First rides & tests

Year: ALL

Video: Yamaha R1 long-term report

24 July 2015 by MCN News

Our Senior Road Tester Michael Neeves has covered roughly 3000 miles on his long-term 2015 Yamaha R1 since it arrived earlier in the year. What does he think to the bike after a few track days and...

Victory TT race bike ridden

23 July 2015 by Adam Child

I was on the start line for the inaugural TT Zero race back in 2009 and, like many others, I wrongly sniggered at some of the prototype bikes. Rob Barber won the race with an average lap speed of...

Suzuki GSX-S1000F first impressions

02 July 2015 by Emma Franklin

If you fancy all the flat barred comfort of a super-naked but you’re put off by the lack of wind protection, the new Suzuki GSX-S1000F could be just what you’re looking for. It’s identical to Suzuki’s...

First Ride: Suzuki GSXS1000F

01 July 2015 by Emma Franklin

We’re on the golden Isle of Man today, to ride a lap of the TT course on Suzuki’s new sportsbike. As first revealed at the Cologne Motorcycle Show last year, Suzuki are keen to make it clear that this...

LIVE: Goodwood Festival of Speed

22 June 2015 by Steve Hunt

This year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed (June 25-28) will see the world’s biggest stars of two wheels come together for a spectacular celebration of performance. Headlining the autograph hunter’s...

BMW Scrambler makes debut

19 June 2015 by MCN

BMW reveals concept bike, but the real thing is expected soon Ignore the surfboard hanging off the side, the eccentric paint job and concept bike tag, because this is the shape of the forthcoming BMW...

Free six-month subscription for 2010 sportsbike owners

19 June 2015 by Andy Davidson

MCN are offering 2010 superbike owners the chance to get your bike in the paper and nab a free six-month subscription. And all you’ve got to do is spend the day with us! If you own one of the below...

Long-term test: 2015 Yamaha R1

27 May 2015 by Michael Neeves

I’ve just collected my new R1. I’ve had super nakeds for the past few years, so it’s the first race replica I’ve had for a long time. I love super nakeds, but I want to do more trackdays with my mates...

FASTEST TEST EVER: Kawasaki H2 v Suzuki Hayabusa v Yamaha YZF-R1

21 May 2015 by Adam Child

Kawasaki’s H2 is the quickest production bike in history, but can it eclipse the Hayabusa and R1 on the ultimate road trip? The Kawasaki H2 is choking on its leash, the throttle straining in my right...

City Slickers: HONDA CB125F v KTM 125 Duke v KYMCO CK1 125

20 May 2015 by Liam Marsden

The city commute is a daily marathon of torturous endurance, but has Honda’s new CB125F got the measure of its higher – and lower–priced urban rivals? Three abreast on the start line of the London...

Video: Kawasaki H2R 'Flat Out'

20 May 2015 by Adam Child

We’re confident the H2R is going to break 200mph; after that we’re into the unknown. We speed tested the road-going Kawasaki H2 just a few weeks ago and it kicked sand in the face of the Suzuki’s...

Superbike exotica shootout

18 May 2015 by Michael Neeves

We’re in Alcarras in Spain pitching the special version of the bike that won our recent superbike shoot-out, against two of it’s newest rivals. So here we are; the Yamaha R1M versus the Aprilia RSV4...

First Test: Ducati Panigale R

15 May 2015 by Adam Child

I’m stood in pitlane with £28,995 of Ducati Panigale R staring at me with barely contained aggression. Opportunities to ride exotica of this calibre are few and far between; make no mistake, this is a...

Long-Term Report: F800R

14 May 2015 by Steve Hunt

My intention this year is to ride. Having spent last year working on a customising project that saw my bike spend more time on ramps than it did on the road, this time I want something rideable,...

Long term report: Yamaha MT-09 Tracer

13 May 2015 by Andy Downes

Run in and ready for the year ahead The Yamaha MT-09 Tracer is already one of the best-selling bikes of the year in the UK with nearly 1500 sold and Yamaha UK searching for another boat load to fulfil...

Long-term report: KTM RC390

13 May 2015 by Emma Franklin

A Chinese sage once said: “The sparrow may be small but it has all the vital organs” and, as I spend more time with the KTM’s pint-sized supersport, I’m discovering this maxim is pretty much true for...

Long-term test: KTM 1050 Adventure

13 May 2015 by Tony Hoare

Those who buy the printed version of MCN that’s published today will see me extolling the virtues of the KTM 1050 Adventure, a bike that doesn’t need to be cleaned every time it gets dirty. Running...

Video: Aprilia RSV4 RF

12 May 2015 by Michael Neeves

The RSV4 was always one of the best road going superbikes because it had really nice handling, it was very agile and had some of the best electronics on any superbike. What it lacked before was...

Launch: Ducati Panigale R

12 May 2015 by Adam Child

Ducati’s £28,995 Panigale R is being launched today at Imola, just 48 hours after the World Superbike circus has left the demanding and historic race track. Senior MCN road tester Adam ‘Chad’ Child is...

