from being a factory MotoGP missile like Valentino's M1, incorporates a number of modifications designed to make it faster and more exciting to ride.The Yamaha flicks into the tight and tricky right turn with notable ease, and when I wind open

The fresh-off-the-production line MV Agusta I'm sitting on is special even by the standards of limited-edition, £30,000 superbikes. The last three digits of the frame number were 012, signifying this was the 12th of the 300 F4 1000 Tamburinis MV

's range between the Midnight Star 1900 and the Drag Star 1100 (whose days are numbered because it can't pass Euro 3). Its SOHC, eight-valve, 60-degree motor contrasts with both the other models' air-cooled units. Like the bigger Midnight Star, the new bike

, has sold huge numbers all over the world  and has a massive, almost cult following. It’s one of those machines that belies its price tag and components.It handles well, it’s good in town, it’s fast if you rev it but it’s got a low seat and it’s new

but performs with all the efficiency you'd expect of a 2006-model cruiser.Verdict 3/5An accomplished example of the cruiser genre, but as a niche within a niche (in the UK) it's not likely to sell in huge numbers

Click to read: Yamaha YZF-R125 owner reviews, Yamaha YZF-R125 specs and to see Yamaha YZF-R125 image gallery.There are at least 1,843 good reasons why Yamaha have taken the trouble to develop the YZF-R125. That’s the number of CBR125Rs that Honda

1. Old vs. NewThe 2009 R model may be all-new but it’s not a replacement for the standard bike, more a hardcore alternative with more of an off-road bias. The previous Adventure has lower suspension than the R, making it easier to manage physically

selling in any great numbers over here, but is starting to fly across the pond. So what’s the beef? Have we been dealt too much muscle as an alternative to the user-friendly Honda, or are we about to witness  the new King?Continue the 1974 road test 2/3

, the bike buying public weren’t that impressed and didn’t splash out on them in huge numbers. Other manufacturers didn’t copy the concept although it was actually a very useful combination of an upright riding position from a big trailie allied to road

that the Bandit, yet it continued to sell in decent numbers and still does so today. It even has some advantages over those competitors anyway: It’s physically the largest and most comfortable, it takes a pillon well and it’s incredibly durable and cheap to run