Of all the things I should never be allowed to do, flying a helicopter is right up there - just above 'riding a motorcycle'. Especially if that helicopter was, like this one is, a handmade example, powered by an FZR600 engine.It just sold on e

600 when it launched the FZR600 in 1989. It was the natural step-up for Yamaha RD350 owners and it soon achieved a similar reputation as a nutter's bike. No smooth, graceful, all-rounder was this machine but rather a revvy, frantic balls-out scratcher

-Cat had been the sensible man's choice - big, comfy and more than capable of going two-up in comfort or heading Europe-side for a spot of touring.Like the FZR600 a few years before it, the R6 became the racer on the road compared to the then more sensible

sports-tourer, which gave Honda’s restyled and lightened VFR750F a run for its money. The year also saw the arrival of Yamaha’s 100bhp FZR600R, plus revamps for the FZR1000 EXUP, GSX-R750 (both with lighter chassis and six-pot front calipers) and Honda

bus. But having borrowed one from Munich and ridden over the Alps into Italy and back, I had to admit I liked it.Much better value were a couple of Japanese fours, Kawasaki’s ZXR750 and Yamaha’s FZR600. The Kwack was heavy, harshly suspended and only

. The EXUP was fab on the damp launch at Laguna Seca in California, and earned many people’s vote as the year’s top superbike. It also had a smaller sibling, the quick and sweet-handling steel-framed FZR600 that was launched at the same time.