Motorbike Advice

Your one-stop shop for all motorbike advice, including how-tos, getting a motorcycle licence, servicing, maintenance and more.

Find out which bikes you should be choosing in our expertly curated Best section, or find the perfect kit and accessories at MCN Product Picks.

For those looking to learn how to ride a motorbike, head to our Learning to Ride hub, where we cover all you need to know about getting into this wonderful lifestyle.

If you've already got going, check out our Riding Tips section for the best guides and top techniques.

Looking for somewhere to go? Don't miss our Places to Visit area for some ideas for your next rideout.

And when you get home, learn how to look after your bike in our Bike Maintenance hub.

Year: ALL

Best supermoto motorbikes: skids and wheelies for all!

22 February 2021 by Ben Clarke

What is a supermoto? Well, there was a time in the late nineties and early noughties where the pinnacle of two wheeled excitement was a supermoto. It’s a simple formula; choose a dirtbike, fit uprated...

Twin peaks: a history of Ducati's iconic V-twin engine

05 February 2021 by Phil West

This year is a milestone for Ducati’s iconic, Desmodromic V-twin – or ‘L-twin’ as the Italian firm call their 90-degree engine layout. Related articles from MCN 75 years of MV Agusta Two tribes go to...

Captain Sir Tom Moore, 1920 – 2021

02 February 2021 by Jordan Gibbons

Former British Army despatch rider, motorcycle racer and charity fundraiser Captain Sir Tom Moore has died after contracting coronavirus. Capt. Moore burst into the public conscious in April 2020,...

The rise, fall and rise of Aprilia: 50 years of motorbikes from Noale

29 January 2021 by Phil West

Just weeks after its world launch, the most eagerly anticipated bike of 2020, Aprilia’s RS660, is proving to be well worth the wait. The 100bhp twin, complete with mould-breaking, ultralight 169kg...

Learner-friendly fun: it's the best 125cc motorbikes in 2021

22 January 2021 by Gareth Evans

If you’re learning to ride and aged 17 or older, after passing your CBT certificate (Compulsory Basic Training) you can gain your provisional A1 bike licence, which allows you to ride up to 125cc...

Best naked 125s of 2021

22 January 2021 by MCN

Looking at buying a new naked 125? Well, MCN has got you covered with this handy pick of the bunch. The sporty naked 125 market is currently saturated with both new and used examples from almost...

Top Mountain Motorcycle Museum ravaged by fire

18 January 2021 by MCN

Several European news agencies are reporting that the Top Mountain Motorcycle Museum in Austria has been devastated by a substantial fire. Early reports suggest that the building, which houses over...

Beat the isolation blues with MCN's top YouTube videos of the last 12 months!

07 January 2021 by Dan Sutherland

With the start of 2021 bringing revised, tougher coronavirus restrictions and travel cut back to only essential journeys, getting your two-wheeled fix could be proving difficult right now.  To...

Things to do during Covid isolation: give your motorbike a proper clean

05 January 2021 by Bruce Dunn

As many of us find ourselves isolated once again and at a loose end in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, what better time is there to give your motorbike a proper clean? While scrubbing your bike...

World auction records help raise much-needed funds for National Motorcycle Museum

04 January 2021 by Jordan Gibbons

The struggling National Motorcycle Museum (NMM) received a massived boost in much-needed funds with record-breaking sales at the Bonhams Motorcycles Winter Sale. The NMM had 52 motorcycles from its...

Bucketlist: Ride a classic banked circuit

03 January 2021 by Phil West

Most bikers have experience of race circuits, either through racing, trackdays or simply spectating. It’s an experience that  rings a far greater appreciation of the adrenaline-fuelled thrills...

Get your stoppers gleaming: how to clean your motorbike's brakes

02 January 2021 by Bruce Dunn

Cleaning your brakes is an important step in motorcycle maintenance and a fairly easy one to do. The tools required are basic (allen keys, a socket set and a torque wrench) and the payoff is instant.

Buy your dream bike – now!

01 January 2021 by Richard Newland

I've been dreaming of this moment for 18 years. To be honest, I never thought it would happen – but several things conspired to form a perfect storm, and the dream has finally become a reality. Oddly,...

Now's the time to try off-road riding

28 December 2020 by Emma Franklin

I always thought that handling a bike at high speed on a circuit represented the very pinnacle of skill, not slithering around a field getting mud sprayed up my back. Oh how wrong can a person be? “I...

