Bike news

Year: ALL

We are being sacrificed to make drivers safer

08 July 2001

We are being sacrificed to make drivers safer

The current design of UK roadside barriers may protect drivers in a crash but they only serve to maim and kill riders, according to a leading professor of structural engineering. Dr John Knapton is...

Meet Reynolds at open day

08 July 2001

MCN’s dealer of the year for clothing and accessories hosts an open day on Saturday, July 14. John Reynolds will be there and there will be bargains galore, too. The Harpers superstore, in the heart of London, won the prestigious MCN award despite having only been open for just over a year. On the day there will be a huge sale with leather suits available from as little as £100. There will be a...

Police stop adding Gatsos and start offering alternatives to points

08 July 2001

Police stop adding Gatsos and start offering alternatives to points

While police in London call a halt to adding to the capital’s Gatsos, Northants police seem to be making life marginally easier, too. In the capital the force says it is concentrating its budgets on...

New scooters from Italjet and She-Lung

08 July 2001

New scooters from Italjet and She-Lung

Italjet’s retro-meets-future-styled Jet-Set will be available here in August and there will be a 50cc too. And the Taiwanese Freespirit scooter is also available now. The Jet-Set is expected to be...

You’re never going to win like that

08 July 2001

You’re never going to win like that

Staying in the saddle is a prerequisite for victory

Listen to the NS500 V3

08 July 2001

Listen to the NS500 V3

You too can sample some of the flavour of Freddie Spencer’s awesome NS500 triple. Click on the link below to hear one of the most evocative sounds in Grand Prix motorcycling and the last ever V-3...

Grass is less grippy

08 July 2001

Grass is less grippy

Not sure that this is the line he was shown…

Sachs to add 125 to its range

08 July 2001

Sachs to add 125 to its range

GERMAN firm Sachs is adding a new 125 machine to its range, the ZZ Funbike. It uses the Yamaha DT125R engine. Sachs says the bike is designed for use either on or off road, but it comes with Pirelli...

The Goodwood Festival of Speed

08 July 2001

The Goodwood Festival of Speed

LINED up in front of me are four NS/NSR500s from the Honda Collection Hall museum in Japan. The men who make this museum and the bikes inside it their lives are looking anxious as they explain how to...

Chat live and sort your suspension

08 July 2001

Chat live and sort your suspension

Suspension expert Craig Webb will be available to answer your questions in a live chat on motorcyclenews on Thursday, July 19. Webb is eminently well qualified to help you improve your handling as he...

Riding Honda’s factory 500s at Goodwood

08 July 2001

Riding Honda’s factory 500s at Goodwood

I’m about to ride my dream bike – Mick Doohan’s NSR500. The one that took Doohan on to his second title with seven wins in 1995. All 180bhp and more of its savage two-stroke power around a park in the...

Deeply dippy

08 July 2001

We haven’t seen ruts like that since the Somme

Moving around

08 July 2001

Many feel they get the best from their bike by moving around it during corners… this bloke over does it.

EDDIE LAWSON’S 1989 NSR500

08 July 2001

EDDIE LAWSON’S 1989 NSR500

When Eddie Lawson left Yamaha after six years and three 500 GP titles to join the Rothmans Honda team for the 1989 season, many people felt it was a mistake. He exchanged the sweet-handling YZR500...

Go on, wipe the smile off his face

08 July 2001

Go on, wipe the smile off his face

Every rider’s favourite TV personality, Steve Berry, is going to get the gunge treatment this weekend. If you’ve seen his smiling mug on your TV just one or two times too many, you’ll want to be there...

Best thing for them

08 July 2001

Best thing for them

Some will say this is the only way you should treat a vehicle like this.

On board TV to replace mirrors

08 July 2001

On board TV to replace mirrors

Look in the mirrors on most sports bikes and all you’ll see is your elbows. Now an engineering design student has come up with a system to use a video camera and small display screen to give you more...

Decision due on £36m Donington facelift

08 July 2001

Decision due on £36m Donington facelift

DONINGTON PARK bosses should learn later this month whether they can go ahead with a major £36 million revamp of the Leicestershire circuit. Giant American entertainment company SFX, which leases...

