Bike news

Year: ALL

Police are blind to the cause of crashes

22 April 2001

Research into the cause of bike accidents has consistently suggested that more of them are caused by car drivers than by us. So why are police forces suddenly claiming the vast majority are the result...

No lightweights, these

22 April 2001

They might call the 250 race the Lightweight, but it’s a race for the real heavyweights of The Island.

Four new bike sections now open

22 April 2001

Follow the ‘BIKES’ link at the top of the page and you’ll immerse yourself in a world of facts and figures, tests and tips on the motorcycles you own, admire and lust after. The latest additions to...

Take one Monster and add £6000 of Gallic flair

15 April 2001

DUCATI specialist Desmo Shop has employed all its engineering skill and used thousands of pounds-worth of carbon-fibre to create this year 2000 Monster 900-based special. The anodised blue frame,...

2001 BMW R1150R, K1200RS and R1150RT ridden through France

15 April 2001

SPLATT! A direct hit, smack bang in the middle of my visor. Here comes another. Splatt! This one’s even bigger. It looks like the daddy. Splatt! Again, it’s a bull’s eye and the front of my lid is...

Go Johnny, go!

15 April 2001

McGuinness winds it on through Kirkmichael

Buell to build full-on 1000cc sports bikes

15 April 2001

BUELL is finally going to make the bikes its founder has always wanted to – full-on, sports bikes. So far the Buell badge has been standing for grunt-laden bikes which are bags of fun but not quite on...

Moriwaki offers 150bhp SP-1

15 April 2001

Japanese tuner Moriwaki is launching a 150bhp version of the Honda SP-1. Called the MP101, they are hand built to order, with a range of specifications for use either on the road or track. The firm...

£50,000-worth of retro Harley

15 April 2001

THE Trakker might be a Harley under the skin, but its looks might make fans of more sporting bikes drool. Designed to resemble a Harley board-track racer of the 1920s, it harks back to a time when the...

Something to better the new GSXR1000…

15 April 2001

IF you lived in a small, remote village and had no transport or television, you probably wouldn’t have any idea what lay beyond the end of the field – until you actually crossed the fence that marked...

SV650 gets a winning makeover

15 April 2001

Suzuki’s V-twin SV650 is winning races in America against Ducati 750s, 250GP bikes and 400cc in-line fours. And all the parts that make it a winner are available to SV owners in the UK. Most of the...

KTM reveals plans for muscle bike

15 April 2001

KTM’S plans to place more focus on road bikes have taken a major step forward with proposals for a 1000cc naked musclebike. The Austrian firm’s chief executive Stefan Pierer says it will be a bike in...

First test of Ducati’s ST4S

15 April 2001

Ducati’s choice of venue for the launch of its new ST4S sports tourer seemed rather odd at first. Rather than present us with maps and a demanding long distance road route, we were instead taken to a...

You wouldn’t want to do it daily

15 April 2001

It’s a hell of a long way from Barcelona to London. About 700 miles, in fact – as the crow flies. It’s a little farther by road. For those of you who haven’t ridden the latest generation of...

The ultimate Katana specials

15 April 2001

Yoshimura has got hold of five of the last Suzuki Katanas to be built and is turning them into jaw-droppers. After 20 years of continuous production, Suzuki has finally pulled the plug on the Katana,...

Foggy tribute Monster only available online

15 April 2001

Following internet sales success of the MH900e and 996R, Ducati will sell 300 limited edition MS4 Fogarty Monsters through online only. The order books will open in June, with deliveries starting...

The ‘sportiest’ sports tourer yet

08 April 2001

DUCATI’S new ST4S has uprated suspension, new brakes and the 996 V-twin engine and our first ride reveals that all adds up to the most sporting sports-tourer yet. On Wednesday (April 12), Kevin Ash...

Yes, it really is made in China

08 April 2001

The machine pictured here is the first sign that China has what it takes to build bikes we in the west might actually desire. China is the biggest bike producer in the world, but it’s generally known...

