2011

Way cool Honda VT750S special editions

Way cool Honda VT750S special editions

Honda has added ‘championship white’ paint, speed stripe and retro logo to its VT750S, significantly boosting the appeal of what was already perhaps the most effortlessly cool bike in its...

Ducati Streetfighter 848 launch - first impressions

Ducati Streetfighter 848 launch - first impressions

MCN’s Trevor Franklin reports: “We have just completed a 90km road ride from Modina up into the mountains and the new Streetfighter 848 is indeed proving to be everything I thought it would be.  It is...

New Kawasaki ZX-10R for £5795. Did you put a deposit down?

New Kawasaki ZX-10R for £5795. Did you put a deposit down?

Did you put down a £500 deposit on a 2011 ZX-10R priced at just £5795? If so MCN would like to hear from you urgently The offer – run by Birmingham-based firm “Friends & Co Ltd” and advertised on Ebay...

Ducati Streetfighter 848 launch

Ducati Streetfighter 848 launch

Ducati is launching its new 848 Streetfighter at a brand new circuit in Italy this morning, and MCN’s Trevor Franklin is there. It’s a beautiful day there as it is here, and Trev’s looking forward to...

Triumph Tiger 1050 gets makeover

Triumph Tiger 1050 gets makeover

Triumph has given the Tiger 1050 a host of changes for 2012 including upgraded suspension, a sportier riding position and new graphics. The changes cover the 1050 and 1050SE models with the changes...

Video: 2012 Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade

Video: 2012 Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade

This is apparently the first official video of the new Honda Fireblade, seemingly intended for an American audience, that shows the bike in action and emphasises the details revealed by MCN, including...

Honda's new 700cc naked: how good is it going to be?

Honda's new 700cc naked: how good is it going to be?

Honda’s kicking the ball into the biggest open goal it can find launching a 77mpg 700cc parallel twin super scooter at the height of fuel price paranoia. But it’s not the version that will attract...

Ducati 1199 Panigale spied road testing

Ducati 1199 Panigale spied road testing

Ducati’s all-new 1199 Panigale superbike has been spotted carrying out final testing on the roads of Italy as the bike enters the final months before an official launch in November. The 1199 Panigale...

Video: 'Born from MotoGP' Ben Spies on the 2012 R1

Video: 'Born from MotoGP' Ben Spies on the 2012 R1

In an attempt to link the 2012 Yamaha R1, which now features six-stage traction control, to MotoGP, this video shows Ben Spies loading up a day-van and heading to a trackday. The revised YZF-R1, with...

Honda launches new 77mpg 700cc parallel twin family with Integra super-scoot

Honda launches new 77mpg 700cc parallel twin family with Integra super-scoot

This is the 2012 Honda Integra – a 700cc parallel-twin-engined production version of the Mid Concept super scooter shown last year. Pitching into the huge-selling TMAX market with a second-generation...

2012 Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade revealed

2012 Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade revealed

Honda’s new-for-2012 CBR1000RR Fireblade was officially shown to the world at simultaneous unveilings over the weekend, at the Imola round of WSB and Le Mans 24-Hour. Not surprisingly the bikes...

Bimota Special Two

Bimota Special Two

This design is similar to my Special One, design, and uses the same engine, but is in more of a cafe racer style.

Suzuki offers test rides at Stafford Motorcycle Show

Suzuki offers test rides at Stafford Motorcycle Show

Suzuki is offering the chance to test ride the current range of bikes at the Carole Nash Stafford Show on October 15 and 16. There will be opportunities to test ride the new V-Strom 650 ABS with many...

New MV Agusta Brutale R 1090 to hit dealerships this month

New MV Agusta Brutale R 1090 to hit dealerships this month

MV Augusta’s new Brutale R 1090 – offering the same capacity as the 1090RR but the budget pricing approach of the 920 – is heading to the UK. Priced at around £12,200, it will appear in UK dealerships...

Bimota Special One

Bimota Special One

Here’s a design of mine for a Bimota street bike, powered by an S&S V-twin engine. A real man’s bike!

Ducati 1199 Panigale's staggering power and weight figures leak

Ducati 1199 Panigale's staggering power and weight figures leak

The new Ducati 1199 Pangiale superbike boasts 195bhp and 176kg weight in road trim – WET. These are staggering figures from a 1200cc twin and go a long way toward justifying Ducati’s ditching of...

Ducati superbike revealed as ‘1199 Panigale’

Ducati superbike revealed as ‘1199 Panigale’

Ducati’s all-new superbike will be called the ‘1199 Panigale’ we can now officially reveal. The Italian factory confirmed the new bike’s name this morning and also revealed that the bike would NOT...

