The bike ahead was half-way down Misano’s back straight when I exited the preceding right-hand bend, but it didn’t stay that way for long. As I crouched behind the DB7’s low screen and tap-tapped through the sweet-shifting gearbox, the Bimota

They have plenty in common, the latest ZX-10R and the GPZ900R, its inspiration from a quarter-century ago. Potent straight-four engines, top-quality chassis, sharp looks, and an unmistakably aggressive presence. What separates them — even more than

Eighties would eventually lead to dualpurpose boxers becoming the cult hit of the 21st century. In those pre Ewan McGregor days the GS was a curious looking trail bike that seemed too tall and heavy for off-roading.STRAIGHT TO VIDEO SPECIALBack in ’94

of just 92bhp, it's quick enough to be fun but slow enough to give a few seconds' rest on Valencia's short main straight.But Bimota's main reason for launching the DB5 at a foreign grand prix circuit for the first time in the marque's history

upmarket Italian bikes. This is the first to be fitted to a standard Japanese production machine, and it's odd that it should be to a Kawasaki rather than one from Yamaha, which owns Öhlins.Underway and screaming down the half-mile-long main straight

, but it doesn’t.Inevitably, straight-line performance was more Briggs & Stratton than YZR-M1, though that didn’t prevent the R125 from being fun. In town the racy looking Yam proved at home. Its riding position isn’t extreme with high clip-ons and low footrests

respects the new Hypermotard makes perfect sense. In the depths of a recession, what could be more logical than a smaller, cheaper version of an existing model - especially when you’ve got a suitably sized motor waiting to be bolted straight in

by the thing's improbable poise as it swept through the Bungalow, Gooseneck and Waterworks, hitting well over the ton on the straights. Why Honda called it the F6C instead of the Valkyrie over here remains a mystery, but the bike was great.Bimota's Mantra

the throttle, the bike tonks off up the next straight with what feels like a touch more of the high-rev acceleration for which the R6 has been known ever since its launch in 1999.That more aggressive feeling is not just in my imagination, because it's what

handling, possibly due to the dodgy suspension bearings that would prove a common problem. Highlight of my day was being outbraked by Bimota’s test rider at the end of the main straight, only to see him lose the front end and disappear into the sandpit