Women on track days

08 April 2001

Girls on bikes used to mean pretty pillion passengers. And you blokes seemed more than happy with a stunner of a girlfriend who would sit limpet-like on your back for the ride to the races, then step...

V8 is back… for £70,500

08 April 2001

REMEMBER the 850cc Morbidelli V8? Only four were ever sold when they went into production in 1997. But now the firm has announced the model’s comeback… if UK dealer George Beale can drum up enough...

Aprilia Futura recalled

08 April 2001

APRILIA has recalled all of the first batch of Futuras in the UK because of a possible loose nut. A fault with a machine on the production line in Italy has meant that a retaining nut in the generator...

The shape of forks to come

08 April 2001

Dutch designer Roel van der Heide reckons some day all bikes will be this way. Called the Chiqane 2, the bike that uses his system is the result of years of development. Van der Heide first developed...

Ducati boss admits plans for giant trailie

08 April 2001

THREE years after MCN first predicted it, Ducati is admitting a V-twin giant trailie is very much part of its plans. It will be very much in the mould of Cagiva’s Navigator. The firm’s boss, Federico...

Getting my 996 is a dream fulfilled

08 April 2001

THE sight of the bike in front of me stopped me in my tracks and caused a sharp intake of breath inside my helmet. I had been waiting for this moment for a long time. Almost trembling with...

New Road safety campaign gets Foggy’s backing

08 April 2001

MOST of us look on road safety campaigns with some suspicion. We want the roads to be safe – it’s probably more in our interests than anyone else’s – but the true dangers, such as careless driving,...

700 miles by scooter

08 April 2001

HONDA’s new Silver Wing is as happy touring two-up as it is dealing with the brake, swerve, squirt of urban riding in Europe’s busiest cities. The engine is new. It’s a four-stroke parallel twin with...

Honda V5 GP bike breaks cover

08 April 2001

THESE are the world’s first action pictures of the all-new four-stroke Honda Grand Prix bike destined to start racing in 2002. The shots of the V5-engined bike were taken at Sugo in Japan today, where...

Scottish Indian gears up for larger scale production

08 April 2001

The Scottish firm responsible for building just a few Indian Dakota-4s says it has been selling all of the £23,000 bikes it can make, so now is the time to go into bigger production. They plan to turn...

BMW’s updated bikes ridden 1800 miles on first test

08 April 2001

BMW’S latest bikes prove you can ride 600 miles a day without the aid of a chiropractor. Our 1800-mile round trip to the south of France included the chance to ride three updated models. And the flat...

New Bonnie spotted in Oz

01 April 2001

THE cruiser-style version of Triumph’s Bonneville has been spied on test in Australia. The bike, which was first reported in MCN last year, will use the same air-cooled, 790cc, four-stroke parallel...

Hold on tight…

01 April 2001

This is my second cigarette in ten minutes. It’s also only my second cigarette in five years. The reason for my nervousness is just a few feet away. It’s Steve Webster’s sidecar outfit. And he wants...

The most powerful BMW ever

01 April 2001

BMW is preparing to build a range-topping genuine superbike. It should be the bike that finally shrugs off any remnants of the pipe and slippers image the brand has accrued. The firm is thought to be...

Video action from Donington

01 April 2001

For a unique perspective of Donington, join us a foot from the ground as we bring you on-board video from a World Championship sidecar.190bhp, three wheels and plenty of rain.

Triumph is celebrating 10 years… without making profit

01 April 2001

IT’S exactly 10 years since the Triumph production line rolled out its first bike after its revival – the Trophy 1200, which was hailed as the first of a new breed of British superbikes. The firm was...

How the Cagiva Xtra Raptor could be

01 April 2001

THIS bike might be one of the only machines in the country that looks like a Cagiva Xtra-Raptor, but it’s the sound which makes it one in a million. Anything ridden through a tunnel as long as...

MV Agusta F5 spied on test

01 April 2001

IT’S the datalogging kit strapped to the pillion seat that gives the game away. This is no F4 1+1. It is, you can be assured, a well disguised F5, complete with that tempting 998cc engine. It’s a...