2012

Year: 2012

Month: ALL

Ducati 1199 Panigale Tricolore first ride

20 April 2012 by Michael Neeves

If you’re fortunate enough to be able to stump up the £23,495 for the Tricolore version of the Ducati 1199 Panigale, you’re in for a treat. Not only do you get this sexy colour scheme included in the...

BMW maxi scooters delayed

19 April 2012 by Steve Farrell

Production of BMW’s two new maxi scooters has been delayed while the firm tries to remedy quality issues. The C650 GT and C600 Sport were due to go on sale this month on the continent and next month...

Poll: Audi's Ducati buyout - good thing?

19 April 2012 by MCN

Audi can spout all the boilerplate it likes about benefiting from Ducati’s technical expertise in small engines, all we want to know is will its buyout be a good thing or not for the Italian firm? Is...

Test ride a Kawasaki Versys 1000 and win a touring pack

19 April 2012 by Liam Marsden

Kawasaki has launched a Versys 1000 test ride campaign, with all riders automatically being entered in to a prize draw to win a touring pack worth over £2000. The touring pack contains a Garmin sat...

Audi confirms Ducati purchase

19 April 2012 by MCN

Car manufacturer Audi has confirmed the purchase of Ducati. Last week Ducati insiders told MCN an announcement on the deal would be made this week, and that the purchase will be presented as being a...

Faith in humanity restored

19 April 2012 by Daniel Elliott

On Saturday 17 March at approximately 8:00pm I was riding my white CBF125 from Chelmsford to Bury St Edmunds. It was a horrible night for biking – wet, windy and therefore cold but I was doing a training course in Chelmsford and the bike was the only transport to get there. I came up to a roundabout possibly heading onto the A131 but I was taking the 3rd exit which meant going right on the...

Dominos solves 'silent scooter' menace with Dutch

18 April 2012 by MCN

Dominos Pizza in the Netherlands has solved the menace posed by its fleet of silent electric delivery scooters with a loudspeaker connected to the throttle. As if their perma-stoned customers needed anything else to pitch them into fits of giggles, they didn’t just stick with brrm brrm noises…

Poll: Would you pay more for better dealer service?

18 April 2012 by MCN

Two major dealers – George White and V&J Superbikes – who sold bikes and kit at rock-bottom prices have recently gone into administration. The situation highlights the difficult decision made by some...

Car drivers definitely getting worse!

18 April 2012 by John Netting

Having been driving on the roads for 47 years, I can categorically attest to the fact of car drivers getting worse, year on year. My main hate is silver cars. This seem to be the chosen colour of the dim-witted. If it is foggy, 95% of the cars without lights will be silver. If there is a long line of very slow moving cars, the one in front will be silver. Any comments? You know I’m right!

Poll: Is the new Norton really a Norton?

18 April 2012 by MCN

The front page of this week’s MCN proudly reveals Norton’s new V4 race bike, and the story inside explains how Norton went from a blank sheet of paper to running race bike in six weeks. It’s an...

Schuberth S2 sports lid lands in UK

18 April 2012 by MCN

The new Schuberth S2 sports helmet will be available in the UK from next week, priced at £450 for plain colours and £500 for a striped version. The composite-fibre lid features spoilers claimed to...

Name the new Norton V4 Racer

18 April 2012 by MCN

Stuart Garner and the engineers at Norton have been so focused on getting their new V4 racer built to compete at the Isle of Man TT (See the April 18 issue of MCN), that they met our question – ‘What...

New Norton V4 to race at Isle of Man TT

18 April 2012 by MCN

This is the new Norton V4 racer that will race at this year’s Senior TT, and you can read the full inside story of the bike in the latest issue of MCN, on sale now. The Norton V4 is being unveiled to...

Supermotos - impractical?

17 April 2012 by sliabhrossa

I disagree with the continuous comments I read in MCN of supermotos being impractical. I live in the real world with a real budget, I have a Honda XR650R supermoto with USD forks and yokes from a CRF,...

"I didn't see you"

17 April 2012 by Granville Sellars

In April 2009 whilst riding my bike I was involved in an accident. I was travelling on the A515 between Ashbourne and Buxton, in Derbyshire. I’d seen the van approaching from a minor road to my left...

MCN in Dubai

17 April 2012 by electqa

Enjoying some well deserved MCN time in Dubai!

Audi agree to buy Ducati

17 April 2012 by MCN

Volkswagen Audi has agreed to buy Ducati for about 860 million euros (£705m), two insiders have told the Reuters news agency. The total includes Ducati’s debt, say Reuters, though it’s unclear how...

April 18 Bikes on TV

17 April 2012 by Alison Silcox

KEY TO CHANNELS. DRT – Discovery Real Time DSC – Discovery Channel DHD – Discovery Channel HD EXS – Extreme Sports Channel EUR1 (2, HD) – Eurosport 1 (2, HD) MOT – Motors TV CH4 – Channel...

