Weekend reads
Your one-stop-shop for all the big reads on MCN.
Op Banham ready to roll: Restored WW2 despatch bike set for commemorative ride to Berlin
06 May 2022 by
Military veterans flocked to Birmingham’s National Motorcycle Museum last week to witness the reveal of a restored 1944 BSA M20, which is set to be ridden from Normandy to Berlin in June 2022. The...
Where it all began: Prototype Triumph from 1901 unearthed
20 April 2022 by
A veteran collector has restored the first-ever Triumph to running order – and it’s a prototype which predates the company’s official first production bike by a year. It’s generally accepted that...
How Mutt Motorcycles are taking on the big dogs with their small-capacity retros
29 March 2022 by
British bike manufacturers are beginning to dominate the headlines once more in a modern reflection of the past, with the likes of BSA and Norton announcing all-new metal for 21st-century bike...
Going the distance: 120 years of Royal Enfield adventures
01 March 2022 by
In the world of YouTube and Instagram and massive machines with satnavs, spotlights and metal panniers, it’s easy to imagine that adventure-biking is a modern phenomenon – but that’s not true. Royal...
MCN's Jordan Gibbons finds battery bikes are the perfect pal for city life
25 February 2022 by
No matter how much some people might yearn for carbs, induction roar and the sweet smell of Castrol R, motorcycles are only going to get greener. The world is getting hotter, our air is becoming...
Riding a trio of special Honda RC30s and meeting the men who still use them as Honda intended
25 February 2022 by
For many of us, Honda’s RC30 has been an object of desire since it was released back in 1988. With around 3500 made, they’re not as rare as you might imagine, but they were expensive – twice the price...
Royal Enfield’s Dean Coxson talks exclusively about their record-breaking expedition to the South Pole
04 February 2022 by
On December 16th 2021, Royal Enfield rode into the history books when employees Dean Coxson and Santhosh Vijay Kumar reached the South Pole on a near-stock Himalayan, becoming the first people to...
Go off-road in a sidecar: We get a taste of outfit life by riding Ural’s latest three-wheeler in Portugal
14 January 2022 by
How many riding situations are there in motorcycling where you effectively need to forget everything you know? Trials maybe? Ice racing perhaps? For me it’s riding a sidecar. It’s the single hardest...
Try trials with the family for a one-of-a-kind shared experience
07 January 2022 by
What’s a better idea than trying trials for the first time in the depths of winter? That’s easy – taking my 59-year-old dad along for the ride. Off we both ventured, fuelled by nerves through pouring...
The youngest person to ride around the world... during a pandemic
05 January 2022 by
Although still being verified by Guinness World Records, Jack Groves is the youngest person to ride around the world on a motorcycle. At just 22, Jack finished his studies and set out to break the...
Charge of the light brigade: Army Parachute Regiment trial electric bikes
24 December 2021 by
It’s a frigid November evening and I’m standing in a muddy field in the middle of rural France, as diesel generators shake the air around me. The area is abuzz with activity as military vehicles move...
100 years of Moto Guzzi: we trace the up-and-down history of one of biking’s most important brands
17 December 2021 by
2021 will inevitably be remembered most for the worst of reasons – Covid-19, the retirement of MotoGP GOAT Valentino Rossi… but 2021 also marks one of the biggest anniversaries of all – the 100th...
Fat Boy wonder: How a bold take on the cruiser put Harley-Davidson back on the map
16 December 2021 by
‘I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle…’ It’s been 30 years since we first heard Arnold Schwarzenegger utter those immortal words in the film Terminator 2. Little did anyone know then...
Continuing the racing legacy: At home with Tarran Mackenzie
10 December 2021 by
Tarran Mackenzie followed in his dad’s footsteps this year by taking the BSB title for the first time. 25 years after Niall became the first champion of the modern era, Tarran came of age and topped a...
Chasing perfection: Honda’s oval-piston NR750 at 30
10 November 2021 by
In October 1991, the most exotic and most expensive production bike ever been produced by any Japanese brand was launched, embracing a level of tech which – even today – seems extreme. The Honda...
Try an electric trials bike at Inch Perfect Trials
22 October 2021 by
Sweat is pouring down my face as I focus every ounce of concentration onto negotiating the rocky river bed, desperate to keep my feet up and avoid a ‘dab’ whilst my fingers tickle the throttle just...
Test your riding endurance in an Iron Butt Rally
12 October 2021 by
The Iron Butt Association is dedicated to the pursuit of safe, long-distance motorcycling. Sure, most of us have done extended days on the bike, but to class yourself as a genuine ‘Iron Butter’ you...
Experience riding as fast as you want on a German autobahn
13 September 2021 by
With sixth gear engaged and the throttle open to the stop, the three-lane-wide autobahn funnels ever narrower into a tiny apex in the distance. Accented orange by the rising sun on the horizon, every...
