Motorbike Advice

Your one-stop shop for all motorbike advice, including how-tos, getting a motorcycle licence, servicing, maintenance and more.

Find out which bikes you should be choosing in our expertly curated Best section, or find the perfect kit and accessories at MCN Product Picks.

For those looking to learn how to ride a motorbike, head to our Learning to Ride hub, where we cover all you need to know about getting into this wonderful lifestyle.

If you've already got going, check out our Riding Tips section for the best guides and top techniques.

Looking for somewhere to go? Don't miss our Places to Visit area for some ideas for your next rideout.

And when you get home, learn how to look after your bike in our Bike Maintenance hub.

Year: ALL

Let it all hang out! Prepare for high-octane thrills on five of the best big-cc naked bargains

17 July 2024 by Jon Urry

The popularity of naked bikes has been on the rise ever since our sports bike infatuation started to wane. And is it any wonder? On a naked the exposed and upright riding position not only puts...

True sporting icons: the GSX-R range defined Suzuki for generations. So which to buy?

15 July 2024 by Jon Urry

It’s a rather sorry state of affairs that now, in 2024, Suzuki only have two GSX-R models in the range – and one is a GSX-R125! There’s the new GSX-8R too, of course, which had won fans thanks to its...

How to ride a motorcycle while staying on the right side of the law

10 July 2024 by Charlotte King

Riding a motorcycle can be great fun but if you aren’t clued up and careful, you can get caught out. It’s worth reading up on the things to be aware of to keep yourself out of trouble. This is doubly...

Cost of riding guide | Discover the cost of a motorbike to keep your ride financially free

09 July 2024 by Phil Clarke

Once you’ve learned to ride a motorcycle, you’re finally ready to take the most exciting step — buying one for yourself. But, it can be difficult to know just how much you should expect to spend on...

How to save fuel while still having fun on your motorcycle

09 July 2024 by Robin Kirkley

Whether you’re learning to ride or an experienced hand, biking is a passion that offers a unique sense of freedom and adventure. But with rising fuel prices and increasing environmental concerns,...

Essential motorcycle maintenance checklist to keep your machine running smoothly

08 July 2024 by Robin Kirkley

Part of learning to ride, is learning how to look after your bike: keeping it in good shape is important for its lifespan, performance, and your safety. Regular checks can stop unexpected breakdowns...

The A2 motorbike licence is a crucial step towards bigger bikes for young riders. Here's how to pass

05 July 2024 by Gareth Evans

The A2 motorbike licence is the single quickest and most cost-effective way for 19-year-olds to learn to ride a motorbike and progress to a full UK licence. In order to gain an A2 licence, you’ll...

The MCN test | best supersport motorbikes of 2024

27 June 2024 by Michael Neeves

We’ve never really thought of Triumph’s Street Triple as a supersport bike before. From its 2006 inception it was always the tamer, more real world take on the Daytona 675 race rep, but not anymore.

How to ride a motorcycle with a pillion passenger

26 June 2024 by Gareth Evans

Riding with a pillion can be the best way to get friends and family understanding just what you love about biking – and possibly tempt them to learn to ride themselves. But there’s a real art to...

Expert guide to filtering on a motorcycle | laws and advice

26 June 2024 by Mark Edwards

It’s a question we get asked a lot: how do you filter safely and legally on a motorbike? As cars and 4x4s get ever fatter, the lanes we use for filtering (otherwise known as ‘lane-splitting’) are...

How much does it cost to learn to ride a motorbike?

26 June 2024 by Curtis Moldrich

The feeling of freedom you get when riding a motorcycle is unlike anything else, but a lot stands in the way of the thinking about learning to ride and finally passing your test. From theory tests and...

Learning to ride: How to change gears on a motorbike

26 June 2024 by Gareth Evans

If you’re learning to ride, the likelihood is that you’ll need to know how to change gears on a motorbike. While there are a handful of automatic, hybrid and electric motorbikes and quite a few...

How to pass your motorcycle theory test first time

25 June 2024 by Gareth Evans

When you’re learning to ride a motorbike, you’ll need to pass the motorcycle theory test. This is the second element of passing your full motorbike licence, occurring before the two practical modules...

Fun in the sun: Tips for riding your motorbike in hot weather as summer finally arrives in the UK!

21 June 2024 by Gareth Evans

Right from when we learn to ride a motorbike, it’s long days of cruising in the sunshine, or hot and sticky trackdays, or quick blasts to the coast in the hot weather, that we imagine and look forward...

We take three hardcore adventure offerings both on and off-road, to see which machine reigns supreme

20 June 2024 by Carl Stevens

Nowadays, adventure bikes come in all shapes and sizes, for every different style of rider. For some, the perfect adventure bike is a light, low-capacity machine that’s capable of being ridden...

