MCNLive! kicks off at Butlins Skegness this weekend, from 24th - 27th April 2009 and to celebrate The Mirror has teamed up with MCN to offer 2-for-1 day tickets to the event.

Whether it's enjoying the electric atmosphere watching the live Moto GP during the day, or partying through the night in the all new themed evening venues MCNLive! is THE place to be this weekend.

To claim your 2-for-1 ticket, simply click on the email link below and reply with your name by 6pm tomorrow (Thursday 23rd April) to get your hands on a free ticket to the MCNLive!LINK.....

Had an interesting, if graphic, conversation with a motorcycle cop the other day in which he described to me the most painful injuries he'd seen people suffer after bike crashes.

"It's the lads wearing polyester shell suits. When they come off those scooters and skid along the tarmac, the friction with the road melts the fabric into their wounds. It's a real mess. And then it sets hard and needs to be surgically cut out. They can lose the best part of their backsides that way. Not nice."links........

Kia is definitely on a roll. This cute little number is Kia’s No3 Concept, which it plans to unveil at Geneva.

An especially neat feature of the car is the full-length glass sunroof.

Don’t be at all surprised if Kia puts something very similar into production.LINK......

The Korean company will launch the brand at the Seoul Motor Show next week.

Also at the show will be a Kia hybrid car called the Forte that'll go on sale in the domestic market this August - though we can probably expect a European Kia hybrid in the next few years.link............

Longer and lower than the current Sorento there'll be a choice of petrol and diesel engines plus the option of two and four-wheel drive.

Apart from the dodgy spelling, Kia's new two-door Forte Koup looks pleasingly European, with an aggressively attitudinal front, tasty rear end and choice of 2.0-litre or 2.4-litre four-pot lumps.

There's even a six-speed manual, remote keyless entry and leather pack option. Kia have no plans to bring the Koup to the UK, but if it did land here at under £15k, it'd march out the door in droves.

There are two types of Chevrolet. The first, the American ones like the Corvette sports car and Camaro muscle car, are packed with blaring angry V8 engines of at least six litres and have more than 400bhp.

They get through tyres like a politician gets through excuses and they're enormous fun. Trouble is, they're left-hand drive and a bit expensive.

And then there's the other Chevrolets. Modest family cars made in Korea that used to be known as Daewoos.

They don't smoke their tyres unless you take them off and throw them on a bonfire. In fact they don't do anything dramatic except get you from to A to B and not cost you a lot of money in the process.

This is the new Chevrolet Cruze. It replaces the Lacetti, which is the car currently employed as Top Gear's reasonably priced car in which celebrities frighten themselves by trying to drive too fast or through a field. Or a tyre wall.

There's nothing frightening about the Cruze - not least the price. The one we have here is the 1.6i LS which costs £12,595 and apart from the S, which is around 500 quid less, it's the cheapest Cruze that you can buy.

That makes the new Chevrolet almost £2,500 cheaper than the most basic five-door Ford Focus. So in fact the Cruze is a very reasonably priced car.

I expected to be disappointed by the Honda Insight. Compared with the radical Mk I version of the late 90s, it looks just like a Prius.

Where's the audacity and the revolution?

At a touch over £15,000, it's the cheapest petrol-electric around, and, with 101g/km CO2 and none of the nasty toxins you get from turbodiesels, the 1.3 hybrid's credentials are squeaky clean.

Mind you, I only managed mid-50s mpg and couldn't get anywhere near the claimed 64.2.

For me, this only usually requires a mirror. But it's always refreshing to have the arteries flushed through with an unexpected cocktail of adrenaline and dread.

The other thing they say is that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Remember the scene in the Karate Kid when he gets his arse kicked because he thought his new-found ability to creosote Mr Myagi's fence equated to hand-to-hand invincibility?

It's a good lesson for new bikers who think the fact that, though you might own a supersportsbike, it doesn't mean you are a supersportsbike rider.

One of the few world sporting events that transcend the sport itself.

Just as the Glastonbury Festival transcends rock concerts and the Sistine Chapel transcends ceilings. At its most reductive, the Tourist Trophy is a motorbike road race. But it's so much more than that. Something special.

This week, the 102nd anniversary of the TT and the 50th year of Honda's association with the event, a modest man from Morecambe called John McGuinness will mount his Honda Fireblade and attempt, once again, to make history on the Isle of Man.

McGuinness is already the lap record-holder on the 37.75-mile Mountain course, with an average speed of more than 130mph. To fully appreciate that achievement, you need to realise the TT is a true road race, on bumpy country lanes, through villages with a long, fast dash up and down a mountain.

Now he is looking to claim his 15th TT win to become the second most successful rider in its history.

Each year, professional bike racers back away from the challenge, suddenly infected with the sense that this isn't their year.

And each year, hundreds of amateurs with more courage than sense accept the challenge on what's become known as Mad Sunday.

It's the most lethal racing circuit in the world. Nearly 38 miles of pure hurtle along a ribbon on narrow twisting village lanes, blind bends and sweeping mountain roads.

If you come off - and they do come off - chances are you'll hit a wall, house or tree at very high speed.

Today Steve Plater, a likeable and humorous former builder from Lincolnshire, made history by winning the prestigious Senior TT in record time, putting in no less than three laps which averaged more than 130mph each.

This is only Plater's third year racing on Mona's Isle, so to take the blue-riband class victory, albeit at the expense of team-mate John McGuinness who retired from the lead on lap four, is nothing short of astounding.

Jag's brilliant XKR just graduated into the supercar class.

German tuner Arden will take off the speed limiter, bolt on a new exhaust, tweak the suspension and brakes and stick on 21-inch rubber to give a genuine 200mph.

There are plenty of specialists around to help you out and running costs should be low. Many come from Japan: spot them by the squarer rear numberplate and/or a Eunos or Roadster badge. Ours were badged MX-5 (the US version was the Miata).

How much? Prices start at under a grand for high-mileage, tatty examples. Not bad for a summer's open-top motoring.

We found: A sparkling 1991 car on a J plate for £1,395. With 70,000 miles, this red gem has plenty of life left. Check for leaks before you buy.

Toyota used every trick it could think of to reduce emissions on its Land Cruiser - including pouring thinner oil into the axles. Simple, but effective it seems.

The Co2 emissions of its Land Cruiser from come down from 238g/km to 224g/km, which doesn't sound like a big deal but it does bring the chunky 4x4's road tax down from £405 to £215, saving punters £190.

You can trigger the system from the key fob so that when you get into the car it's already nice and cool.

Toyota says it can reduce temperatures from 80C to 45C. (Even so, I wouldn't want to drive a car that was 45C inside.)

The solar panel system means you don't need to turn the air-conditioning on full blast, meaning you use less fuel.

But since the Solar Pack costs £1,450, I'd opt for the old-fashioned, cheaper, fuel-efficient method of opening a window.

Thinking about a new bike for summer 2009? Kawasaki have made the prospect very tempting indeed by offering 0% APR typical finance package on a wide range of their 2009 bikes

With just £99 down and two and a half years to pay, it's a pretty tantalising offer. Suddenly, the prospect of swinging a leg over a brand new ZX-10R or 1400GTR no longer seems like an impossible dream...

The offer also covers the streetfighter-styled Z1000 and Z750 machines, as well as the iconic ZZR 1400.

Check out the deals at kawasaki.co.uk

I'll be testing out some of the Kawasaki range in coming weeks, so will give you a 'real world' view on some of these bikes soon.