MCN Fleet

With the clocks nudging 3500 miles on my Suzuki GSX250R, it was time for some new rubber. After months of commuting, leisure rides and even an afternoon on track, the rear OE IRC RX-01 Road Winner had...

MCN's Senior Editor, Matt Wildee has been living with BMW's new-for-2017 R nineT Racer this year. With all the style of a Savile Row suit, Matt describes what it's like to live with the boxer twin...

When first fitted, I wasn’t too sure if Pirelli’s Rosso III tyres would quite live up to the Metzeler Roadtec 01s I’d used previously.  As a sportier tyre, I didn’t expect them to perform as well...

I’ve been interested to find that there’s a thriving community of Honda X-Adv riders out in the wider world. The bike seems to be very well received on the continent and one particularly active group,...

It seems to have been a hectic time for myself and the Triumph Bobber recently, with plenty of longer trips putting more miles on the bike and seeing it blast through the #ride5000miles goal with...

Welcome to the Ring  There’s nothing quite like the soul-shaking rush of the Nurburing’s play-an-play Nordschleife, to kick off a summer of trackday fun.  I’ve been addicted to the...

I’ve enjoyed my time with the beautiful, characterful R nineT Racer. When I took possession of the bike I wanted to accentuate the ‘Racer’ part of its character. My idea of heaven on a motorcycle is...

I’ve been asking myself - is Kawasaki's 650 really worthy of the Ninja name? On looks alone, maybe. The ZX-10R-inspired styling and KRT paint scheme make it look like a proper pocket-rocket. The 63bhp...

Ever since I first rode the long term Street Glide in the rain, I’ve been pretty keen to get rid of the stock tyres. In the dry, they’re fine, but in the wet they’re pretty poor – quickly spinning up,...

My R6 is the only 600cc Supersport machine on the market with traction control and ABS as standard. In theory it should be able to cut it in the wet, but can it? I’d recently fitted brand new Metzeler...

Almost 6000 miles covered and I’m still loving the RS, but it’s time to start giving her some bling. I’ve gone with all Triumph genuine accessories which include frame and swing arm crash protection,...

It was time for another Sunday blast with dad, him on a 2007 Fireblade and me on Doris the updated-for-2017 Duke. My dad must have been so bored. I was there with my hair dryer working hard to get up...

Last month I took the opportunity to ship my bike out to Switzerland with Bike Shuttle and tour the Alps. I'd never ridden abroad alone so this was a new venture for me. Once I collected my bike in...

I’m five months and almost 6000 miles in to my year with the Suzuki V-Strom 650XT and ever since I took delivery of it, perhaps even before, I’ve had this one little niggle about the bike that won’t...

You don't really know a bike until you've spent some time with it. A lot of time. My first four or five months with Ducati's 'sportsbike for the road' had certainly been a blast. Work commutes and a...

The road trip to Aragon MotoGP has begun. From home we’ve ridden to Portsmouth and I’m now sat on the Brittany Ferries crossing making our way across the Bay of Biscay on route to Santander in...

I feel that I should be wearing a white lab coat and not a leather jacket with all the testing I’ve been doing! I’m trying to work out which of the Honda X-Adv’s gear modes is right for me. Unlike...

When it comes to cold weather, I don’t really mind admitting that I’m a bit of a softy. As soon as the mercury sinks, I’m straight into the box of winter gloves and thermal baselayers, so it was a bit...

While I’ve had a couple of excursions off-road on the KTM Super Adventure S they’ve been short and fairly inconclusive. But I’m glad to say that changed this week with a day in the dirt – make that...

My R6’s rear tyre has just deflated in record time. We had a few 90mph wobbles but nothing that was too alarming, so I made my way to the littered grass verge on the A1 northbound and began the wait...

Although I’ve only had my Suzuki GSX250R for little over a month, I have already clocked up just shy of half of my #ride5000miles total. In this time together, one of the things I have come to like...

On a slow moving journey from London to MCN’s Peterborough HQ recently, my GSX-R did the unthinkable for a superbike and returned an astonishing 61mpg.  I’m more interested in chasing lap times...

I’ve had an interesting time with Kawasaki's Ninja 650 so far. It’s a really useful and fun bike that makes me grin regardless of what I do or where I take it. So far it’s been used for commuting,...

Talk about a slow burner. As the miles slip by, this Blade SP inexorably grows bigger in my life – to the point where my attitude towards it has progressed from one of indifference and Guy Martin...

Just under two weeks ago, when the sun was still shining and the summer was here, I embarked on a trip to Silverstone for the British round of the MotoGP World Championship aboard my Suzuki GSX250R...

Riding for me is a balancing act. First and foremost, my bike is my number one means of transport, I’m a long distance commuter and often ride to the race meetings I cover for MCN.   However, the...

It was all going so well. In my last report I said how after around 5000 miles it had all come together and I was really gelling with the bike. Summer was upon us and I was cruising around with the...

Since I’ve been riding the Honda X-Adv it’s been a real talking point with fellow riders. No one knows what it actually is and how it fits in with the normal expectations of a bike or...

Well having just spent a day at the KTM UK workshop, my 1290 Super Adventure S is looking pretty trick, even if I do say so myself! In preparation for a day of off-road riding in Devon with former...

My long-term test bike is definitely one of the coolest looking 125s out there and riding it is a joy. I recently took the Duke to Silverstone to watch the MotoGP and its great low-speed balance and...

Taking a passenger on the Suzuki GSX250R is something I have wanted to do since I got this bike. I almost always seem to ride solo and I often wonder what my rides would be like taking someone...

Riding Cadwell on a bike as revvy as a 2017 R6 takes a lot of concentration and constant use of the factory OE quickshifter. Keep notching gears down the start/finish straight. Either hit the limiter...

When Suzuki had the finished GSX-R1000R sketch sat proudly on their drawing board it would’ve looked sleek with no ugly number plate holder, lumpy exhaust can or ghastly Euro4 reflectors. So I’ve...

Riding to and from the Cadwell Park British Superbike round took me over my first 5000 miles, so I’ve successfully completed MCN’s #ride5000miles challenge. In that time, I’ve learned a lot about the...

BMW’s GS Rallye exudes a quality that it’s hard to pick holes in. From the deep frame paint, to the car-like plastics quality, to the perfect accuracy with which each and every element works and fits...

The Supersport S came on the perfectly capable OE Pirelli Diablo Rosso II tyres. But after 1600 miles, a track day and a touring trip looming I decided to change to the more all-round Metzeler Roadtec...