March

Year: 2017

Month: March

2017 scooter of the year: Yamaha TMAX DX

25 October 2017 by Adam Child

Yamaha have sold over a quarter of a million TMAX maxi scooters since its inception in 2001, making it their best selling bike to date. For 2017 the big scoot gets a new aluminium chassis with revised...

Smooth gear-changes are at the heart of every good ride

06 October 2017 by Mark Edwards

Each time you go out on a decent ride you change gear hundreds of times, so it makes sense to do it as efficiently as possible. Work it, work it, work it The best way to learn to use a gearbox is to...

Great motorcycle prints

24 August 2017 by MCN News

If you’ve ever wanted to print off your favourite motorcycle pictures, then Great Prints can help. Hang it at home, in the garage, at work; Your iconic images can now be purchased. To celebrate the...

BMW tease GS Trophy 2018 trailer

24 July 2017 by Liam Marsden

BMW’s International GS Trophy – an off-road event open to all non-professional riders – will take place in Mongolia for 2018 and an epic trailer has now been published. It definitely doesn’t make us...

24 hour distance record smashed and other crazy motorcycle records

13 June 2017 by Liam Marsden

American Carl Reese has ridden into the record books after covering 2,119 miles in 24 hours on a BMW K1600GT to comfortably beat the previous record of 2,023 miles. Reese was forced to stop with over...

Is the Zona M100 rear-view camera the future?

19 May 2017 by Liam Marsden

UK-based start up Zona have designed a rear-view camera system with the aim of keeping bikers looking forward, rather than at their mirrors. The system uses a bike-mounted camera to capture the...

Classic 1960’s race bikes burst into life at the MCN Festival

13 April 2017 by Ped Baker

The Motorex fire-up paddock at the Carole Nash MCN Festival of Motorcycling is shaping up to be one of the star attractions of the event with over 30 machines from the golden era of bike racing on...

Italian classics star at Carole Nash MCN Festival

13 April 2017 by Ped Baker

One of the biggest collections of classic and historic race bikes will descend on the East of England Arena this May as the Carole Nash MCN Festival gets underway. Together with the Brackley Festival...

Ride the Yamaha R6 at the MCN Festival this May

06 April 2017 by Ped Baker

Hot from the world launch in Almeria last week, Yamaha has confirmed the stunning new R6 will be on the firm’s test ride fleet at the Carole Nash MCN Festival of Motorcycling on May 13-14. The R6...

Triumph announce motorcycle steering wheel

01 April 2017 by Liam Marsden

It’s that time of year again, where you momentarily get taken in by outlandish stories before glancing at your phone and noticing it’s April 1. This year both Honda and Triumph have both tried their...

Riding clinic: Banish your roundabout demons

01 April 2017 by Mark Edwards

Learn to whiz through junctions quickly and safely Don’t rush into anything On the face of it negotiating a roundabout seems like pretty basic stuff – especially if you have been driving cars for...

MCN visits the Iron Horse bike night #ride5000miles

31 March 2017 by James Archibald

Doesn’t everyone love a bike meet? We headed over to a location near MCN HQ – the Iron Horse Ranch House in Market Deeping, where they’ve just kicked off their weekly bike night that will be running...

Get mud-plugging with Suzuki’s MX 0% finance offer

31 March 2017 by James Archibald

Suzuki will be making their Arenacross championship-winning RM-Z450 and RM-Z250 available on a 0% finance deal from 1 April for a limited time. The RM-Z450 has won the Arenacross title for three...

A lower and longer CB350

31 March 2017 by James Archibald

Despite the twin not being as popular as its four-cylinder siblings, the Honda CB350 can make a great base bike for any custom and for Richard South it provided the perfect donor for his latest...

Video: French electric motorcycle claims 115-mile range

31 March 2017 by Liam Marsden and Maria Vallahis

Electric motorcycles are getting better all the time, with companies such as Energica, Alta Motors and Zero Motorcycles leading the way. Remember this Aero E-Racer we saw at EICMA last year? Although...

'#ride5000miles is a brilliant way to get Britain biking'

30 March 2017 by MCN News

MCN’s #ride5000miles campaign has kicked-off with a real bang. Our Facebook group has reached over 1,500 members and counting. Bringing the biking community closer together, here are a few members...

Osaka motorcycle show reveals show-stopping customs & concepts

30 March 2017 by Jordan Gibbons

While the big European shows are the places to reveal important new models, the Osaka and Tokyo shows are where Japanese manufacturers like to show off some of the fun work they’ve been doing on the...

A bike meet that's 'the full English'

29 March 2017 by Jason Hayzelden

Deep in the heart of the rolling Essex countryside is one of the most perfect picture postcard settings imaginable, the quintessential English village of Finchingfield. With its chocolate box...

