Bike news

Year: ALL

Her name is Rio…

27 May 2002

Easy on the eye and hard on the brain. That’s the charge leveled at some telly totty called in to commentate on motorsport. Not Sky’s speedway presenter Jane Omorogbe, though. Omorogbe, better known...

Shake hands with Hodgson this Saturday

27 May 2002

You can find out what it was like to aquaplane at 180mph in the pouring Silverstone rain when World Superbike stars Neil Hodgson and James Toseland meet their fans at four Carnell/Motorcycle City branches this Saturday. Between them the HM Plant Ducati teammates will visit the Liverpool, Manchester, Doncaster and Sheffield branches to sign autographs and shake hands. Hodgson will be at Carnell’s...

What we fitted and why

27 May 2002

Bridgestone BT012SS £250 a pair Bridgestone’s BT56SS replacement is ideal for fast road or track day riding. It’s stickier than the BT56 and therefore won’t last quite as long, but Bridgestone still...

The bikes

27 May 2002

Honda Fireblade: Whew we tested the Blade in March, we had two concerns. It’s a quick turner – even quicker than the R1 and GSX-R – which can make it a bit of a headshaker. The Blade needs a steering...

Build a fully-sorted track tool...for three grand

27 May 2002

It all seemed so simple after five pints of Stella on a cold Friday night in October last year. Buy a mate’s destroyed 2001CBR600 Sport and then turn it into the track day bike I had been longing...

World exclusive shots of Triumph’s Daytona 600

27 May 2002

Don’t miss the world’s first pictures of the bike everyone will be talking about. In the new, biggest ever issue of MCN, out Wednesday, May29 we’ve got exclusive snaps of Triumph’s Daytona 600. The...

Hampshire police fined for unidentified speeder

27 May 2002

A dishonest Hampshire copper whose patrol car tripped a speed camera at 48mph in a 30 limit, forced the appearance of his boss in court yesterday. The failure of the driver to come forward, and take...

Which helmet design gets your vote?

27 May 2002

Six designs in our Arashi helmet design competition have been shortlisted by the judges. We want you to vote for your favourite. The winning artist will get their effort painted by MAS, the company...

Suzuki festival lined up

27 May 2002

If you own a Suzuki you won’t want to miss this. The company is throwing another huge summer festival along the lines of its GSX-R bash at Brands Hatch last year. This time all types of Suzuki can...

The verdict

27 May 2002

Once each bike had been fitted with identical kit, it was time to see how the changes affected them and what difference it made to the superbike pecking order. We chose Donington Park to put them through their paces. We passed the time during the drive to the Leicestershire race track arguing about which bike would probably win. My fellow testers were Donington Park track day instructor Dave Hill...

Speed cameras: the truth behind the hype

27 May 2002

Despite recent media speculation, next month won’t see the end of speed cameras. For the full story on the truth behind the media hype on speed cameras don’t miss the latest issue of MCN, out May...

Man behind Yamaha dies

27 May 2002

Genichi Kawakami, the man credited with turning Yamaha into one of the biggest bike manufacturers in the world, died on Saturday at the age of 90. He joined Nippon Gakki Co – the firm that became Yamaha – in 1937 when it made musical intruments. But in 1955, when Kawakami was president, Yamaha Motor Co was born. He retired in 1976 but continued as an advisor until his death.

Liked our £3000 CBR? How about a £4000 R1

27 May 2002

Ten grand. That’s how much I spent on my last bike – a Honda SP-1 armed with some tasty bolt-ons that lived most of its life on track days rather than tootling around the roads. But every time I...

Sachs XTC revamped for June

27 May 2002

Sachs is overhauling its sex thimble XTC125. Apart from revising the colour scheme and other cosmetics, it’s ditched its two-stroke Suzuki motor for a four-stroke single from the same firm. Our...

Swop my boat for your bike

27 May 2002

Do you fancy swapping two wheels for sea legs? Well, Paul Kingston from Cork in Eire could be just the man to help. He wants to swap his Orkney 520 Cuddy pleasure boat for a Yamaha TDM900, Honda...

Winner of the Kriega competition announced

27 May 2002

The winner of the Kriega competition is " Woodie " , so if he could email dave.batchelor@emap.com with his details, we’ll arrange for his Kriega R25 rucksack and R11 waistpack to be delivered. And for those of you that were unlucky this time, including the gentleman who almost killed our email system with a few hundred entries, we’ll have more competitions in the near future.

Help Guzzi choose its future models

27 May 2002

Moto Guzzi needs your help to decide which models it will release in the future. For the full story on Moto Guzzi’s appeal, don’t miss the May 29 issue of MCN. The Italian company is conducting a...

Starway to savings

27 May 2002

You might not recognise the name yet, but with prices this low Starway bikes could soon be making an impact. The Chinese-made bikes will go on sale in the UK next week. The line-up includes two 250...

