Bradley Smith, at the ripe old age of 16, is currently something of an ambassador for British motorcycle racing. His 3rd place finish at the French Grand Prix lit a beacon of hope for hundreds of other British kids who until that weekend had

Growing up around the Cotswolds you learn two things. First, how to go fast on small, twisty country roads, and second, if the horse shit on the road looks fresh then cover a brake because the hunt is probably around the next bend!When I go back I

sportsbike for £1500, or even less, which seems bloody tempting for a 170mph corner-carving missile.Take an early model Fireblade - desirable, iconic and still a competent tool in the right hands - but is a 15-year-old one a good buy or are you just asking

sense.Good starter project bikes are the classic RDs, air or liquid cooled, old scooters such as Lambrettas or Vespas or how about an X7? They are all basic machines with simple motors and lots of specialists still selling bits as well as scrap yards

Pic Credit: superstreetbike.comlThe old Sir-Mix-a-Lot rap praising oversized arses is a likely anthem for a small but growing fraternity of sportsbike owners in the US, particularly on the country’s Eastern seaboard. Big, fat tyres grafted onto

.I’d come suitably equipped to the auction, of course. To my right sat James Whitham, erstwhile racer and second-hand bike nut. James is a proper punter in the old-fashioned sense of the word, he loves nothing more than to buy bikes, fix bikes, turn them

was 16 yrs old and it was the sexiest thing I had at the time, and the only thing I could get my leg-over.SidekickI’ve always thought the very first incarnation of Triumph’s Speed Triple was one sexy bike. Just look at its purposeful, muscular pose

better than the old one is the 1098, but that’s just a return to the 916 style. All the Japanese have made bikes for dwarves, if you go and buy a new bike take a non-biking female with you. She’ll tell you if you look like a baboon on a tricycle. Which

more colour options to the range to keep us all interested. We'd put money on the options being Pearl White and Midnight Black, but you never know, Ducati might well adopt that old favourite: Giallo Ducati, or, yellow, as it's known to you and I

machines will fall under the broader definition of 'classics'.There are various definitions of a classic. Just as every old bike is not a classic (think Suzuki GSXs, early Honda V4s), so every classic is not an old bike. For example, only the most