translate into any tangible differences from the riding seat?As far as the first couple of sessions of the day were concerned then the answer to this has to be 'no' because these stints were taken up with learning the track, sussing braking markers and gears

On the face of it, this test was madness. Not just daft or perhaps a bit foolish, but potentially an exercise in precisely 'what not to do'. Riding to Prague isn't the hardest of trips - it's only 900 miles away and most can be covered on motorways

.The only downer to this lofty perch is that those of diminutive stature may find it hard to get a toe down at the lights although lil' old Buster never had any bother.Atop the Aprilia you'll also find that fondest of road test clichés springing to mind

're all perfectly suited to riding on the road either in a flurry of flat-out madness or in a gentle pottering about and enjoying the scenery kind of way, and just to make things even better, they're all very easy to live with. And nor do any

than a pair of shreddies and a credit card, riding down wasn't looking likely. But perhaps there was a way out...What I needed was a bike of such epically overblown proportions it could laugh in the face of our luggage mountain, chortle when faced

were about to be put through the bloody grinder and no mistake. Let thrashing commence!Four sportsbikes, four TT racers, and one TT circuit. This is what happened...Start the TT road test 2/7THE OTT TESTERSDave Jefferies, TT Legend6-times TT winner, big

shaking hand and just about kept my composure until I'd made it the mile or so back to the M40, whereupon I hoiked a ridiculous wheelie all the way down the sliproad before riding home at record pace to spend the rest of the day hiding behind my sofa

, but in the case of the K1200R it may just become one because this is a very fast road bike. And it's not just fast, it's fun too. Proper knee-down, flick-flacking, 120mph-plus sweepers kind of fun. Blimey.All this meant the ride back to the hotel was a blinder

-of-season GP, followed by a knees-up in town.Sunday: back to the circuit for the big race, wave Rossi flags, jump up and down, and generally get all excited.Monday: wash the whole trip down with a day's riding on God's own twisty roads just a stone's throw from

to make daily riding a genuine possibility.All of which answers the hill-climb question. We took the Buell, KTM and Duke to a hill-climb race because a banzai charge up a one-kilometre course offered the ultimate test of bikes like this. Alternatively