Dark visors are illegal in Europe, too

08 July 2001

Dark visors are illegal in Europe, too

IT’S easy to feel jealous of riders in the rest of Europe. There are no GATSOs in France. There are no speed limits on some stretches of German autobahn. And anyone can walk into their nearest dealer,...

Q8 Oils arrive in the UK

08 July 2001

Q8 Oils arrive in the UK

The choice of which oil to use in your bike in Britain has increased, with the launch of Q8 Oils for motorcycles and scooters. The motorcycle range includes Q8 SBK part synthetic for four-strokes at...

Listen to the NSR500 V4

08 July 2001

Listen to the NSR500 V4

Wish you ‘d been to Goodwood? Never mind if you couldn’t make it because we can bring you a flavour of the Festival. Click on the link below and you’ll be transported back to 1989 to hear Eddie...

A little careless…

08 July 2001

A little careless…

And right on the racing line as well

Will he make it?

08 July 2001

Will he make it?

Two-up, too steep, too risky by half…

How good are your boots?

08 July 2001

How good are your boots?

Write a review for motorcyclenews.com and you could help fellow users make the right choice when they come to buy. Last week we asked how good your gloves are and your response was fantastic. As a...

MCN investigates insurance costs

08 July 2001

MCN investigates insurance costs

INSURANCE has become a bit of a dirty word to many motorcyclists in recent years. From riders who find they can’t get insurance on their bikes, to those who get a renewal notice asking for £2000,...

Police crack down on tax disc dodgers

08 July 2001

Police crack down on tax disc dodgers

Riders in North Yorkshire face checkpoints throughout the county aimed at catching riders with out-of-date tax discs. If you can’t pay the fine by the roadside, your bike will be impounded. The...

You vote for Honda to turn concept into reality

08 July 2001

You vote for Honda to turn concept into reality

Your reactions to Honda’s new concept sports bike suggest Honda should go ahead and put it into production. While there are dissenting voices, the majority think it’s a work of art and one they’d be...

MICK DOOHAN’S 1995 NSR500

08 July 2001

MICK DOOHAN’S 1995 NSR500

The second time Doohan won the world 500 championship was on this NSR500. Doohan instantly became attached to the bike and continued his dominance with seven wins, three seconds, two non-finishes and...

Posthumous honour for Joey

08 July 2001

Posthumous honour for Joey

Joey Dunlop is to be posthumously awarded the prestigious Segrave Trophy, an award for speed exploits on land, water or in the air. It is named in memory of Sir Henry Segrave, the first man to break...

Donington: Your complaints

08 July 2001

Donington: Your complaints

Donington race goers are warning they won’t be going back to the circuit after bad experiences at last weekend’s GP. While many made the best of it by having as good a time as possible (and you’ll see...

FREDDIE SPENCER’S 1984 NS500

08 July 2001

FREDDIE SPENCER’S 1984 NS500

Freddie Spencer had won the 1983 500cc world title riding the NS500 triple, but lined up for the following season on a brand new V4 NSR500. At the Nurburgring round, he demanded the NS500 back after a...

First pictures of Buell’s fast-turning ‘Sport Fighter’

08 July 2001

First pictures of Buell’s fast-turning ‘Sport Fighter’

Buell’s all new Firebolt has a wheelbase 75mm shorter than an R1’s and a steering head angle so steep that it’s likely to become known as the world’s fastest turning production bike. To prevent it...

Calling FJR owners

08 July 2001

Calling FJR owners

We’re planning a gathering for owners of Yamaha’s FJR1300 this Saturday July 14. If you’ve got one and want to meet fellow owners, and become part of a forthcoming feature about the bike in MCN,...

No congestion charge for bikes

08 July 2001

No congestion charge for bikes

Ken Livingstone has confirmed there will be no congestion charging for bikes when the £5-a-day levy for cars is introduced. Details of the scheme were announced on Tuesday, with fines of £80 for those...

Yamaha offers free insurance

08 July 2001

Yamaha offers free insurance

Yamaha is offering free third party fire and theft insurance on all 50, 100 and 125cc Yamaha scooters until September 17. The deal covers up to four members of the same family. And you can upgrade it...

Strange but true

01 July 2001

Strange but true

Here’s our latest round-up of bike related madness from around the world. THAILAND: Residents of Nonthanburi are flocking to see a five-foot monitor lizard. Grieving mum Chamlong Taengniem believes...