Suzuki

I KNOW I’M NOT as young as I was. I run a ‘sensible’ car, my hair is starting to recede, and the passage of time seems to have been compressed somehow. But it really isn’t so long ago since the best sportsbikes were of 750cc capacity.

Launch report written by freelance journo Bertie Simmonds

The very thorough Tim Dickson puts the mighty 2005 GSX-R1000 K5 through a year-long review. What's it like to live with?

Whitham takes us by the hand and leads us through the streets of Huddersfield. Four battered middleweights, a bag of chips and a Fanta, please

TWO head to France to test out the Honda CBR1000RR, Kawasaki ZX-10R, Suzuki GSX-R1000 K5 and Yamaha YZF-R1.

Why does Suzuki insist on giving its cruisers comedy names? That aside, the Intruder (stop laughing!) is a well-rounded 805cc cruiser

Suzuki's trusty Bandit has swollen in capacity for 2005, but is this enough to put the planet's longest-serving middleweight back in the frame?

Niall travels to Holland to injure himself on purpose aboard Suzuki's new, and very grunty, four-stroke motocrosser

Suzuki has cut to the chase and given us a road-oriented version of their wicked little DR-Z400. Good work!

The bike that started off the whole GSX-R range way back in 1985 is still just as mad and bad as it was then, and the latest 2004 GSX-R750 K4-K5 model is, frankly, bloody brilliant.

Harriet experiences the K4 GSX-R600

I don't think I would have had so much fun and learned so much over the past year as I did on the 2004 SV650 K4 from Suzuki.

Excellent price and good ride quality mostly out-weighed by cheap finish and lack of any real character. Bikes like this are as much about how they look and make you feel as how they are to ride

While the engine is flexible, strong and useful, the 2004 GSX-R600 K4 will appeal to a certain type of rider; one that likes to make engines scream, change gear at every corner and work the bike hard.

The SV1000 is like an SV650, but on steroids. Like your best friend it’s solid, reliable and fun to be with. If you are after a naked bike it’s very competent but it does lack the ‘kick-in-the pants’ elements of the TL

Cheap is all very well, but quality counts for a lot

The favoured stunter of old gains an edge of practicality with its weather protection

If you have an interest in trail riding and want a do it all commuter try the DR-Z

1552cc of all-American, no waitaminute, all-Japanese Iron Horse that may actually have the measure of the house of Harley

It's big, it's old and a bit of a relic. But enough about Bertie, see how he got on with the monster 2003 GSX-R1000.

We took the four road-going versions from 2003's TT winning bikes together with two TT specialists, back to the home of road racing