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7 days in 60 seconds

AWARD-WINNING BIKES Welcome to the 12 best bikes you can buy right now – from funky new 125s to adventurers and electric stunners AWARD-WINNING DEALERS Discover the UK’s best new bike dealers-and invaluable riding kit AWARD-WINNING PEOPLE Every year, MCN awards the Dave Taylor Lifetime Achievement to a proper legend. This year, it’s Clive... INSIDE YOUR SPECIAL ISSUE ‘The very best of biking in 2021’ The debate raged long and hard, but we have eventually picked the bikes, dealers, kit and people that deserved to be this year’s winners. This isn’t about picking personal favourites or simply saying ‘that’s new, it’ll do’ – these awards are only bestowed after thousands of miles of testing across the MCN team, and a depth of analysis you simply don’t get elsewhere. MCN’s reviews aren’t just social media clickbait or based on…

‘it’s all building to a huge end of season climax’

We take the MCN awards very seriously. It’s not a beauty pageant, a game of spec-sheet Top Trumps, or an opportunity for any one member of the team to pick favourites. Nor are they decided by brown envelopes stashed with advertising cash. The winners are the embodiment of our values, all wrapped up in a list of bikes, kit, dealers and people that we really believe in. I hope you enjoy the 32- page awards special supplement in this issue. And that’s not the only end-of-season climax that’s ensuring 2021 will go out with a bang. The superb Bennetts British Superbike Championship reaches the final Showdown this weekend – and what an incredible year it’s been. Who will take the title? Well, if we knew that already it wouldn’t be such…

bonhams’ italian job

Bonhams are hosting their first Italian sale at the Museum of Genesio Bevilacqua in April 2022. Genesio was the General Manager of the Althea Racing Team, which won both World Superbike and Supersport crowns in 2011. As part of the sale, Genesio is auctioning the ex-Carlos Checa, 2011 WSB title-winning Ducati 1198 F11. For more info on the sale visit www.bonhams.com. Good for the mind The UK’s largest independent road safety charity, I AM RoadSmart, have teamed up with mental health charity Mental Health Motorbike to help members look after mental health. As the winter months approach, which often takes extra toll, the two charities will work together to offer support, including mental health first aid classes. New under the hood KTM have been testing an all-new 450RR Factory Rally bike at the Rallye…

kawasaki hybrid revealed

MCN CONTRIBUTOR HIGHLIGHTS • New models by 2025 • Hybrids to use petrol and battery power sources • Hydrogen in development Kawasaki have announced plans for a future range of hybrid and battery-powered bikes with a timescale that will see the first examples hitting showrooms in the very near future. In doing so, the company took the wraps off the hybrid prototype that they have been dropping hints about for the last year or so, giving a clue as to how the technology will be applied to evolutions of existing petrol-powered machines. Bosses announced that by 2035 every major model they sell in developed markets will be either fully electric or a hybrid. In the shorter term, the company vowed to have more than 10 battery-electric and hybrid-electric motorcycle models in showrooms by 2025, little more than…

zero petrol problems

While people in London circle the pumps, a man from Doncaster has circled the country without having to step foot in a petrol station. Setting off on September 9, Curt Langan achieved a 5000-mile circumnavigation Great Britain on an electric Zero S in just 21 days. “I’ve done similar journeys on bicycles before, so was able to plan it quite well,” says Langan. “The bike has proved a great little workhorse and allowed me to stick to my schedule. I put the screen and gel seat on for my own comfort, and I tried to keep the luggage inline and behind me to keep drag to a minimum.” Langan used a production 11kW version of the S model, fitted with one of Zero’s charge tanks to enable fast charging, which in many…

ready for the ring

Masters of the limited-edition, MV have unveiled another short-run model, this time a modified version of their hypernaked Brutale. Dubbed the ‘Nürburgring’ after the iconic German track, the machine is effectively a Brutale 1000RR with a load of fancy carbon fibre bits bolted on. Just like the standard 1000RR, the Nürburgring produces a substantial 205bhp @ 13,000rpm and 85lb.ft of torque, which is more than enough to be getting on with. For this special edition, MV have focused primarily on losing weight, so everything that could be carbon fibre is carbon fibre – including the airbox, wiring cover, clutch cover and air intakes. There’s even a nifty little carbon spoiler over the top of the headlight, although quite how much of an aerodynamic difference it makes is anyone’s guess. The biggest…