Cop caught with false plates

27 May 2002

A policeman in Nottingham has just resigned after being caught with false plates on his bike. PC Jonathan Partridge fitted them to his (unspecified) Suzuki after using a confidential police database...

Air crash survivor takes bike to hospital

27 May 2002

Doctors in Nigeria were stunned to find the patient before their eyes was a survivor from an aircrash that had killed 73 passengers. But when the man told them he’d just rented a bike and ridden to the hospital their jaws hit the floor. Lebanese passenger Najib Ibrahim, 25, was one of just four survivors of the crash. He leapt from the blazing wreckage and, rather than relying on the local...

Win £130 worth of Kriega luggage

27 May 2002

Krug, manufactures of some of the world’s best rucksacks, have changed their name to Kriega. To mark this we’ve got £130 worth of their biking luggage to give away to one lucky winner. Answer this...

Woman injured in helmet-repeal ride

27 May 2002

A helmetless pillion suffered head injuries after she fell from a bike, whilst on an annual run to celebrate the repeal of the compulsory helmet law in the States. She was taking part in the ”...

M4 bus lane will open to bikes

27 May 2002

The controversial bus lane on the M4 will open to motorcycles from the end of July, the Highways Agency has announced. And if the experiment is successful it could mean a change in the law opening all...

Road-legal R1 sidecar makes perfect sense

20 May 2002

To make your R1 stand out from the crowd you could fit an end-can. Or you could treat it to a flash paintjob, or all sorts of other goodies. What you probably wouldn’t do is stick the motor in a...

The ultimate test…

20 May 2002

We brought Yamaha’s new R1, Honda’s spanking FireBlade, Suzuki’s MCN Machine of the Year GSX-R1000 and Kawasaki’s blistering ZX-9R together at Circuit Ledenon in the South of France for a fight to the...

The rough guide to biker gangs

20 May 2002

A bloody gun battle in a Nevada casino has put the spotlight back on bike gangs. The fighting between Hell’s Angels and Mongols in Harrah’s Casino, Nevada, left three dead. But that’s just the tip of...

Kymco’s Filly worth a flutter

20 May 2002

Kymco have released a new scooter, it’s called the Filly LX50 and it costs a fiver under £1500. For your cash you also get free third party insurance and free roadside recovery. For more information call 01743 761107 or visit www.kymco.co.uk .

Meet your heroes for just a fiver

20 May 2002

Wangle this Wednesday (May 22) off work and you can meet all your WSB heroes and watch a day’s testing at Silverstone for just a fiver. All the top men like Neil Hodsgon, Troy Bayliss, Colin Edwards...

Fancy a crack at endurance racing?

20 May 2002

Ever watched endurance racing and thought to yourself ” I fancy some of that ” ? Well, if you and a couple of mates can get yourselves to Hungary for the start of July, you can. 1000PS.net is...

Perfect for pushing your weight around

20 May 2002

One of the most exciting things I recall from my first year at MCN was getting a chance to ride Kawasaki’s ZZ-R1100. In those days (I’m in my eighth year here now) the Kawasaki was the fastest bike in...

Dainese stockist hit by huge fire

20 May 2002

Half-a-million pounds worth of Dainese gear went up in smoke last week, as the UK’s largest stockist of the exclusive Italian brand was hit by fire. Bikestop, in Stevenage, Herts, was struck around 8pm on Thursday. The blaze started on the ground floor and preliminary investigations have pointed the finger at faulty wiring. John Alleman, Bikestop’s manager, said, " Obviously we’re gutted. We’d...

South Wales protest ride

20 May 2002

Riders in south Wales are organising a protest ride against what they claim is heavy-handed policing. The zero-tolerance policy of Gwent and Dyfed-Powys police forces towards undersized numberplates...

Around the world in ninety days

20 May 2002

In early August, eight teams of three riders each will tackle one of the most gruelling events in motorcycling – the Round the World Challenge. Meet ours. Jane Holmyard, Claire Janssenswillen and Nina...

UK Roads need £1.2 billion repair job

20 May 2002

Britain’s roads need more than a billion quid to be repaired to an acceptable state. That’s the claim of the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), which has surveyed local authorities responsible for...

Can you help…?

20 May 2002

We’d like to broadcast an appeal from Cambridgeshire police… One of their pandas is missing. The patrol car went missing this morning and the force has issued this plea: " The car was stolen from Fengate in Peterborough during the early hours of Tuesday, May 21. " It was taken around 4.25am. Officers had stopped to help a young woman and were then called to another incident. " While they were...

Tell us about your BMF weekend

20 May 2002

A record-breaking 88,500 of you made the trek to the East of England Showground over the weekend, and judging by the smiles it seems to have been another roaring success. So why not tell us about...