Long-term test: Ducati Scrambler Full Throttle

06 May 2015 by Simon Brown

Dispatches from the Land of Joy #1. The land of what? Land of Joy… It might sound like a North Korean diktat but it’s Ducati marketing speak for Scrambler ownership and normally the sort of...

MCN gearing up for 2015 BMW S1000XR launch

06 May 2015 by Phil West

MCN is getting ready for the launch of BMW’s latest edition to its high performance S1000 range – the new S1000XR which we’ll be testing near Barcelona, Spain, on Thursday this week. The XR joins the...

Retro Racers: YAMAHA XJR1300 vs BMW R NINE T

30 April 2015 by Michael Neeves

The latest hipster-pleasing retros are out to prove there’s more to life than posing. A click of compression damping on the fully-adjustable forks and a shed-load of preload added to each Öhlins...

VIDEO: Kawasaki H2 2015 ridden at Rockingham by Neevesy

29 April 2015 by MCN Staff

At the beginning of the day (in this video) I didn¹t enjoy riding the H2 around the track, but during the afternoon it grows on me. It¹s actually fun to control something so out of shape, leaving huge...

Long-term test: What I love about the new Suzuki V-Strom 650 XT

22 April 2015 by Andy Davidson

I’ve always had a huge, gooey soft spot for trailies. And I’ve always loved the simplicity of an easy-going parallel or V-twin. That’s why I’m so stoked to be spending the year with the new Suzuki...

Video: 2015 Yamaha YZF-R3 First Review

16 April 2015 by Tony Hoare

Yamaha’s new YZF-R3 was designed to fill the daunting gap between their popular YZF-R125 and headbanging YZF-R6. If our first ride on the launch in southern Spain is an accurate guide then they have...

MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800 Launch - Live!

16 April 2015 by Andy Downes

Another day, another new bike launch! We’re in France today riding the new MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800 The Turismo Veloce is the latest bike to use the three-cylinder 798cc motor first seen in the...

MCN gearing up for MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800 launch

14 April 2015 by Andy Downes

MCN is getting ready for the launch of the latest MV Agusta from the famous Italian firm with the launch of the new Turismo Veloce 800 in the South of France on Thursday this week. The Turismo Veloce...

Aprilia RSV4 RF: the rivals

10 April 2015 by Liam Marsden

The press launch of the Aprilia RSV4 RF takes place next week at the Misano circuit, Italy. 2015 is the year of the superbike, with bikes like the Ducati 1299 Panigale, updated BMW S1000RR and new...

Benelli BN302 first ride

10 April 2015 by Liam Marsden

The Benelli BN302 is the bike the Italian company hopes will kickstart their worldwide resurgence, 10 years after they were purhcased by the Qianjiang Group. From a distance you’d be forgiven for...

5 things I’ve learnt in my first week with a KTM 1050 Adventure

09 April 2015 by Tony Hoare

Getting to grips with new things is one of the best bits about riding a brand new bike (as long as you don’t ride into a hedge while trying to work out what ‘menu 2’ on the onboard computer is for).

Video: Yamaha R1 onboard at Jerez

08 April 2015 by MCN

Go onboard with MCN Senior Road Tester Michael Neeves as he tests the new Yamaha R1 at the Jerez circuit in Spain. Find out how the new R1 compared to its rivals in our group test, here.

VIDEO REVIEW: Suzuki GSX-S1000

30 March 2015 by Michael Neeves

“It’s the naked GSX-R1000 K5 we all hoped it would be” The GSX-S1000 is fast, fun, agile and cheaper than its rivals. That iconic long-stroke engine has the K5’s distinctive growl and wide spread of...

VIDEO: 2015 Yamaha R1 back on top? Ultimate Superbike shootout

27 March 2015 by MCN

2015 Superbike Shootout! BMW’s all-conquering S1000RR has had things its own way for a while. Ducati and Yamaha are about to change all that. Two days of track testing at Jerez, a blast on the sunny...

RIDDEN: Suzuki GSX-S1000

25 March 2015 by Michael Neeves

It Really Is A Naked K5 For the best part of a decade many have dreamt about the day Suzuki would build a naked GSX-R1000. Well, now it’s here: the new GSX-S1000. Like the Japanese firm’s superbike,...

Suzuki GSX-S1000: the rivals

20 March 2015 by Liam Marsden

MCN Senior Road Tester Michael Neeves will be riding the new Suzuki GSX-S1000 in Alicante next week. The bike, a new model for Suzuki, is powered by a modified 2005 GSX-R1000 engine, housed in an...

MCN superbike shootout – best on the road?

20 March 2015 by Michael Neeves

We’re just putting the finishing touches to our biggest ever superbike shootout, in time for next Wednesday’s MCN. We took the latest and greatest 2015 tackle to Jerez for an intensive two-day track...