New bikes
New motorbike news from the world's best motorcycling publication, MCN. Get everything we know about the big launches, reveals, spy shots and teasers right here, first.
Ducati plans Foggy rep Monster
25 February 2001
DUCATI bosses in Italy have confirmed they are working on a Monster tribute to four-times WSB champion Carl Fogarty based on the latest S4 version of the bike.It uses a 916cc water-cooled motor making...
Honed to perfection
25 February 2001
HAVING honed and refined the FireBlade over the eight years since its introduction in 1992, Honda entered the new millennium with perhaps its most radical incarnation of the model yet.Although always...
All these first tests coming soon
25 February 2001
MCN’S Marc Potter will ride Ducati’s new 996R on Wednesday March 7, becoming one of the first people outside the factory to do so.And we’ll be bringing you his first reactions on that very day.In the next fortnight you can also look forward to the world’s first tests of the Aprilia CapoNord, Kawasaki RZX1200S and ZR7S and Piaggio’s new 500cc super-scooter, the X9.Keep checking back with...
Piaggio reveals 250… and promises a 500 to follow
25 February 2001
PIAGGIO is launching a 250cc scooter next month called the Jupiter.Powered by a Yamaha YP250 Majesty engine it will be in UK showrooms by April.A 180cc version and a 500cc one will follow later this...
The meanest green machine
25 February 2001
KAWASAKI’S Ninja nine has enjoyed a cult following amongst the big cube cognoscenti, not just for its sheer performance but also for its styling and brute-force engine. Determined not to let their...
ZX-9R to power new musclebike
18 February 2001
KAWASAKI is planning to launch a naked musclebike using a retuned version of the ZX-9R’s 144bhp engine. The 899cc four-cylinder engine could be tweaked to make more torque than the ZX-9R’s formidable...
Honda reveals street-savvy new look for Valkyrie
18 February 2001
THESE pictures give the first clue as to how Honda’s gigantic Valkyrie cruiser could look after next year’s planned revamp.Two different prototypes of the bike - also known as the F6C - have gone on...
Triumph’s Daytona gets 147bhp
18 February 2001 by
A BRITISH-built superbike with the potential to take on the best Japanese and Italian machines is enough to get any rider’s mouth watering. And Triumph reckons its new 955i Daytona is exactly...
A Triumph to make Italy tremble – but not Japan
18 February 2001
TRIUMPH publicly unveiled to the world this morning the long-awaited successor to its 955i triple – and immediately told riders looking for something to humble a GSX-R1000 to look elsewhere.The...
There can be only one
18 February 2001
AUSTRALIAN firm Hunwick Harrop has released full details of the Phantom 1500 cruiser. The bike, which is to go on sale over the Internet towards the end of the year, is the first in a range due for...
Gilera plans September unveiling for 600
11 February 2001
GILERA is expected to unveil a new 600cc sports bike at the Milan Show in September. Italian scooter giant Piaggio, Gilera’s parent company, has confirmed plans to reveal its first big bike since the...
Kawasaki’s big-bore response
04 February 2001
KAWASAKI is working on a tourer which is destined to rival Yamaha’s all-new FJR1300. A new bike, thought to be called the ZZ-R1200, will be 2002’s answer to Yamaha’s 145bhp tourer, which has attracted...
A standard R1 just wasn't enough
28 January 2001
MODIFIED R1s can be found at every pub meet in the country, but few are as desirable as QB Carbon's Yamaha. More than £12,000 has been lavished on the bike to turn it into the ultimate R1 - and it's...
Special GSX-R1000 set to steal Ally Pally show
21 January 2001
SUZUKI'S GSX-R1000 is hardly lacking when it comes to performance, but that hasn't stopped tuning firm Harris working its magic on one of the first bikes in the country. This GSX-R, which will be...
Time for a change of scenery
13 October 2000
MOST of us go touring in summer. But if there’s one time when you should really try something different on your bike, it’s autumn. This is the time of year when heavy-duty gloves come out of the...