Motorbike Advice: make the most of motorcycling

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.

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

How to replace your own motorbike fork seals | Save money with this guide from MCN's expert mechanic

01 August 2024 by Bruce Dunn

A weeping fork seal is never a welcome sight on your bike, particularly in the run-up to your next MoT test, but it doesn’t have to mean an expensive trip to the mechanic. With the right tools and...

Here's your guide to preparing your bike for winter storage so it's good to go in spring

01 August 2024 by Bruce Dunn

Plenty of bikers in the UK prefer not to ride through the winter months – whether that’s because they don’t want to expose their pride and joy to road salt, they ride focused sportsbikes that wouldn’t...

Let's get started... How to look after your motorcycle battery | Troubleshooting and recovery guide

01 August 2024 by Bruce Dunn

Motorcycle battery maintenance is a key element to ensuring you can enjoy your riding as much as possible. There is nothing worse than excitedly approaching your bike only to find the starter won’t...

Power play: How to hard-wire heated motorcycle gloves into your bike

01 August 2024 by Jim Blackstock

Heated kit is a brilliant addition to your winter riding kit. It allows you to wear less insulating clothing and instead, generate heat to maintain your body temperature while remaining comfortable...

How to fit a Scottoiler or other automatic motorbike chain oiler at home

01 August 2024 by Bruce Dunn

An automatic oiler can take a lot of the work out of looking after your chain and sprockets and can actually extend its life. It’s especially useful in the winter months when salt, dirt and water from...

How to deep clean your motorcycle's wheels and get them looking like new with MCN's expert mechanic

01 August 2024 by Bruce Dunn

You motorbike’s wheels can be one of the trickiest areas to clean, but they’re also prone to getting absolutely filthy. Related Best products for cleaning your motorbike Best deals on...

MCN's expert guide on removing bug splats, tar or any other stubborn stains from your motorcycle

01 August 2024 by Bruce Dunn

Summer in the UK brings with it lots of positives for bikers. Bright mornings, long evenings, warm sunshine and sticky tarmac are all positives but the downside is that your fairing, headlamp and...

How to check your motorcycle cooling system and have a fun-packed summer in 2025!

01 August 2024 by Bruce Dunn

Checking your motorcycle cooling system is important whenever you plan to ride, but it’s a particularly big deal in the summer when the ambient temperature is high. Motorcycle engines are designed...

Save money and learn how to do basic oil and filter servicing on your motorcycle with MCN's expert

31 July 2024 by Bruce Dunn

The oil in your motorbike’s engine plays an incredibly important role. It acts as a cushion between moving parts, such as between camshaft and head, reducing friction and wear. Jump to: The right...

How to change your motorbike's brake pads at home and boost both safety and performance

31 July 2024 by Bruce Dunn

However hard you ride and however many miles you cover, eventually your motorbike will need new brake pads fitted. Brake pads only have a certain lifespan as the friction material on them gradually...

Plug and play: How check and change your motorcycle spark plugs

31 July 2024 by Jim Blackstock

Unless you own a diesel motorcycle, then the spark plug in your petrol engine is probably one of the most key components if you want to operate your bike. Of course, there are others – tyres, brakes...

Sub-£5k superbikes: they might break the speed limit, but these sizzlers won't break the bank

30 July 2024 by Jon Urry

Sales of new sportsbikes may have dwindled but the used market is as hot as ever – and that’s no surprise given the range of quality machinery on offer. Look in any dealership and super sport 600...

Taking on the French TET with a purpose-built KTM 690 Enduro R | The ultimate adventure bike?

25 July 2024 by Michael Guy

Welcome to the fourth episode of MCN Sports Editor, Michael Guy’s video series on buying and adapting the perfect adventure bike. Watch the previous episodes: Michael chooses, buys and modifies...

Fancy an old-school four? These are the used buys our expert reckons should be on your shopping list

22 July 2024 by Jon Urry

There’s no more definitive genre of motorcycle than the naked, big-bore, twin shock, retro-style Japanese fours which proved hugely popular between the mid-1990s and mid-Noughties. Bikes like...

Let it all hang out! Prepare for high-octane thrills on five of the best big-cc naked bargains

17 July 2024 by Jon Urry

The popularity of naked bikes has been on the rise ever since our sports bike infatuation started to wane. And is it any wonder? On a naked the exposed and upright riding position not only puts...

True sporting icons: the GSX-R range defined Suzuki for generations. So which to buy?

15 July 2024 by Jon Urry

It’s a rather sorry state of affairs that now, in 2024, Suzuki only have two GSX-R models in the range – and one is a GSX-R125! There’s the new GSX-8R too, of course, which had won fans thanks to its...

How to ride a motorcycle while staying on the right side of the law

10 July 2024 by Charlotte King

Riding a motorcycle can be great fun but if you aren’t clued up and careful, you can get caught out. It’s worth reading up on the things to be aware of to keep yourself out of trouble. This is doubly...

Cost of riding guide | Discover the cost of a motorbike to keep your ride financially free

09 July 2024 by Phil Clarke

Once you’ve learned to ride a motorcycle, you’re finally ready to take the most exciting step — buying one for yourself. But, it can be difficult to know just how much you should expect to spend on...

