MCN

‘Aleix rode the race of his life’MICHAEL SCOTT TOP STORY The King of Goodwood FOS It’s not often you see cynical ex-racers, once-bitter rivals, commentators and showgoers all transfixed by one man riding a 30-year-old motorcycle relatively slowly up a hillclimb course. By hundreds of thousands smiled along with Wayne Rainey as he took to the famous Goodwood Festival of Speed hill over the festival weekend to ride his factory Yamaha YZR500 grand prix bike again – for the first time since his paralysing accident. P4 ON TEST Pretty, pricey & practical The very thought of anyone describing a Bimota as practical takes a bit of getting used to – but considering the underpinning’s of the new KB4 are heavily centred around Kawasaki’s Ninja 1000SX, perhaps it shouldn’t be such a surprise. But at almost three…

If you added up all the people who claimed to be at significant events throughout history, you’d probably need to reset Earth’s axis to redress the balance. But I really was at the Goodwood Festival of Speed to see Wayne Rainey ride up the famous hillclimb circuit – and that’s a moment that will live on in my memory forever. The Goodwood FoS crowd has long been heavily appreciative of motorcycles – and indeed the first vehicle ever launched up the hillclimb course was the Duke of Richmond’s Ducati, with him aboard – but this year’s event had the same emotion and reverence as the time Rossi rocked up for a blast. Stood amongst the crowd there was a wave of emotion as the crackling gaggle of two-stroke grand prix bikes, piloted…

Off-road experts KTM have just unveiled the updated version of their all-dominant desert racer, the 450 Rally. The 450cc single-cylinder all-terrain racer is largely unchanged but now boasts updated engine management via revised ECU mapping, plus a subtly revised tubular frame. The rear suspension is now directly modelled on KTM’s factory bikes too, while there are new graphics and gently tweaked ergonomics. For more go to ktm.com Pan Am deals Harley-Davidson UK are offering a new finance deal on Vivid Black, 2021 model year versions of the Pan America adventure bike. From now until the end of September the bikes are available for £14,000 – a saving of £1595 (the current 2022 version starts at £15,595) or on a 5.9% PCP deal. Following a deposit of £3066.57, you’ll then hand over 36…

The Goodwood Festival of Speed returned last weekend, with 200,000 motorsport enthusiasts descending on the four-day hillclimb celebration ready to applaud the highly anticipated return of three-time 500GP champion, Wayne Rainey. Twenty-nine years after his career was ended by a crash at the Italian GP in Misano, that left him paralysed from the chest down, Rainey was reunited with his title-winning Yamaha YZR500 GP bike. The spectacle drew emotional applause from the crowd, and he was followed up the 1.9-mile Goodwood hill climb course in a plume of blue haze by fellow former champions Kenny Roberts, Kevin Schwantz, and Mick Doohan, all riding 500cc two-strokes. “It felt like an old friend, ” Rainey said afterwards. “It was always a challenge to race the bike at that level, fighting for race wins and championships,…

The once ubiquitous BSA marque have returned to action at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2022, with their new Gold Star model making its riding debut up the iconic motoring event. First seen as a pre-production bike at the Motorcycle Live show last November, the Gold Star uses a reengineered 652cc single derived from the Rotax motor found in the BMW F650 single, which was discontinued in 2009. It’s now Euro5 compliant and styled to mimic the looks of the classic model from which it gets its name. BSA were once the world’s biggest bike manufacturer, but last produced bikes in significant numbers in 1972. They’re now owned by Indian engineering giant Mahindra, and it’s hoped the new model will see the name bounce back. At the Motorcycle Live reveal the company claimed…

It’s been 18 months since TVS Motor Company purchased Norton Motorcycles for £16million. In that time, the Indian multinational has built a new 7300 square metre factory in Solihull, and a redesigned and re-engineered V4SV superbike has gone on sale for £44,000. But that’s not just the beginning, with an ambitious 30-month plan to build electric bikes in the UK announced on Friday, June 17. To find out what else is on the cards, MCN sat down with Christian Gladwell, who was officially announced as Norton’s new Chief Commercial Officer last week. “There’s an awful lot of goodwill towards this company and towards this brand and the name Norton – even despite relatively recent history and we need to be respectful, ” Gladwell told MCN. “There is an opportunity to build a sustainable global…