with riding a prototype was a more pragmatic one: it wasn't road registered, so Aprilia blagged the Fiat group's vast test centre at Bellaco, west of Milan - ideal aside from an understandable car bias manifested as Armco lining every metre of road on both

you could just lean and lean until you fell off. Which undoubtedly you could if you really fancied. However, unlike the model it supercedes, the SP-2 has a far more positive feel from the back end.I can’t comment on the Honda’s behaviour on the road

than 70mph with harsh suspension and aggressive clip-ons.So not a bike for a casual ride, then. Oh no. I know, because I was going to hoof mine 500 miles from where I was in France to the Ducati plant in Bologna on some sort of dewey-eyed romantic road

was there. The usual sunshine that accompanies a trip to Spain was missing, and instead the whole of Europe was gripped by a cold spell. Because of this I won't pretend to have tested the bike to its limits; it simply wasn't possible. The ride home, however

Factory is too small and far too firm, both of suspension and of seat, to be road-practical in any rational sense, but when you actually get to the bits of road we ride for, those dry, well-sighted corner-complexes miles from anywhere, the Aprilia

.30 this morning in a downpour, and what should have been a great day's riding both on- and off-road had been marred by almost continual rain more reminiscent of Scunthorpe than southern Spain. The steep off-road course had been abandoned before I reached it

things you understand. These 'launch gifts' usually bear some link to the bike you're about to test, no matter how tenuous, so on finding the tool roll waiting for me in my Barcelona hotel room I wondered exactly what it was the men from Ducati were

bike has to handle so a sweet chassis is obviously at the top of the list. Then you'd like a motor with enough thrills to keep you amused while not being a pain to use and obviously you'd want brakes that work, decent suspension, a comfortable riding

-Davidson Europe, borne almost of a frustration of trying to sell bikes built for the American market to European bikers who expect a minimum level of performance from their motorcycles – performance defined as handling, braking and power delivery, facets that seem

days there I now know Austria is famous for one other thing - roads that turn into an ice rink at the first sign of water.Unfortunately for the launch of the Fazer the Brits brought with them the British weather, so these first impressions are really