rivers, slid and slithered sideways at 70mph on some very unmade roads and generally had a spectacular laugh. And the GS? Coped with the lot. Yes, it's big but keep it balanced and its weight drives the tyres hard into the loose ground, finding the grip

of the Valencia circuit's infield.Less than an hour ago I was walking round this turn while Rossi pointed out his line and reference points in his familiar sing-song English. Now I'm trying to put what he said into practice aboard the 2005 YZF-R6 which, while far

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

than me.Aggressive, minimalist, exciting and thrilling to ride is how Ducati is billing the Hypermotard. It may have essentially the same chassis and engine as the Multistrada but that's where the similarities end. The Hypermotard is the Mr Hyde

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

of early 21st century biking. After all, they power more than half of the BMW motorcycles sold and are practically synonymous with adventure riding.Riding any GS it is easy to see why the boxer layout suits the bike’s purpose; power delivery is punchy

who want a do-it-all runabout. The Versys snared a lot of sports bikes types fed up with dodging speeding convictions and even trail bike riders who, when they were honest with themselves, never actually used their bikes off-road at all. Practical

Factory is fast everywhere and I do mean everywhere even wet mountain roads. Twisting the RSV4 Factory up to 100mph was a common occurrence. In fact, 100 mph was reached on every ride during this test, some happening without effort. The RSV4 Factory did

fun, too.Because my eldest lad has now taken to the road it's given me the opportunity to ride lots of different learner models as we hunt for a likely candidate and, guess what, that Rieju name crops up again.The Rieju RS3 125LC looks drop