Latest news in motorcycling

Stay informed with the very latest news in motorcycling. Our crack team of reporters cover the issues you need to know about, from new bikes to community, and the latest tech to bike crime. We apply professional rigour to our journalism and ask the key questions to the right people, to ensure our readers stay fully informed.

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Year: ALL

Survival tips

15 July 2001

THIS is Duncan Goose’s essential advice for travellers: Travel light, travel light and travel light. Give a trusted friend power of attorney over your bank account, so they can send you your own...

FJR long term test (2): The owners’ gathering

15 July 2001

Going for a ride-out and then chewing the cud with fellow riders is always a pretty good way to spend a day. While a football fan will (season permitting) relish the idea of a few pints in the boozer...

The loop and lock

15 July 2001

The simplest ideas are often the best – and you can’t get much simpler than the loop and lock. Chains and padlocks are only really effective if there’s something to lock your bike to. However, if...

John O’Groats to Land’s End… by classic scooter

15 July 2001

The idea of travelling from John O’Groats to Land’s End isn’t enough of a challenge for some people. These guys, among them a 28-year-old diagnosed with terminal cancer, decided to make it hard for...

Why congestion charging will put thousands more people on bikes

15 July 2001

We already know the best way to get through a busy city is on two wheels – and the latest plan for the English capital means thousands of London car drivers could see the light as well. From 2003 a...

Shotgun cartridges

15 July 2001

Two years ago, Robert E, from South Shields, had his garage broken into. Strangely, the thieves didn’t touch his bike. In fact, they made away with nothing more than a frozen turkey. But it was enough...

How far would you go to protect your bike?

15 July 2001

This week, around 600 motorcycles will be stolen in the UK. Only 84 will be recovered and returned to their owners. With organised criminals developing ever more sophisticated methods, keeping our...

Thanks for making this the place to be

15 July 2001

More riders are coming to motorcyclenews.com than ever before. More than 100,000 of you came to the site last week and looked at over 1,000,000 pages. And that’s the first time our page impressions count has gone over the million mark. Page impressions shouldn’t be confused with " hits " . There are usually around 10 hits on any given web page, sometimes more. A site claiming one million hits a...

The man who invented the Desmo dies

15 July 2001

Fabio Taglioni, the man who invented Ducati’s famous Desmodromic engine, has died at his home in Bologna at the age of 80. Born on September 10, 1920 in Lugo di Romagna, Italy, Taglioni graduated as...

Ingenious but legal

15 July 2001

If shotgun cartridges, guard dogs and electric shocks seem a bit extreme, there are plenty of equally creative methods to secure your bike which can be just as effective – and they won’t land you in a court of law

Shop a bike thief and grab a grand

15 July 2001

If you have information that could convict a bike thief, dial 0870-444-8448 and you could get a reward of up to £1000. If you’ve got the gen on an organised gang, that amount could rise to £10,000...

Hydraulic lift

15 July 2001

According to Barry Hood, from Birmingham, his hydraulic lift is a far more effective means of securing a bike than a conventional ground anchor. He said: ” Once a thief has got into your garage the...

Trading Standards order clothing off the shelves

15 July 2001

Trading Standards officers ordered Buffalo to replace the armour in one of their jackets because it didn’t meet the CE standard it had claimed to. Importer Bifax moved swiftly and all examples of the...

Have you had a tyre nightmare?

15 July 2001

Your tyres are often the only thing between you and disaster. Reliable high quality rubber is a matter of life or death for us. But tyres aren’t always perfect. We’re conducting a survey to find out...

New details of 2002 R1 revealed

15 July 2001

Next year’s Yamaha R1 will be radically revised to challenge the competition from Suzuki’s class-leading GSX-R1000. It will also have to deal with new machines in the form of Honda’s 2002 FireBlade –...

The repairs

15 July 2001

FOR a man who confesses to having no mechanical aptitude whatever, Duncan Goose was very, very lucky. He learnt as he went along, ran into the right people at the right time and picked a bomb-proof bike that hardly lost its reliability over 42,000 miles. But the ability to improvise is essential. Friendly dealers are not an option in Peru, and if you lack imagination with old Fairy Liquid bottles...

Guard dog

15 July 2001

Jon F of Northampton reckons his two Mastiff bitches are the ultimate in bike security. He said: ” They’re completely loyal and very protective. As soon as the dogs hear something they go absolutely...

New range of Italian lids from Devel

15 July 2001

The lids featured here are Italian firm Devel’s latest offerings. The full-face Vaga and the flip-up Razor are both available in British dealers for the first time this week, for £149.99. They use...

Rate your dealer

15 July 2001

We want to know your experience at your dealer. How good is the level of service? Would you recommend them to a friend? We all know how good it is to find a place you’re happy with to do your...

Pepper spray

15 July 2001

Ray M, from Tyne and Wear, has installed a pepper gas sprayer in his garage. Such devices are illegal in this country, so Ray has declined to comment. He got hold of his from an American company via...

Baby monitor

15 July 2001

AFTER having the entire contents of his garage stolen, including his Kawasaki ZX-7R, Kirk Walker, from Sheffield, wasn’t too happy. He said: ” I felt like crying. The police weren’t interested, the...

996 successor shown to Ducati top brass

15 July 2001

A prototype just shown to high-ranking Ducati employees is thought to be the closest anyone has yet seen to the actual successor to the legendary 996. Ducati presented its plans for the next three...

Just when you thought they’d finally eased off…

15 July 2001

The Home Secretary has been telling police forces to down-grade their focus on speeding, the Met Police have called a halt to any additional Gatsos, to spend more cash on catching real criminals. You...

We are being sacrificed to make drivers safer

08 July 2001

The current design of UK roadside barriers may protect drivers in a crash but they only serve to maim and kill riders, according to a leading professor of structural engineering. Dr John Knapton is...

New scooters from Italjet and She-Lung

08 July 2001

Italjet’s retro-meets-future-styled Jet-Set will be available here in August and there will be a 50cc too. And the Taiwanese Freespirit scooter is also available now. The Jet-Set is expected to be...

Police stop adding Gatsos and start offering alternatives to points

08 July 2001

While police in London call a halt to adding to the capital’s Gatsos, Northants police seem to be making life marginally easier, too. In the capital the force says it is concentrating its budgets on...

You’re never going to win like that

08 July 2001

Staying in the saddle is a prerequisite for victory

Meet Reynolds at open day

08 July 2001

MCN’s dealer of the year for clothing and accessories hosts an open day on Saturday, July 14. John Reynolds will be there and there will be bargains galore, too. The Harpers superstore, in the heart of London, won the prestigious MCN award despite having only been open for just over a year. On the day there will be a huge sale with leather suits available from as little as £100. There will be a...