Bike news

Shop a bike thief and grab a grand

Shop a bike thief and grab a grand

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...

New details of 2002 R1 revealed

New details of 2002 R1 revealed

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 –...

996 successor shown to Ducati top brass

996 successor shown to Ducati top brass

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...

New range of Italian lids from Devel

New range of Italian lids from Devel

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

Rate your dealer

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...

Trading Standards order clothing off the shelves

Trading Standards order clothing off the shelves

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...

Baby monitor

Baby monitor

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...

The repairs

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...

Pepper spray

Pepper spray

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...

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

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

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...

Fort Knox

Fort Knox

Fireblade owner Dave Manchester, from Bradford, had his bike stolen in March last year. In the 16 months since, he’s been a man on a mission, installing every security device imaginable to make sure...

High-voltage shed

High-voltage shed

Ken D gave his local bike thief the shock of his life with his very effective but highly illegal invention – the electric shed. Angry at having his previous bike nicked, Ken vowed never to let it...

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

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

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...

Infra-red movement sensor

Infra-red movement sensor

Despite living in an area of Norwich with low levels of crime, Peter Jenks’ insurance company insisted he garaged his Triumph Bonneville, installed immobilisers and secured it with a lock. Hoping it...

The evolution of the Ducati 996 engine

The evolution of the Ducati 996 engine

If ever an engine proved worthy of evolutionary development instead of replacing it with a new design it has to be the Ducati 996 motor. The eight-valve, liquid-cooled V-twin which has dominated World...

Place your bets…now!

Place your bets…now!

He’s an ultra fit athlete who trains hard and is in peak physical condition. BUT how long can British Supersport rider John McGuinness hold his breath? 18 seconds, 28 seconds or 58 seconds?...

Save £100 more than ever on new bikes

Save £100 more than ever on new bikes

If you thought Carnell-City’s Real Prices were good, you ain’t seen nothing yet! From today, on selected new bikes you’ll want to own, we’ve been able to take even more off the already cut-to-the-bone...

Police stop adding Gatsos and start offering alternatives to points

Police stop adding Gatsos and start offering alternatives to points

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

You’re never going to win like that

Staying in the saddle is a prerequisite for victory

We are being sacrificed to make drivers safer

We are being sacrificed to make drivers safer

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...

Grass is less grippy

Grass is less grippy

Not sure that this is the line he was shown…

Moving around

Moving around

Many feel they get the best from their bike by moving around it during corners… this bloke over does it.

Meet Reynolds at open day

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...

Riding Honda’s factory 500s at Goodwood

Riding Honda’s factory 500s at Goodwood

I’m about to ride my dream bike – Mick Doohan’s NSR500. The one that took Doohan on to his second title with seven wins in 1995. All 180bhp and more of its savage two-stroke power around a park in the...

Q8 Oils arrive in the UK

Q8 Oils arrive in the UK

The choice of which oil to use in your bike in Britain has increased, with the launch of Q8 Oils for motorcycles and scooters. The motorcycle range includes Q8 SBK part synthetic for four-strokes at...

Sachs to add 125 to its range

Sachs to add 125 to its range

GERMAN firm Sachs is adding a new 125 machine to its range, the ZZ Funbike. It uses the Yamaha DT125R engine. Sachs says the bike is designed for use either on or off road, but it comes with Pirelli...

New scooters from Italjet and She-Lung

New scooters from Italjet and She-Lung

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...

Listen to the NS500 V3

Listen to the NS500 V3

You too can sample some of the flavour of Freddie Spencer’s awesome NS500 triple. Click on the link below to hear one of the most evocative sounds in Grand Prix motorcycling and the last ever V-3...

Deeply dippy

Deeply dippy

We haven’t seen ruts like that since the Somme

Dark visors are illegal in Europe, too

Dark visors are illegal in Europe, too

IT’S easy to feel jealous of riders in the rest of Europe. There are no GATSOs in France. There are no speed limits on some stretches of German autobahn. And anyone can walk into their nearest dealer,...

The Goodwood Festival of Speed

The Goodwood Festival of Speed

LINED up in front of me are four NS/NSR500s from the Honda Collection Hall museum in Japan. The men who make this museum and the bikes inside it their lives are looking anxious as they explain how to...

Go on, wipe the smile off his face

Go on, wipe the smile off his face

Every rider’s favourite TV personality, Steve Berry, is going to get the gunge treatment this weekend. If you’ve seen his smiling mug on your TV just one or two times too many, you’ll want to be there...

Best thing for them

Best thing for them

Some will say this is the only way you should treat a vehicle like this.

Chat live and sort your suspension

Chat live and sort your suspension

Suspension expert Craig Webb will be available to answer your questions in a live chat on motorcyclenews on Thursday, July 19. Webb is eminently well qualified to help you improve your handling as he...

Decision due on £36m Donington facelift

Decision due on £36m Donington facelift

DONINGTON PARK bosses should learn later this month whether they can go ahead with a major £36 million revamp of the Leicestershire circuit. Giant American entertainment company SFX, which leases...

Listen to the NSR500 V4

Listen to the NSR500 V4

Wish you ‘d been to Goodwood? Never mind if you couldn’t make it because we can bring you a flavour of the Festival. Click on the link below and you’ll be transported back to 1989 to hear Eddie...