good the ZZR turned out to be. The first inkling came within a second or two of pulling away: burbling across the wet cobbles of the hotel carpark, full lock to full lock, the ZZR's size and mass (215kg dry) melted away. The combination of riding

. The ZX-6R sold well, and as a road bike the extra mid-range was more than useful.For 2005 Triumph has taken note of this and followed suit with its new Daytona 650. Somewhat given away by the name the new bike is basically a Daytona 600 with a 3.1mm

-start-only two-wheel psychopath.Still, try and get a test ride - above 85mph the fun quickly dries up and the Vectras and Bandit 600s will fly past on the motorway. If you're used to riding multis, or even twins, this single is going to feel really harsh

limited ground clearance it's satisfying to ride too, with great poise whether you're pushing hard on A or B roads, or cruising down the M5. We had a great trip earlier this year around Somerset and the North Devon coast where I desperately wanted to fall

happy with their mid-sized tourers. I love riding the F800 as it handles well both on the road and track. BMW have fitted conventional telescopic forks, which give nice feedback, and the adjustable rear suspension easily copes with the 80-odd bhp

.30 this morning in a downpour, and what should have been a great day's riding both on- and off-road had been marred by almost continual rain more reminiscent of Scunthorpe than southern Spain. The steep off-road course had been abandoned before I reached it

of physical prototypes. "We used a computer first," explains Robbiano, "but our dream was to have a swingarm which gave alternative ride-height, or wheelbase, with the simple replacement of a few pieces. No matter what the computer says, you have to ride

about the 1100 following a fairly unsuccessful ride on the 696, which had a terrible riding position, felt too small for the average sized bloke and lacked a fair bit in power. To say I wasn’t convinced would be about right.Initial impressions

the chassis owes all of its development to the World Superbike team.While on television it may have looked like the Tornado was struggling and off the pace Benelli was actually using all the track testing time and race data to perfect the chassis of the road

of those embarrassing falling-in-over-in-petrol-forecourt incidents. And because the heavily sculpted tank swoops around your knees, when you’re on the bike it really does feel like you’re in it – part of it. Our track and road test ride was dry but you