2011

Year: 2011

Month: ALL

MV Agusta F3 first ride: "Unusual but intuitive" says designer Adrian Morton

14 June 2011 by Guy Procter

The designer of MV’s new F3 Adrian Morton has told MCN what the bike is like to ride. Naturally he thinks it’s good, but given it’s his first ever ride on the machine he styled, and he’s a regular...

New MV Agusta F3-based ‘Hypermotard’ in the works

14 June 2011 by Guy Procter

MV Agusta F3 designer Morton says a third F3-based bike – in addition to the expected naked Brutale variant, styled by an Italian colleague – is in the works. He tells MCN: “Since concluding the F3, I...

MV Agusta F3: How it could have looked, how it does sound

14 June 2011 by Guy Procter

MV Agusta’s radically small, sexy and advanced new triple – which is heard for the first time in this video from an MV owners group event in Italy – started life in even more extreme form, its British...

Husqvarna 900 spy shots in today’s MCN

14 June 2011 by Andy Downes

Spy photographs of the new Husqvarna 900 grabbed outside a BMW testing facility in Munich, Germany show the new Husqvarna 900cc parallel-twin undergoing endurance testing on the road. Italian firm...

Ducati Diavel sold out until September

10 June 2011 by Andy Downes

Almost 5000 of Ducati’s ground-changing Diavel performance cruiser have been built to date with the bike sold out in most major markets until September with Ducati taking almost £69 million in revenue...

Norton confirm 2012 Senior TT race bid

10 June 2011 by Gary Pinchin

Norton boss Stuart Garner has just confirmed on Radio TT that Norton will be back at the TT next year with an all-new 1000cc V4 prototype to race in the Senior. “We need to race at the TT,” said...

Ducati launches £1000 discount voucher on 1198 and 1198SP

09 June 2011 by Andy Downes

Ducati has launched a new £1000 discount voucher for anyone buying a new 1198 or 1198SP model bought before August 31 to spend in dealers on Ducati Performance accessories or apparel. The 1198 now...

Why the new Husqvarna 900 should worry rivals?

09 June 2011 by Andy Downes

Italian manufacturer Husqvarna is months away from unveiling a 100bhp 900cc parallel-twin naked bike which uses proven BMW technology but designed around a new look. Husqvarna is wholly owned by BMW...

Rutter on MotoCzysz: “When the batteries have full power it’s just mind-blowing”

09 June 2011 by Gary Pinchin

Michael Czysz – the man behind the innovative MotoCzysz electric bike – has defended claims that his all-new 2011 E1pc produces a theoretical 200bhp. But he admits, that for the purposes of the TT...

BMW unveils new S1000RR finance deals

09 June 2011 by Andy Downes

BMW has released details of three new offers on the class-leading BMW S1000RR superbike which gives the option of 0% finance, £1000 worth of performance parts or £1000 dealer cash saving on BMW...

Why artists should stay away from bikes. Especially Ducati 1198s

08 June 2011 by Guy Procter

A Danish artist has produced 10 special edition Ducati 1198s under the title ‘Kill me Fast’. Of the £62,500 bikes Kristian von Hornsleth says: “It is precisely the bikes’ blend of beauty, speed and...

What KTM taught Bajaj about promoting its new Pulsar 220

08 June 2011 by Guy Procter

Paint it orange, ride it lairy: it’s a tried and trusted sales technique for KTM, whose partnership with Indian giant Bajaj has yielded the new Duke 125 and access to a wonderfully cost-efficient...

New Suzuki V-Strom 650 adventure bike teaser pics

08 June 2011 by Guy Procter

Suzuki has let out two more tantalising images of its new adventure bike, the all-new V-Strom 650. The illustrations are scarcely more informative than the Sound of Music-style mountain scene in the...

Why the MotoCzysz E1pc is a dead cert to win, but makes nothing like 200bhp

06 June 2011 by Guy Procter

MotoCzysz’s ‘200bhp’ E1pc will undoubtedly win the 2011 TT Zero race barring mishap, but its 142.8mph top speed tells a different story to its press bumf, its practice performance reveals. The speed,...

2011 Motoczysz E1PC – M1cha3l Rutt3r's 200bhp digital watch

03 June 2011 by Guy Procter

This is the bike Michael Rutter wil ride in this year’s electric TT, though if MotoCzysz had it their way no doubt it would be the Digital TT. Because what with all the over-promising and...

Bimota TB-2 675

03 June 2011 by Oberdan Bezzi

Here’s my vision of what a naked 675cc Bimota could be like if they partnered with Triumph. The TB-2 as I’ve named it would use Triumph’s 675cc triple to compete against the upcoming MV Agusta Brutale...

Tiger 800 fastest-selling Triumph for a decade

03 June 2011 by Guy Procter

The Tiger 800 has become the fastest-selling new Triumph in over a decade. The Hinckley firm shifted 700 Tiger 800s and XCs in just the first four months of 2011. It’s a timely riposte to BMW, whose...

