be staging a series for LCs in 1981, he couldn’t rip his number plate off quick enough. Making his race debut at Carnaby, Mackenzie caught the racing bug. “I was so pumped up that I didn't care if I crashed or died or anything,” he recalls. He did neither

.But what they should have done was buy one of these. Simple, friendly motorcycles that want to work with you and teach you instead of ripping your head clean off. In the face of this new generation of great little bikes at sensible prices, we grabbed a

sales. User friendly, a 1,000cc sportsbike - are you joking? Surely the whole point of these things is that they should be intimidating, arm-ripping and aggressive, not compromised to pander to the kind of rider who likes the idea of riding something

pretty much dried out, bar for a few rivers across the track, and things got a bit giddier. My chosen tool for the afternoon was Kawasaki's rip-snorting Z1000 (does anyone actually need a supersport bike for the road when nakeds are this potent

that this newly acquired RM85 big-wheel is a harbinger of injury for me. After breaking three ribs last Tuesday after flipping it over backwards, all the bark off my right big toe is now missing due to a flip-flop-wearing-kick-starting faux pas. Claret everywhere

.Now about those antiquated, pee-pot helmets, they should carry this message. Warning! If you don't enjoy streaming eyes, feeling like someone's trying to rip your head off and strangle you at the same time, then avoid this style of helmet. Not recommended

was trying to rip you off, it was every young mans duty to bale out and run away. And the drivers knew this. It was like unwritten law. And make no mistake, doing a runner from a Huddersfield cabbie in the 1980s was more dangerous than tunnelling your way out

. He reaches out to the public with calculated deliberation of a matador. He’s from off-shore: the isle of Mallorca. And he speaks Spanish.Jorge may be playing from the back foot: Dani has two years of MotoGP experience on him. But so far he’s had

still easily reach 146 mph on the front straight. Only thing, the second time you come down it, you stop instead. I still feel the relief. It's fun, but it's also torture. Few find themselves eloquent as they get off. My own vocabulary shrank to just

. But you still easily reach 146 mph on the front straight. Only thing, the second time you come down it, you stop instead. I still feel the relief. It’s fun, but it’s also torture. Few find themselves eloquent as they get off. My own vocabulary shrank