New MCN April 18: Norton exclusive

17 April 2012 by Liam Marsden

This week we have exclusive news that Donington Park-based manufacturer Norton will compete in this year’s Senior TT with an all-new v4. MCN has the exclusive inside story of how the bike was born.

The Ale Room extends MCN reader offer

17 April 2012 by MCN

The Ale room are extending their exclusive offer to MCN readers on British ale, cider, wines, and spirits. Simply enter the code MCN12 in the ‘How did you hear about us?’ box when registering and...

Under attack in Qatar!

17 April 2012 by Steve Tripp

Steve and Wayne chilling at Losail and under attack by mad antipodean woman (Lorraine) as I had the only copy of MCN’s MotoGP supplement in the state of Qatar! Great night’s racing.

Win a Triumph Explorer 1200 with MCN

16 April 2012 by MCN

To celebrate the new-look MCN, we have a brand new Triumph Explorer 1200 to give away, worth £11,149. All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning the Explorer is enter here. If your entry is...

Two-thirds of riders report ‘smidsy’ incidents

16 April 2012 by Steve Farrell

More than two thirds of motorcyclists have had a near miss in the last six months resulting from another road user failing to look. Sixty-nine percent of motorcyclists said they had experienced at...

Why police won’t know a bike is stolen after six years

16 April 2012 by Steve Farrell

Police only keep records of stolen vehicles for six years meaning bikes missing for longer are unlikely to be detected. An MCN investigation has discovered that stolen vehicles’ details are...

James Toseland gets back on two wheels with Harley-Davidson

13 April 2012 by Andy Downes

Retired racer and former World Superbike champion James Toseland is back on two wheels again with a new Harley-Davidson Softail Slim. After spending more than half of his life focusing on using two...

Finance and free extras with new Kawasaki ZX-6R

13 April 2012 by Liam Marsden

The 2010 and 2011 Kawasaki ZX-6R is now available with £1000 woth of accessories for free and 0% finance for a limited time only. The accessories are an Akrapovic slip-on exhaust, tinted bubble screen...

Destination Dealer: VIP weekend at Doble Motorcycles

12 April 2012 by MCN

ADVERTISING PROMOTION This weekend Doble Motorcycles are celebrating Honda’s 2012 model releases in style starting this Friday evening with their VIP event featuring the launch of the Honda...

Chief and a pretty girl

12 April 2012 by Anonymous

2000 Indian Chief and a pretty girl.

Red tape destroying the industry

12 April 2012 by Marty Simpson

It had to happen sometime, the slow decline of the bike industry as we know it, probably blamed on the recession, or exchange rates. But here’s my take on the situation so far, based on my son’s experience. Firstly after paying £600 to insure his Aprilia RS50, his insurance company wouldn’t transfer the remainder of his policy onto an Aprilia RS125 when he turned 17. He was forced to pay £750 to...

Zero S: A big step forward for electric bikes

12 April 2012 by MCN

Zero’s latest S-model roadster is not just the best electric motorcycle yet to go on sale, it’s proof that battery-powered bikes could be a force in the near future. The comprehensively revamped...

Laverda SF3 400 concept

12 April 2012 by Oberdan Bezzi

Could the brand Laverda be reborn for the Brazilian market? This 400cc three-cylinder engine could be the perfect bike to bring the historic brand back.

Tonfanua race circuit: A hidden gem

11 April 2012 by Anonymous

Over the Easter weekend I discovered the unique Tonfanau race track situated just North of Tywyn in North Wales, right on the coast, in fact its track is as close to the sea as Philip Island! This...

We need to learn to share the road

11 April 2012 by Jeff

I think driving habits are getting worse overall. The amount of distractions for drivers is growing every day. It needs to be said though that with more and more 200mph bikes being sold to inexperienced riders, the fault of accidents involving motorcycles is not always the vehicle’s fault. I’m amazed at how many times I can be out on my V-Max and see some youngster who wants to show the world how...

Bad drivers are everywhere

11 April 2012 by bart

I ride all year round and see examples of bad driving every day. I have to look and think for me and the other driver as well. Aggression Car drivers are way more aggressive these days, speeding up when being overtaken, not even slowing at give way signs, if you get there first you have right of way, its the new law on the street. Some of this falls into dangerous driving if caught doing it.

BMW records best ever first quarter sales

11 April 2012 by MCN

Despite the tough economic conditions, BMW Motorrad recorded its best ever first quarter sales during the first three months of 2012. Find a BMW motorcycle for sale. BMW sold 24,373 bikes by the end...

What's your best Honda CBR600 story?

11 April 2012 by Guy Procter

Honda’s often humble yet frequently fantastic CBR600 has a birthday coming up, and to celebrate we’d like to swap a few stories. Honda CBR600s for sale. Not just the big stuff about its exploits on...