The Kings of Bling

29 March 2017 by Jordan Gibbons

We ride the cream of the crop from Harley-Davidson’s Battle of the Kings Harley-Davidson held their first Battle of the Kings competition in 2015 to showcase the phenomenal depth and range of...

Steve Parrish & Evel Knievel help better your riding!

29 March 2017 by James Archibald

Bedfordshire Councils road safety team have released an interactive 360-degree video to help highlight the importance of positioning and observation while riding. The film puts the viewer in the...

In this week's issue: MotoGP 2017 is go

28 March 2017 by MCN News

In this week’s issue of MCN we’ve got a 12-page 2017 BSB preview pullout, an interview with Dougie Lampkin and a naked shootout: Triumph’s Street Triple 765 v Kawasaki’s Z900. Also in MCN this...

Meet new riding mates with the #BikerBuddy campaign

28 March 2017 by James Archibald

Ever wished you had more mates to ride with? Carole Nash have the answer with their #BikerBuddy campaign which is aiming to help fellow riders meet, promoting the social element that makes...

Yamaha XSR900 Abarth: 'A retro streetbike success story'

28 March 2017 by Simon Hargreaves

Yamaha’s 2016 XSR900 is a retro streetbike success story. And deservedly so, because it takes the MT-09’s stunningly charismatic, wheelie-tastic 847cc, 115bhp inline triple motor, its die-cast ally...

What are your top #ride5000miles weekend destinations?

28 March 2017 by MCN News

Have you joined the MCN #ride5000miles campaign? What’s your top weekend destination to clock-up the miles? What are your top #ride5000miles weekend destinations?

Gallery: Cruiser chooser

28 March 2017 by MCN News

There’s a much wider range of bobbers available than even just a few years ago, and surprisingly, they’re not all Harleys. At one end of the spectrum we had the Indian Scout Sixty, a smaller capacity...

2017 Yamaha SCR950 launch: Scrambling, cruiser-style

27 March 2017 by Simon Hargreaves

Scrrrrsh! The sound of footrest-on-tarmac contact makes me jump; it’s only the first corner, and the Yamaha SCR950’s Bridgestone Trail Wings aren’t even warm yet. But we’re already grinding dusty...

7 great motorcycle gift ideas

27 March 2017 by MCN News

If you’re looking for some motorcycle goodies to spice up your life both on and off the bike then look no further. We’ve picked out some belting biking products from the MCN merchandise shop just for...

Yamaha XSR900 Abarth: First ride coming soon

27 March 2017 by Simon Hargreaves

MCN will be grabbing a full first ride on Yamaha’s rather foxy, new, limited edition XSR900 café racer today. With an identical chassis set-up as the hugely popular standard XSR900 streetbike, Yamaha...

Not long till we get off-road with Yamaha's SCR950

27 March 2017 by Simon Hargreaves

MCN will be slipping and sliding, and rolling and riding Yamaha’s new SCR950 today, both on the road and off it. As its name suggests, SCR is short for Scrambler – this is Yamaha’s Faster Sons retro...

Go Naked at the MCN Festival

25 March 2017 by Ped Baker

The line up of test bikes at this years Carole Nash MCN Festival is growing every day and the latest additions to the fleet will be some of the most sought after machines of 2017. The naked...

Copycat used bargains

25 March 2017 by Neil Murray

Good news, the brace of Suzuki TS250s I dragged out from the back of my lock-up (one of them needed a lot of dragging as the chain had seized and the other required multiple drags as it was all in...

Gallery: Honda Fireblade SP old v new

24 March 2017 by MCN News

In this week’s issue of MCN, we put the brand-new Honda CBR100RR Fireblade SP up against the 2016 SP to see just how it compares to the old model. We analysed everything from the ride quality to the...

Shed built: "It’s a learning curve and is worth every hour spent"

24 March 2017 by James Archibald

When former mechanical engineer Duncan Evans spotted an R65 for sale he knew he had found the perfect base bike for his first build. The engine, which showed a respectable 24,000 miles, was in pretty...

Enjoy some Krazy days

23 March 2017 by Justin Hayzelden

Suffolk isn’t exactly flush when it comes to biking destinations, but Paul Beamish’s Krazy Horse more than makes up for any deficit. Hidden on a nonedescript estate on the outskirts of Bury St Edmunds...

Video: Dougie Lampkin's wheelie special bike

23 March 2017 by MCN News

At the end of last year 12-time World Trials champion Dougie Lampkin attempted keeping up the front wheel of his trials bike for the entire 37.73-mile of the Isle of Man TT course. After completely...

Suzuki V-Strom 650XT: Easy rider

22 March 2017 by Liam Marsden

If your adventure bike doesn’t have more electronics than the space shuttle and gadgetry coming out of its ears it often gets forgotten, but Suzuki’s updated baby adventure bike, the V-Strom 650XT,...