New TE 125 two-stroke spearheads Husaberg's all-enduro 2012 range

01 June 2011 by Guy Procter

Husaberg has revealed an all-new rip-snorting ‘beginner’ bike for enduro fans in the form of the two-stroke TE 125. The £5745 bike shares top-drawer components with its bigger brothers including...

Husaberg ditches supermotos after selling 7 in 2010

01 June 2011 by Guy Procter

Husaberg has ditched the last of its supermoto models after selling just 7 in the UK last year. The innovative FS 570 four-stroke was the last of the Swedish supermotos to remain in the 2011 lineup,...

Ducati burns the history books with new 1199 superbike

01 June 2011 by Guy Procter

The first spy shot of Ducati’s 1198-replacing new superbike confirms the firm is a lot less sentimental about traditional Ducati characteristics than many fans. The result is the most extreme V-twin...

BIMOTA TB-1 675

31 May 2011 by Oberdan Bezzi

BIMOTA powered by TRIUMPH 675. The only great contender to the MV Agusta F3

WK SM50 - Sexiest 50cc bike ever?

27 May 2011 by Michael Neeves

Here’s a bike to make any 16-year-old’s visor steam up: the 50cc supermoto-styled SM50, made in Taiwan and exclusively branded ‘WK’ in the UK. The £2099 six-speed two-stroke WK SM50 looks the part...

Video: the Ducati Diavel that went racing

27 May 2011 by Guy Procter

It’s got the power to out-drag a Ducati 1198 and it can out-brake one too. So why is nobody racing the highly-acclaimed new Ducati Diavel? Well, several reasons actually, but thinking it through would...

MV Agusta F4 RR begins production

27 May 2011 by Andy Downes

Italian firm MV Agusta has started building the first run of the new and recently revealed, 201bhp F4 RR Corsacorta superbike at the Varese factory. The new F4 is the range-topping version of the F4...

New Ducati: £6k, 220kg, 5.7bhp?

26 May 2011 by Guy Procter

It’s £6100, manageably powerful, made in Bologna and a Ducati – but will it displace the 696 Monster on many entry-level Duke wishlists? Possibly not, despite besting it on weather protection and tank...

The bikes Honda wants to build 4m a year of

26 May 2011 by Guy Procter

Honda says it will build FOUR MILLION of these little beauties, along with their Unicorn, Stunner and Activa siblings, each year by 2013. The £570 CB Twister 110 and £720 CB Shine 125 will form the...

Husqvarna reveals new 900cc parallel twin road bike sketches

26 May 2011 by Andy Downes

Italian firm Husqvarna has revealed these official sketches showing what an all-new 900cc parallel twin road bike is going to look like when unveiled later this year. The designs don’t show the...

Honda's shock new 700cc auto scooped

24 May 2011 by Andy Downes

These world exclusive spy shots show a radical new Honda with an all-new 700cc parallel-twin engine and the advanced dual clutch transmission of the VFR1200F. The bike was snapped in the Alps last...

Terblanche Norton sketches revealed

20 May 2011 by Andy Downes

Just three months after starting work at Norton, legendary bike designer Pierre Terblanche has opened his sketch book to give a tantalising glimpse into possible future bikes from the British...

Akrapovič releases new showcase custom

19 May 2011 by Dan Aspel

Akrapovič has stepped into the world of custom bike building with this one-off showpiece: the Morsus. A scorpion-themed blend of titanium, stainless steel and carbon fibre, the builders of renowned...

Days left on Harley-Davidson trade-in deal

19 May 2011 by John Westlake

Harley-Davidson UK’s offer to give riders an extra £1000 on the trade-in value of their bikes will finish at the end of May. If you trade in a non-Harley, you’ll get up to £1,000 on top of the value...

Honda Crossrunner group test – next week

19 May 2011 by Phil West

Honda’s new V4 gets put to its biggest test yet next week – exclusively in MCN! The class-defying, ‘crossover’ machine has already proved controversial for seeming, to some, little more than a...

Win this Yamaha YZF-R1!

19 May 2011 by Dan Aspel

Yamaha is celebrating 50 years of GP racing by giving away this custom painted YZF-R1. The one-off Altamura paint job is accompanied by Akrapovic pipes and – if the prospect of a free thirteen grand...

2012 Kawasaki MXer debuts launch control

19 May 2011 by Phil West

Holeshot-grabbing ‘launch control’ comes to the motocross world for the first time next year following this week’s unveiling of Kawasaki’s new 2012 KX450F. The new open class or ‘MX1’ bike uses a...

MV Agusta offers £850 of kit with new bikes

18 May 2011 by Dan Aspel

Buy a new 2009/10/11 MV Agusta and the Italian firm are throwing in a paddock stand, cover and alarm – worth a total of £850 – for free. The offer applies in the UK, to all officially imported...

Husqvarna launches teaser video for new 900cc twin

18 May 2011 by Andy Downes

Italian firm Husqvarna has released a new teaser video for the 900cc engine based around the BMW F800 engine that will power the first of a series of new road bikes being launched in the next five...