The best and worst MCN250 bike tests of 2020 revisited
Alook back on the highs and lows of riding 104 bikes over 52,000-miles on the new and improved MCN250
We changed our MCN250 test route this year. Where the previous one did an anticlockwise schlep from Peterborough over to the Cotswolds, we now choose from two of three 125-mile loops - either B roads, A roads or motorways. MCN250s are big animals to organise, ride, photograph (where we retrace parts of the route again) and piece together, but we have a big pool of talent to handle it all. For the road testers the days are mostly about assessing the bikes, but a big part of why we love riding is how it makes us feel, or in Jon Urry’s case, how his stomach feels.
“There’s a small village shop in Medbourne, just outside Uppingham on the B664,” Jon reminisces. “Run by lovely locals at a slightly sedate pace, they make their own sandwiches and sweet treats, the best of which is the millionaires’ shortbread. I’m now verging on diabetes due to my lack of restraint. Their half baguette is just that and I nearly put myself into a bread-induced coma polishing it off while testing the 40th Anniversary BMW R1250GS. In the words of the great philosopher Homer (Simpson that is, not the Greek one) ‘I am in shape, round is a shape...’”
The explorer’s spirit
Away from Urry’s lunch, Martin Fitz-Gibbons was busy treading a new path, as he explains: “Columbus. Hillary. Armstrong. Fitz-Gibbons. Finally, I join the ranks of elite explorers. America, Everest, the moon… and now the first lap of the new MCN250 by
‘The Panigale V2 is still monstrously quick, but never excessive’
electric bike. A lright, perhaps it’s not Auite as impressive. So why botherA Because it’s there. To see whether naysayers who dismiss electric bikes like A arley-A avidson’s AiveA ire as corporate virtue signalling are correct. A t A.A0am Atake one small step onto a motorcycle. By Apm A’ve taken one giant leap for motorcyclekind. A ll AAA miles ticked off, without issue, Aust A0 minutes slower than A’d do on a ‘proper’ bike. Aes, it was a faff at times and, yes, AA0k is silly money. But hand on heart, no other ride this year was as nerve-racking, rewarding or revealing as conAuering the A AA AA0 route without using a drop of petrol.A
Race rep thrills
A iding new sportsbikes is a rare treat nowadays, Aust because there are so few of them, so it felt like stepping back to the noughties when we hopped on three supersport gems. AAn a year largely spoiled by Aovid, my highlight has to be taming Triumph’s rasping A aytona A otoA AAA along the final stretches of the B-road loopA, says A an Sutherland. AA e rode it against the thumping A ucati Aanigale AA and angry, erratic A A A gusta AA A00 and while it didn’t take victory the Triumph’s roomy, road-friendly position, throaty soundtrack and bags of midrange were high points along this sunetched spaghetti of asphalt.A
A slow burner
A nd Aust when we thought we’d had our sportsbike fill this year, along came the A A A gusta Superveloce A00. At looked spectacular, but what was it like to rideAAustin A ayAelden spills the beansA
AA fter a morning spent hunched behind the screen with my knees clattering on the tank, trying to leapfrog filth-flinging lorries on dirty, wet A-roads, its harsh, uncompromising seat was the last place Awanted to be. Aollow that with an afternoon carving up dry lines on the B-roads though and it was all anyone could do to get me to give the Superveloce keys back.A
Living the dream?
But it’s not all exotica on idyllic British B-roads. Sometimes our new route is a grind. Ahil A est is no stranger to its challenges.
AThe A AA AA0 is many things, not all of them good,A he suggests. AThe execrable A 1A drone towards BostonAthe five-lane-wide lottery of Aeicester rush hourAwhile the prospect of AA0 miles on anything extreme in A ecember sleet has me scribbling a sicknote. Even so, fleeting moments of Aoy always shine outAblasting a Aocket A down the A AAA threading a Aantic Aaballero down the sinuous BAAA or even checking my reflection in Stamford store fronts on BA ’s shiny A 1A. The AA0 was never meant to be all good. That’s the point A it’s a test. Ado have a great suggestion for a ‘AA AA’ thoughA A
An African adventure
A AA ’s resident ‘Stig’ Bruce A unn has done more A AA AA0 miles than anyone as ‘the second rider’ and welcomed the new route.
AAt’s been an uplifting change for the better,A he points out. AThe B-road sections are clearer than the tourist-congested roads of the Aotswolds we endured before, but Amiss the old eateries, like the Aotswold A iner and Super Sausage, but the Two Alags layby cafA we now pass on the AAAA orcott knocks up a very good breakfast or lunch and there’s loads of parking. Some of the adventure bikes A’ve ridden have really impressed me, especially the new A frica Twin. At was outstanding with unshakeable stability and agility, even when pushed hard.A
Doggie treats
The open road is where the magic happens but watching the world flow by your visor is an eAual Aoy for Aaul Berryman.
A e saidAAA iding incredible new machines is a real treat, but even on a road test, life can have more to it than Aust bikes. That’s why when we reach a town or village, Ascan for people taking dogs for a walk. A aving a chuckle at that muddy A olden Aetriever wearing a smile a mile wide makes the moments before the next national speed limit sign feel like bliss. A e only see snapshots of life in the various locations along the way but seeing dogs enAoy their best time of day never fails to lift my soul.A
Surprise surprise…
Talking of uplifting experiences, they came in the most unlikely varieties for A ike A rmitage. ASurprises come in assorted shapes and siAes,A he says. AEasily the biggest this year has been A arley-A avidson’s Aoad A lide Special. Sauntering down motorways and rumbling across open Aens with my terrible taste in music at full tilt was all as expected. Settle into the armchair, enAoy the Aourney rather than the speed, and it’s hard not to see the cruising-tourer’s charm. AA iding in a wholly inappropriate way, its chassis accepted a staggering amount of nonsense. Suspension flapped, footboards dragged, but it ploughed on unfaAed. The more powerful Andian Ahallenger it was being tested against, with its upsidedown forks and fancy Brembos, didn’t see which way it went.A
And finally…
A s for me, well the A00bhp-plus Blade SA and Brutale 1000A A are bloody irritating on the road with a criminal lack of lowdown power and why does the A onda need to be so crampedAA o wonder sportsbikes are on their knees. But thinking about a blissful superpole run on the BAA0A from A rantham to Aolsterworth in the summer on a A ucati Aanigale AA still makes me smile.
‘The Harley’s chassis accepted a staggering amount of nonsense’