Latest Motorbike News

Honed to perfection

25 February 2001

HAVING honed and refined the FireBlade over the eight years since its introduction in 1992, Honda entered the new millennium with perhaps its most radical incarnation of the model yet. Although always...

All these first tests coming soon

25 February 2001

MCN’S Marc Potter will ride Ducati’s new 996R on Wednesday March 7, becoming one of the first people outside the factory to do so. And we’ll be bringing you his first reactions on that very day. In the next fortnight you can also look forward to the world’s first tests of the Aprilia CapoNord, Kawasaki RZX1200S and ZR7S and Piaggio’s new 500cc super-scooter, the X9. Keep checking back with...

25 February 2001

INSURANCE The bike falls into the group 16 category in the UK, which means that certain types of cover in certain parts of the country for some riders isn’t available at all from a handful of firms, making shopping around for quotes essential rather than merely advisable. MODEL VARIATIONS When buying a ZX-9R, potential purchasers essentially have a choice of two main model types – the pre-1998 “B”...

Benelli boss speaks exclusively to MCN

25 February 2001

NOBODY outside the factory has ridden the Benelli Tornado yet but it’s already one of the most desirable bikes on the planet – and that is just for starters, according to Benelli president Andrea...

Piaggio reveals 250… and promises a 500 to follow

25 February 2001

PIAGGIO is launching a 250cc scooter next month called the Jupiter. Powered by a Yamaha YP250 Majesty engine it will be in UK showrooms by April. A 180cc version and a 500cc one will follow later this...

The meanest green machine

25 February 2001

KAWASAKI’S Ninja nine has enjoyed a cult following amongst the big cube cognoscenti, not just for its sheer performance but also for its styling and brute-force engine. Determined not to let their...

Forget Bodie and Doyle, the real professionals are here

25 February 2001

EVERY discipline has its crack troops, who are called into action for the key projects. You want to send specialists behind enemy lines to disable their radar systems? You need the SAS. You need to...

Ducati plans Foggy rep Monster

25 February 2001

DUCATI bosses in Italy have confirmed they are working on a Monster tribute to four-times WSB champion Carl Fogarty based on the latest S4 version of the bike. It uses a 916cc water-cooled motor...

The choice is no longer so clear-cut

25 February 2001

HERE in Britain, we have a history of favouring one type of bike over any other. More than any other riders in Europe, we choose to spend our money on sports bikes and superbikes. But now the first of a new breed of motorcycle has arrived, which could change all that. Say hello to Yamaha’s Fazer 1000 (see road test on page 24). It’s cheaper than a full-on superbike, but it still offers awesome...

A Triumph to make Italy tremble – but not Japan

18 February 2001

TRIUMPH publicly unveiled to the world this morning the long-awaited successor to its 955i triple – and immediately told riders looking for something to humble a GSX-R1000 to look elsewhere. The...

More Gatso cameras looming

18 February 2001

EVERY police force in the country could soon be allowed to use money from speeding fines to pay for thousands more speed cameras. Following similar pilot schemes involving eight police forces around the country, the Association of Chief Police Officers has announced plans to spread the scheme nation-wide. Richard Brunstrom, chief constable of North Wales and ACPO co-ordinator of the scheme, said: ...

ZX-9R to power new musclebike

18 February 2001

KAWASAKI is planning to launch a naked musclebike using a retuned version of the ZX-9R’s 144bhp engine. The 899cc four-cylinder engine could be tweaked to make more torque than the ZX-9R’s formidable...

Triumph’s Daytona gets 147bhp

18 February 2001 by MCN News

A BRITISH-built superbike with the potential to take on the best Japanese and Italian machines is enough to get any rider’s mouth watering. And Triumph reckons its new 955i Daytona is exactly...

There can be only one

18 February 2001

AUSTRALIAN firm Hunwick Harrop has released full details of the Phantom 1500 cruiser. The bike, which is to go on sale over the Internet towards the end of the year, is the first in a range due for...

Can we take the politicians seriously this time?

18 February 2001

REMEMBER the promises the Labour Party made before it was elected? All that stuff along the ” Bike to Basics ” line. Well, unfortunately, the party itself doesn’t. After a landslide victory,...

Have your cake. And eat it

11 February 2001

THREE-and-a-half hours ago, this bike was sat in the palm-shaded car park of a Sicilian hotel. Its futuristic, angular lines and silver colourscheme couldn’t have been in starker contrast to the...

Gilera plans September unveiling for 600

11 February 2001

GILERA is expected to unveil a new 600cc sports bike at the Milan Show in September. Italian scooter giant Piaggio, Gilera’s parent company, has confirmed plans to reveal its first big bike since the...

Kawasaki’s big-bore response

04 February 2001

KAWASAKI is working on a tourer which is destined to rival Yamaha’s all-new FJR1300. A new bike, thought to be called the ZZ-R1200, will be 2002’s answer to Yamaha’s 145bhp tourer, which has...

Don’t call me boring

04 February 2001

THE sound of a race bike at full chat is pretty exciting when you’re stood behind one as it flies past in a race. It’s even better if you manage to wangle your way into the paddock and get behind one...

Defy convention

04 February 2001

IT’S not every day you get the chance to ride two new British motorcycles for the first time. And when they’re bikes like this, it’s an even more novel experience. The latest models from...

Powervalves: the open and shut case

28 January 2001

IT’S more than a decade since the term EXUP (Exhaust Ultimate Powervalve) entered the bikers’ vocabulary. Back then, most riders knew it was something to do with the exhaust and that it helped...

Learn to wheelie in a day… or your money back

28 January 2001

OVERRIDING your natural survival instincts is one of the toughest things a human can ever do. As a species, we’ve spent thousands of years relying on our innate self-preservation instincts to get us...

A standard R1 just wasn't enough

28 January 2001

MODIFIED R1s can be found at every pub meet in the country, but few are as desirable as QB Carbon’s Yamaha. More than £12,000 has been lavished on the bike to turn it into the ultimate R1 – and it’s...

Special GSX-R1000 set to steal Ally Pally show

21 January 2001

SUZUKI’S GSX-R1000 is hardly lacking when it comes to performance, but that hasn’t stopped tuning firm Harris working its magic on one of the first bikes in the country. This GSX-R, which will be...

A year’s mileage…in a week

21 January 2001

HINDSIGHT is a marvellous thing. How many times have you bought a bike – or any product for that matter – only to find a glaring fault become noticeable after a few months? Wouldn’t it be great if you...

And you thought you’d never want to buy an MZ

21 January 2001

By Steve Farrell DESPITE its best efforts, MZ is still best known to most people as a manufacturer of stinking, low-tech commuter bikes. But now it has its sights set firmly on superbike riders – and...

01 January 2001

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