Has the death of the sports bike been exaggerated? Toshihiro Suzuki, President of Suzuki Motor Corporation, has hinted that the EICMA show in November 2025 could see a significant sports bike launch for the company. Speaking to Motorcycle News in late December 2024, he said: “We cannot tell you the detail, but we think it’s important to bring supersport motorcycles to the market, adapting to the new regulations...We think it’s important, because it’s Suzuki’s heritage.” The reference to ‘heritage’ is significant, because it could signal the return of a four-cylinder GSX-R – Suzuki’s current sports bike offerings are limited to the single-cylinder GSX-R 125 and GSX-8R parallel-twin. The GSX-R fours were iconic models for Suzuki in the past, allowing it to own

Dainese, owner of AGV Helmets, has announced the world’s first helmet recycling scheme, using recycled materials from end-of-life lids to help make new ones. Currently, all old helmets, whether crash damaged or simply having reached the end of their useful life, go to landfill or incineration, and manufacturers are now looking for less ecologically damaging means of disposal, of which recycling is an attractive option, possibly saving costs on using all-new materials for every new helmet. The research and development project, for which Dainese is currently building a new factory, appears to address two issues: the recycling of plastics in existing lids, and the design of new ones to make them easier to recycle when the time comes. The company is

Bolton-based CCM, one of Britain’s few motorcycle manufacturers, gave a glimpse of its future model plans at Motorcycle Live. The company, founded by Alan Clews in 1971 and run and owned by the Clews family for much of its existence, was taken over by Pitalia Capital in 2022, which until now has continued with the existing line-up of 600cc road bikes. CCM’s Managing Director Jason Broome, who took over the top job in May 2024, has said that new engine platforms will be introduced over the next three years. The first new bike will be the Project X adventure machine, which was unveiled at Motorcycle Live and is due to go on sale in May 2025. With a distinctly retro look

Britain’s classic vehicle clubs – for motorcycles, cars and commercial vehicles – are being urged to take on digital technology to combat falling memberships. Many clubs are faced with ageing demographics and a need to attract a new generation of younger members, but some are still relying on traditional methods such as printed magazines and local events. Writing in Historic, the magazine of the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC), digital expert Will Jefferies said: “In today’s digital world, a strong online presence is essential to attract new members. Without it, clubs may struggle to engage younger audiences who prefer digital platforms.” Will Jefferies went on to recommend automated software for admin tasks such as membership renewal, freeing up club volunteers

Japanese motorcycle makers had a good 2024, according to Roger Willis, Finance Editor of the trade paper British Dealer News. By contrast, the ‘legacy’ names such as BMW, Harley-Davidson and Ducati are suffering as sales fall in key markets. Honda looks set to sell more than 20 million bikes worldwide in the 12 months from March 2024, while Kawasaki (just chosen to provide camera bikes for 2025’s Tour de France) is also on the up. Suzuki is projecting two million sales while Yamaha’s profits have soared to over £650 million to the end of September 2024. Much of their growth comes from developing markets in Asia and India, where demand for smaller bikes continues to grow. “Studiously avoiding the market instability

King of the Baggers – Harley-Davidson’s race series for fully-equipped touring Harleys – could be coming to Europe after the company signed an agreement with Dorna, organiser of MotoGP. Bagger racing (somebody had to say it...) first appeared in 2020 and has been a huge success in the US as part of MotoAmerica series, with the touring bike rounds acting as support races. The sight of big twin Harleys, battling it out on track, complete with fairings and panniers, is certainly a spectacle. To publicise the agreement signed between Harley and Dorna, the Baggers made a guest appearance at Barcelona this year after the final MotoGP round of the season. It’s still not confirmed whether bagger racing will join the MotoGP schedule

Watsonian-Squire, the British sidecar manufacturer, unveiled a new outfit at Motorcycle Live with a very special feature – a low price of just £7,999. It’ll even be available for a limited offer at £7,499, a £500 saving. Watsonian sidecars normally cost £5-7,000, just for the chair, so this complete, ready-to-ride outfit looks like a bargain Ben Matthews, Watsonian Squire’s Managing Director, said that the new budget sidecar drew on the company’s heritage. “Back in the 1980s Squire produced hundreds of sidecars for the importers of budget Jawa and MZ motorcycles. This created fantastic economics of scale and made sidecars an affordable option for thousands of riders. We still get enquiries from customers looking to buy a complete outfit ‘off the shelf’

Riders for Health, sister charity of the long-established Two Wheels for Life, has come up with a novel way of supporting its life-saving work – asking us to buy a motorcycle. For over 30 years, Riders for Health has been supplying healthcare workers in Africa with motorcycle transport, plus training and protective gear. It’s a model that works well, as workers on tough, basic 100 or 125cc bikes can get to remote villages which are usually difficult to access, and at far lower cost than a 4x4. Now the charity, which operates in The Gambia, Nigeria, Malawi and Lesotho, needs to replace its ageing fleet of bikes and is appealing for individuals or businesses to donate £1,400 apiece. This buys a

Meet the Flying Flee. Royal Enfield unveiled its new electric bike brand at EICMA – like Harley-Davidson and its Livewire sub-brand, Royal Enfield has chosen to market a new range of electrics under a different name. Flying Flea, another badge plucked from the company’s bulging archive, this one evoking a lightweight 125cc two-stroke from the 1950s, originally developed as a parachute bike for airborne troops in World War II. Clearly aimed at the British-built Maeving, this 21st Century Flying Flea shouts ‘retro’, with a forged aluminium girder fork (recalling the original Flea’s ‘rubber band’ front suspension), solo seat and curved ‘fuel’ tank. The battery is hidden, Live Wire style, behind a mass of curvaceous fins. Technical details are few, but the Flying

In a sign that the UK motorcycle market – especially for big 1000cc+ machines – is struggling, comes news that at least three major dealership chains went into receivership in September and October. Pidcock Motorcycles fell on 21st October, closing its Triumph and Ducati sites, and leaving its remaining BMW outlet in doubt, though there was interest for that part of the business from a potential buyer. Nathan Jones, a partner at FRP Advisory which is administering the business, told MCN: “Pidcock is not the first retailer to struggle in challenging market conditions over the past year...While it’s unfortunate that a viable route forward for all three sites hasn’t been possible, we’re hopeful of a positive outcome for the BMW outlet.” Pidcock’s

Matt Bishop and Reece Gilkes – better known as the Sidecar Guys – have set a new Guinness World Record...for reversing a sidecar outfit. They rode a Ural outfit 107 miles (backwards), without stopping, at Tranwell Airfield, near Morpeth in Northumberland. One of them was in control of the bike while the other sat backwards in the sidecar to direct operations. It took them 13 hours and 54 minutes, and an average of less than 10mph. “It was great fun,” Matt Bishop told the BMF. “We refuelled as we went along and made a bacon roll on the sidecar, but we didn’t stop, even for toilet breaks. We’re putting a film together which will be out soon.” The Sidecar Guys are no

Road pricing – paying per mile rather than road tax – is back in the news, with the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) urging government to introduce such a scheme straightaway. Cars and bikes would pay an annual rate, based on a mileage check at MOT time. TBI made the call in the run up to the October Budget, when Chancellor Rachel Reeves was expected to end a temporary 5p cut in fuel duty and possibly increase duty in line with inflation – fuel duty has been frozen for 14 years, falling well behind inflation in real terms. The Government’s quandary is the fuel duty brings in around £25 billion a year, and VED around £8 billion, but as the UK’s transport fleet