Motorcycle buying guide | Learn how to find the right bike for you and get in the saddle

09 July 2024 by Phil Clarke

It’s never been a better time to start learning to ride, and the adventures you share with your first motorbike will stay with you for life. It’s an exciting place to be when you’re choosing your...

How to save fuel while still having fun on your motorcycle

09 July 2024 by Robin Kirkley

Whether you’re learning to ride or an experienced hand, biking is a passion that offers a unique sense of freedom and adventure. But with rising fuel prices and increasing environmental concerns,...

Essential motorcycle maintenance checklist to keep your machine running smoothly

08 July 2024 by Robin Kirkley

Part of learning to ride, is learning how to look after your bike: keeping it in good shape is important for its lifespan, performance, and your safety. Regular checks can stop unexpected breakdowns...

The A2 motorbike licence is a crucial step towards bigger bikes for young riders. Here's how to pass

05 July 2024 by Gareth Evans

The A2 motorbike licence is the single quickest and most cost-effective way for 19-year-olds to learn to ride a motorbike and progress to a full UK licence. In order to gain an A2 licence, you’ll...

The MCN test | best supersport motorbikes of 2025

27 June 2024 by Michael Neeves

We’ve never really thought of Triumph’s Street Triple as a supersport bike before. From its 2006 inception it was always the tamer, more real world take on the Daytona 675 race rep, but not anymore.

How to ride a motorcycle with a pillion passenger

26 June 2024 by Gareth Evans

Riding with a pillion can be the best way to get friends and family understanding just what you love about biking – and possibly tempt them to learn to ride themselves. But there’s a real art to...

Expert guide to filtering on a motorcycle | laws and advice

26 June 2024 by Mark Edwards

It’s a question we get asked a lot: how do you filter safely and legally on a motorbike? As cars and 4x4s get ever fatter, the lanes we use for filtering (otherwise known as ‘lane-splitting’) are...

How much does it cost to learn to ride a motorbike?

26 June 2024 by Curtis Moldrich

The feeling of freedom you get when riding a motorcycle is unlike anything else, but a lot stands in the way of the thinking about learning to ride and finally passing your test. From theory tests and...

Learning to ride: How to change gears on a motorbike

26 June 2024 by Gareth Evans

If you’re learning to ride, the likelihood is that you’ll need to know how to change gears on a motorbike. While there are a handful of automatic, hybrid and electric motorbikes and quite a few...

How to pass your motorcycle theory test first time

25 June 2024 by Gareth Evans

When you’re learning to ride a motorbike, you’ll need to pass the motorcycle theory test. This is the second element of passing your full motorbike licence, occurring before the two practical modules...

Are you prepared for the heatwave? Here's MCN's guide to riding safely in very hot weather

21 June 2024 by Gareth Evans

Right from when we learn to ride a motorbike, it’s long days of cruising in the sunshine, or hot and sticky trackdays, or quick blasts to the coast in the hot weather, that we imagine and look forward...

We take three hardcore adventure offerings both on and off-road, to see which machine reigns supreme

20 June 2024 by Carl Stevens

Nowadays, adventure bikes come in all shapes and sizes, for every different style of rider. For some, the perfect adventure bike is a light, low-capacity machine that’s capable of being ridden...

How to give your bike a proper clean | MCN's expert guide to getting a motorbike gleaming

14 June 2024 by Bruce Dunn

Whether you love or loathe the task of cleaning your motorbike, if you want it to shine all summer or survive the grime and salt of winter unscathed, then you need to give it more than just a quick...

The new middleweight sportsbike class is rammed with epic machinery but which one reigns supreme?

13 June 2024 by Carl Stevens

The notion of a thrilling middleweight sportsbike has changed drastically over the past 20 years. In the 2000s, sportiness and lap times trumped everything – meaning that engine capacity and design...

This pair of supermotos are built for skids and wheelies... but which one's best? Let's find out!

05 June 2024 by Carl Stevens

Look up the word ‘fun’ in a dictionary and (depending on what school you went to) there really should be a big fat picture of a supermoto staring back at you. Built to be raw, aggressive and minimal...

Cut through the jargon! Here are the common biking phrases and what they mean

03 June 2024 by Gareth Evans

If you’re new to biking, there’s a huge amount to learn, and where better to start than with this handy glossary of common biking words and phrases? Got more? Why not email me and I’ll add them to...

2024 BMW R12 vs Harley-Davidson Nightster Special | Can BMW's new cruiser out-perform the H-D on UK roads?

30 May 2024 by Phil West

BMW can’t stop shooting at the US cruiser heavyweights, Harley and Indian… first with the R18 and now with the new R12. But this time it’s different. Where the R18 was an all-new, air-cooled, boxer...

Find the best off-road motorcycle: an in-depth buyers' guide to the bikes, tracks, trails and gear

29 May 2024 by Adam Oldfield

Riding an off-road motorbike is a brilliant past time. Whether you are looking to build new skills, explore new areas, or when it gets damp and chilly on the race track and you need some winter saddle...