Bimota's new DB7 ... powered by a Ducati 1098 lumpYOU'RE LOOKING at the new Bimota DB7 - a Ducati 1098-powered superbike, which the company hope will secure their future in the high-end sportsbike market.The liquid-cooled Testastretta Evoluzione engine fitted with a new injection...

1981Back in ’81 most superbikes were just as they had been for more than a decade: big, naked air-cooled fours with high bars and twin shocks. We loved them that way too, of course, despite the wobbles and the neck ache. Revolution was in the air, with fairings, liquid-cooling an...

1985We knew 1985 was going to be special because it was motorcycling’s centenary, coming 100 years after German teenager Paul Daimler made the first ever ride aboard a 264cc, wooden-framed single called Einspur (“One-track”) built by his dad, Gottlieb. What we didn’t know at the ...

GSX-R750T CrawleySometimes you don't have to ride a bike far to realise it's special. I still vividly remember riding away from Suzuki's Crawley HQ on the new GSX-R750T back in 1996, tipping it into the first left-hander and thinking, 'blimey, this is how a sports bike should ste...

Click to read: Ducati Hypermotard 796 owners reviews, Ducati Hypermotard 796 specs and see the Ducati Hypermotard 796 image gallery.Calling a bike the 796 when its capacity is 803cc could be viewed as a triumph of marketing over logic, but in other respects the new Hypermotard ma...

Real ClassicThe most memorable road-testing moment of 25 years in this job wasn't riding the Desmosedici or Rossi's M1, but heading through the gates of Norton's dilapidated Shenstone factory to start a scoop test of the rotary-engined Classic. In those depressing, pre-Triumph da...

Click to read: Voxan Charade owners reviews, Voxan Charade specs and to see the Voxan Charade image gallery.Voxan has struggled to put the French motorcycle industry back on the map since the firm began building its quirky V-twins 10 years ago. But things are looking up under cur...

Bimota DB1Many say Bimota's tiny DB1 is one of the most beautiful motorcycles ever built. I won't argue, but the Ducati-engined DB1 and I didn't get on. As I was enjoying a thrash home from the Peak District, the throttle stuck open going into a bend. Somehow I didn't crash. Bimo...

Hornet 9For a company with a history of generating two-wheeled excitement, Honda doesn't half build some boring bikes. Perfect example is the Hornet 900, the lean, mean 'naked FireBlade that we'd all been looking forward to for ages when it was finally launched in 2002. The Horne...

Brash BeemerBMW launched the K1200RS in 1997 by flying a bunch of hacks to Barcelona, putting us up in the stunning Arts Hotel on the harbour and giving us each a new 1171cc four-pot sports-tourer to thrash back home. The bike was worth the effort. The 130bhp RS was the model tha...