Learn the art of bike control: California Superbike School will teach you the secrets to speed
25 August 2021 by
Riding in the company I keep at work can be a sobering experience. The wider MCN team have hundreds of years of experience of riding every type of bike on the roads, runways, trails and racetracks –...
Now is the time to design your own helmet
16 August 2021 by
Hello. My name is Richard, and I’m a shameless hypocrite. OK, so this isn’t group therapy, but I felt it would be wrong not to share with the group that this rampant self-indulgence is spectacularly...
24hr party people: MCN join in the action at the first 24hr Freetech Endurance race
10 August 2021 by
It’s 4.30am. We’ve already been racing for 16.5 hours, and I’ve just woken from an exhausted hour’s slumber at the back of our race awning, a face mask over my eyes and earplugs rammed firmly home to...
You meet the nicest people on a Honda: 60 years of the HOC
23 July 2021 by
The carpark is abuzz with broad smiles, excited chatter, and gorgeous bikes. Despite the threat of rain, members of the Honda Owner’s Club (HOC) haven’t shied away from an opportunity to come together...
Seconds from glory: How close is Honda’s latest Fireblade to a full factory racer?
09 July 2021 by
In 1992 Tadao Baba created the Honda FireBlade with the sole intention of making the best possible sports motorcycle. Deliberately opting for a 893cc rather than a 750cc motor, as demanded by the...
Yamaha mark 60 years of GP racing as the second most successful manufacturer of all time
21 June 2021 by
Yamaha may not have won as many grand prix races as Honda, but the Hamamatsu manufacturer is arguably still the greatest racing brand of them all. The company contested its first grand prix in May...
Viva Vespa! Celebrating 75 years of the scooter that changed two wheels forever
11 June 2021 by
Seventy-five years ago this spring, motorcycling – or, to be precise, powered two-wheelers – changed forever when the very first scooter was launched. Spawned from the rubble of post-WW2 Italy,...
Michael Laverty’s all-new riding academy is all about developing the British stars of tomorrow
14 May 2021 by
For the first time since 2010 there are no British riders in MotoGP. Three-time race winner Cal Crutchlow’s departure at the end of 2020 has left a void, with no obvious candidates waiting in the...
Marvellous Motobirds: The story of the UK’s first all-female biking stunt team
16 April 2021 by
In 1972, 17-year-old lab technician Mary Connors was idly flicking through a local newspaper when she spotted a small ad: Girls required to ride motorcycles, full training given. “I honestly thought...
Now's the time to try off-road riding
16 April 2021 by
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...
Make 2021 the year when you take control of your own touring destiny
15 April 2021 by
With destination set to ‘Home’ the satnav tells me there’s a little over 1000 miles ahead, and just before midnight I’ll be back in moonlit Peterborough. It’s at this point, a lightbulb flickers and a...
Ride your own adventure: It’s time to take your first steps off-road
12 April 2021 by
Leaving the tarmac behind on a £20k fully loaded BMW R1250GSA is the elephant in the adventure bike showroom. Every manufacturer spends millions developing bikes capable of handling the rough stuff,...
Share your biking obsession: Get someone back on two wheels
09 April 2021 by
I’m sure we all know someone who, for one reason or another, holds a motorcycle licence but has given up riding. A dormant biker, just waiting to be gently awoken back to the world of two-wheels. In...
Creating a Monster: Has the 2021 Ducati Monster turned its back on tradition?
03 April 2021 by
We recently got the chance to ride the all-new 2021 Ducati Monster, almost three decades after the firm took the wraps off the original prototype at the 1992 Cologne Motor Show. Entering production...
MCN legends: Kawasaki Z1
19 March 2021 by
If the CB750 was Japan’s first large capacity four, the Z1 was the world’s first superbike; raising the performance bar to unforeseen heights; leading a new era of big Japanese multis and setting the...
Why you need to own a two-stroke... or two
12 March 2021 by
The world is changing. Fossil fuel powered vehicles now have just nine years left before manufacturers stop producing new petrol and diesel four-wheelers. Bikes will follow suit, and in time the...
From Wimbledon to F1 and the Olympics... Suzi Perry has done it all
08 March 2021 by
In a career that has spanned more than 20 years, Suzi Perry has weaved her way into the fabric of motorcycle racing. Having interviewed riders from Carl Fogarty and Mick Doohan to Valentino Rossi,...
The Great Malle Rally offers two-wheeled escapism without a passport
04 March 2021 by
Raindrops on hairpins and cold sandy beaches, bright chrome air cleaners and damp tyre screeches, hiding your smartphone so it never rings, these are a few of my favourite things. Cream-coloured...