Plug in, ride out: Best electric motorbikes of 2021

21 December 2020 by Gareth Evans

It’s time to take electric motorbikes seriously. In 2016, Germany voted to ban the internal combustion engine by 2030, and the UK Government has followed suit, bringing its ban on the sales of new...

MCN's most wanted: the bikes that excite us arriving in 2021

18 December 2020 by Andy Calton

Coronavirus may have spoilt a lot of things, but it hasn’t stopped motorcycle manufacturers coming out with an army of awesome bikes for 2021. After months of reporting on new model reveals and riding...

Watch: Nick Sanders on the Snowdonia 360

16 December 2020 by Gareth Evans

In this week's special 5-in-1 MCN we have a supplement about inspirational things you could plan to do in 2021. Among them is Nick Sanders MBE's trip around the Snowdonia 360 - Wales's answer to the...

Best adventure motorbikes of 2021

07 December 2020 by Phil West

Although adventure bikes such as BMW’s definitive R1250GS were conceived to be capable of conquering continents, as famously portrayed in Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman’s TV series 'Long Way...

Ohvale UK Cup: How Peter Hickman is nurturing the next generation of UK racing stars

04 December 2020 by Dan Sutherland

Peter Hickman is one of the most versatile British motorcycle racers of the modern age. Having won the National Superstock 1000 Cup championship 16 years ago, he’s since become a multiple British...

Evel Knievel Laverda leaps back into the limelight

25 November 2020 by Phil West

A bike used by Evel Knievel has been discovered, restored and put on public display. Knievel, who died in 2007, is best remembered for using Harley-Davidson XR750s in the 1970s, most notably for his...

How to prepare your motorbike for winter

20 November 2020 by Bruce Dunn

Preparing your motorbike for the colder weather, salt on the roads and slippery conditions is an important task if you don't want to watch it rot away in front of your eyes.  Make sure your bike...

So long supersport: A history of the Yamaha R6

19 November 2020 by Dan Sutherland

The supersport class has been struggling in recent years and now the Yamaha R6 has become the latest model to fall foul of dwindling sales and ever-tightening emissions regulations. Hard to believe...

Boxer goodies: Polish custom house create stunning café racer BMW R100RT

18 November 2020 by Dan Sutherland

A Polish motorcycle custom house have transformed a 1982 BMW R100RT into a modern café racer. Warsaw-based Eighty Six Gear Motorcycles spent a year-and-a-half turning the 49,700-mile classic into the...

The Tesi H2 marks Bimota's return – but where did it all begin?

13 November 2020 by Phil West

With orders now being taken for the supercharged, hub-centre-steered Bimota Tesi H2, it’s worth revisiting the Italian brand’s glittering, yet chequered, history. Related articles on MCN Bimota KB4...

MTB to motorbike: The Mod 1 test

06 November 2020 by Adam Binnie

Given how everyone I know with a motorbike says the first practical test is harder than the second, I was surprised to discover it usually takes about 15 minutes and mostly involves riding around...

Our bikes: Richard Newland's Ducati 996

05 November 2020 by Richard Newland

There’s something exceptionally pleasing about big V-twins. The flatness of their delivery, their deceptive speed and gluttonous dollops of torque. The way they build power with a surging tide...

Dream Ducatis: Michael Neeves tangos with a trio of Superleggeras

04 November 2020 by Michael Neeves

Ducati’s Superleggera is a rare, exotic beast. Only 1500 have ever been built: 500 magnesium-framed 1199s in 2014, 500 carbon-framed 1299s in 2017 and new for this year 500 carbon-framed V4s. They’re...

Thanks for the memories: Honda Ron Haslam Race School calls time after 24 years of expert tuition

03 November 2020 by Dan Sutherland

After 24 years and an estimated 87,000 customers, the chequered flag has fallen on the Honda Ron Haslam Race School. Having announced that 2020 would be their final year of operation back on...

Celebrating Black History Month: As one of the few mixed race riders in bikesport, Asher Durham hopes he can inspire others

30 October 2020 by MCN

Asher Durham is a BSB Junior Superstock 600 racer who started in motocross and then became the youngest ever rider to compete in the 125cc British championship at the age of 13. He went on to be a...