go free as Harley exhibit wraps up

Britain’s biggest ever Harley-Davidson exhibition is offering free entry to members of the armed forces. Due to close its doors on 30 October, the Manchester-based “Customising, Culture and...

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...

Video: new Barbour International winter range

Video: new Barbour International winter range

Barbour are well known for the classic International motorcycle jacket in its many variants, but this autumn they’ve also gone all out with biking-themed casual wear like an ISDT merino jumper, bag,...

Honda launches 2012 CBR1000RR Fireblade mini-site

Honda launches 2012 CBR1000RR Fireblade mini-site

Honda has opened a mini-website dedicated to the new 2012 Fireblade. It promises to tell the full story of the bike which will mark the 20th anniversary of the Fireblade series next year. Honda is...

Editor's picks: BMW R1100S

Editor's picks: BMW R1100S

The BMW R1100S is now beginning to hold the timeless appeal of a modern classic, with classy sports-touring styling, VFR-like comfort and versatility plus typical BMW quality and residuals making for...

Staff bikes: BMW G650GS - Bye-bye Beemer

Staff bikes: BMW G650GS - Bye-bye Beemer

Like many motorcyclists I’m sure, every day I’m watched through my window by my little lad as I get on my bike and ride off to work. So I’m not the only one who will be a little sad that BMW has asked...

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...