Ducati Diavel is MCN's Machine of the Year

Ducati Diavel is MCN's Machine of the Year

The rule-changing Ducati Diavel has scooped Machine of the Year in the prestigious 2011 MCN Awards. The awards were presented earlier this evening at a glittering dinner where the cream of the...

Bimota 1125 Bagarre concept

Bimota 1125 Bagarre concept

Here’s my concept idea for the Bimota 1125 Bagarre. Powered by 1125cc V-twin Rotax engine.

Yamaha Diversion 250 concept

Yamaha Diversion 250 concept

I’m a watch designer and love to sketch bikes in spare time. This is my concept for a Yamaha Diversion 250 for the asian markets. Stylish and lightweight the Diversion 250 fuses attributes of...

Guzzi to build new engine – and a new Mandello factory too

Guzzi to build new engine – and a new Mandello factory too

MCN’s executive editor Phil West is at the Moto Guzzi factory in Mandello, Italy, covering the company’s 90th anniversary celebrations. He’s just come out of a presentation by Roberto Colaninno – the...

New 1440cc Kawasaki ZZR1400 teaser video

New 1440cc Kawasaki ZZR1400 teaser video

A new official Kawasaki teaser video has been released which shows what the front of the new ZZR1400 will look like and also reveals capacity has increased to 1440cc. Kawasaki has already shown...

Triumph Tiger 800 gets the supermoto treatment

Triumph Tiger 800 gets the supermoto treatment

This supermoto version of Triumph’s Tiger 800 is the latest special to be built by Jack Lilley Triumph of Ashford, Middlesex. It started life as a standard, new Tiger 800 to which Lilley has added a...

New colours for 2012 Yamaha range

New colours for 2012 Yamaha range

Along with the new Yamaha YZF-R1 the firm is releasing a series of new colours including a World Grand Prix 50th Anniversary range and a new Series Grey colour option. The R1 is the only model in the...

Yamaha VZ8 Concept

Yamaha VZ8 Concept

Here’s my idea for an 800cc v-twin streetfighter-style bike from Yamaha to rival the upcoming Ducati Streetfighter 848.

New 2012 Yamaha YZF-R1 gets traction control

New 2012 Yamaha YZF-R1 gets traction control

This is the new 2012 Yamaha YZF-R1 which has six-stage traction control and a mid-life redesign. Images have leaked a few hours before Yamaha’s official announcement later today and MCN will bring...

Poll: Are 600s still relevant?

Poll: Are 600s still relevant?

Would you buy a new 600? Though MV and Triumph have developed new supersports bikes, the Japanese seem to have all but given up on the class, with only Kawasaki rumoured to be doing more than planning...

BMW unveils electric scooter

BMW unveils electric scooter

BMW has unveiled this new eScooter concept which for the first time promises performance and range that could make an electric scooter viable commuting transport. From the beginning of the eScooter...

Triumph's new R1200GS rival nears completion

Triumph's new R1200GS rival nears completion

This image is the best picture yet of the all-new Triumph Adventurer 1200. The inline three-cylinder adventure bike was spotted in production-ready trim undergoing final tests ahead of its November...

New ‘Triple Black’ BMW R1200GS Adventure launched

New ‘Triple Black’ BMW R1200GS Adventure launched

This new ‘Triple Black’ special edition of BMW’s R1200GS Adventure has just been released by BMW. Like the previous Triple Black edition of the standard GS, which proved very popular, the new...

Ducati Streetfighter 848 promises sub £10k price

Ducati Streetfighter 848 promises sub £10k price

Ducati is pitching its new Streetfighter 848 into a less expensive and more fiercely fought sector of the naked bike market with a new model that will cost less than £10,000 in the UK. The current...

Hayden teases new Ducati 848 Streetfighter

Hayden teases new Ducati 848 Streetfighter

There are advantages to being a factory MotoGP rider – like getting early looks at new models. Ducati star Nicky Hayden proved just this when he spotted the 2012 848 Streetfighter on a visit to the...

2012 Harleys at dealers this weekend

2012 Harleys at dealers this weekend

The new 2012 range of Harley-Davidsons debut at UK dealers and are available for test rides at a special event this weekend – 9th-11th September. Topping the new bikes are the Dyna Switchback and the...

Bimota MMB Futa

Bimota MMB Futa

Here’s an idea for a new Bimota I have designed, with a Moto Morini engine.

New Tiger 800 gives Triumph a big boost in sales

New Tiger 800 gives Triumph a big boost in sales

The story of Triumph’s astonishing success continues, with the latest sales figures showing 5814 Triumphs were sold in the UK so far this year – that’s more than Aprilia, Ducati and Suzuki combined.

MV reveal 675cc triple will spawn new 800

MV reveal 675cc triple will spawn new 800

MV Agusta chief executive Massimo Bordi has revealed that the new 675cc inline three-cylinder motor has been designed from the outset with an 800cc version in mind, with both an 800cc Brutale and...