Whether you’re a weekend warrior or a globetrotter, these are the best adventure motorbikes in 2024

18 June 2024 by Adam Oldfield

Let’s clear the air before we start; any motorbike can be used to go on an adventure. This page, however, will concentrate on the adventure bike market sector that covers mostly middle and heavyweight...

How to give your bike a proper clean | MCN's expert guide to getting a motorbike gleaming

14 June 2024 by Bruce Dunn

Whether you love or loathe the task of cleaning your motorbike, if you want it to shine all summer or survive the grime and salt of winter unscathed, then you need to give it more than just a quick...

The new middleweight sportsbike class is rammed with epic machinery but which one reigns supreme?

13 June 2024 by Carl Stevens

The notion of a thrilling middleweight sportsbike has changed drastically over the past 20 years. In the 2000s, sportiness and lap times trumped everything – meaning that engine capacity and design...

This pair of supermotos are built for skids and wheelies... but which one's best? Let's find out!

05 June 2024 by Carl Stevens

Look up the word ‘fun’ in a dictionary and (depending on what school you went to) there really should be a big fat picture of a supermoto staring back at you. Built to be raw, aggressive and minimal...

Cut through the jargon! Here are the common biking phrases and what they mean

03 June 2024 by Gareth Evans

If you’re new to biking, there’s a huge amount to learn, and where better to start than with this handy glossary of common biking words and phrases? Got more? Why not email me and I’ll add them to...

2024 BMW R12 vs Harley-Davidson Nightster Special | Can BMW's new cruiser out-perform the H-D on UK roads?

30 May 2024 by Phil West

BMW can’t stop shooting at the US cruiser heavyweights, Harley and Indian… first with the R18 and now with the new R12. But this time it’s different. Where the R18 was an all-new, air-cooled, boxer...

Find the best off-road motorcycle: an in-depth buyers' guide to the bikes, tracks, trails and gear

29 May 2024 by Adam Oldfield

Riding an off-road motorbike is a brilliant past time. Whether you are looking to build new skills, explore new areas, or when it gets damp and chilly on the race track and you need some winter saddle...

How to pass your CBT and ride a motorbike on L-plates

24 May 2024 by Gareth Evans

If you’ve decided you want to learn to ride a motorbike, the first thing you’ll need to do is complete a Compulsory Basic Training, or CBT course. It may be a small step down from your dreams of...

Group testing the Triumph Speed 400 vs Royal Enfield HNTR 350 Vs Husqvarna Vitpilen 401 | Little beauties

23 May 2024 by Jon Urry

Who needs a big bike when these A2-legal offerings are so good? In the UK there is a huge number of what are referred to as ‘dormant bikers.’ While this may sound like someone who sticks their...

Learning to ride: How to pass your full UK motorbike licence

22 May 2024 by Gareth Evans

Inevitably, when learning to ride, at some point you’ll want to pass your full UK motorbike licence – known as a ‘category A licence’ – opens the door to one of the most exciting and liberating...

BMW F900GS Adventure vs Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro | The best of both worlds

16 May 2024 by Jon Urry

Looking at the current crop of big-capacity adventure bikes, I have a concern about history repeating itself. Let me explain, in the early 2000s sportsbikes suddenly experienced a huge hike in...

Indian Challenger Dark Horse vs Harley-Davidson Road Glide | Battle for bagging rights!

02 May 2024 by Jon Urry

Here’s a sentence I never thought I’d be writing – today we are testing two race reps from Harley-Davidson and Indian. No, seriously we are. Believe it or not, the Indian Challenger and Harley Road...

Maximum fun on a minimum budget - MCN's expert guide to used bikes to enjoy year-round

29 April 2024 by Jon Urry

Shopping on a budget for a bike you are going to use 12 months a year, whatever the weather – rather than tucking it away in the garage for sunny use only – doesn’t mean that you have to put up with...

Group testing the Kawasaki Eliminator 500 vs Honda's CMX500 Rebel SE vs Royal Enfield's Shotgun 650 | Cruising for a mild bruising

26 April 2024 by Jon Urry

Whenever cruiser motorcycles are discussed, thoughts naturally turn towards the established and often pricey offerings from America. Harley-Davidson and Indian dominate this segment and for good...

BMW R12 nineT vs Triumph Speed Twin 1200 | Roaring Roadsters - Old-school looks meet modern performance... but which is best?

22 April 2024 by Jon Urry

There is an argument that super-nakeds are getting a bit too, well, super. In a reflection of what happened to their litre sportsbike siblings, the fact that the current crop of full-on naked bikes...