Motorcyles For The Soul

If there's one thing I love to do to clear the cobwebs and feed my soul, it's riding a bike round a racetrack. If you haven't done it, add it to the bucket list and start the process of sorting out what you need in place now. There are few better feelings than hanging right off with your knee kissing the tarmac, as you roll round a corner with your eyes glued to the somewhere beyond the apex. It's super physical but properly addictive. We are all heroes when we hit the track on our bikes.

If you like doing this stuff head to Spain for a long weekend

I've been riding for more years than I care to think. I spent the late '90s getting my head around litre sports bikes; numerous road trips to the Alps, Pyrenees, and beyond followed, and at each point I believed I knew what I was doing. I was by a chapter mile the fastest in the group, wheeling my way about the place. Nothing at all to be proud about.

I took the advice of then BSB star Jon Kirkham, who told me to go down the smaller cc route to get faster round the bends; it did the trick.

And then in 2010 I started to work with The Mirror to produce the behind-the-scenes video coverage of the British Superbikes championship; and from day one at Brands Hatch, my appreciation for what fast riding was, changed dramatically. It didn't take long before I was booking up track days and testing my minerals to their their very small limit, on my Beemer S1000RR.

These days I run a full-on race spec R6, though not at race pace I should add; far from it. A few years ago I took the advice of a friend and ex BSB star, Jon Kirkham, who told me to go down the smaller cc route to get faster round the bends; it seemed to do the trick - it's incredibly involving keeping a smaller engine on song, braking later than many of the big bikes dare and trying to find enough testicle to push the thing harder through the twisties.

So, I love bikes - bikes stir my soul when I ride them, which these days is sadly very rare. But some bikes do that just because of what they are and what they meant to me when I first encountered them. There is a handful that I have a fictitious stable, waiting and ready for. These are the bikes I was in utter awe of when I was younger and they ruled:

1. Mark 1 Blade. I'd have it in black, though it's a tough call. I still have the same feeling 26 years later. MCN quoted it as the fastest acceleration test they'd managed at 2.5 secs to 60mph. And then a friend had one as a courtesy bike when his VFR was being serviced. Mental. Funny how a smidge over 110bhp (rear wheel) today is ehem..nothing.
   

2. Mark 1 Exup. This would be the dark blue and white one. I seem to remember that back in the days of the UK 125bhp restriction, cutting the webbing out from inside the carbs liberated full power; something like 145bhp. By today's standards, it was a big old lump, but it had so much presence in its day.
   

3. ZZR1100 - blue and black. When this thing came out there was an advert in a Sunday magazine that read: '0 - 60 in 2.9 secs in first gear - there are six years'. Shall never forget the impression that made on me. And that was for the 125bhp UK model, not the 155bhp full-power version. WTF!! Of course, compared with the S1000RR I had until recently, the big Zed would have been a bus, but at the time the whole concept fried my head.
   

4. ZXR750 H1 - first time I saw one of these was very shortly after they'd been released. A friend had a green one. The way he described what it was like to ride will never leave me. It looked so purposeful with the air pipes and round headlights.
   

5. GSXR750 Slingshot. Many would opt for the 'Slabside' for obvious reasons, but for me it's the Slingshot from 1989/90. About a day after reading in one of the mags about how incredibly rapid it was, I saw one leave a set of traffic lights that I was standing near. He popped the front and buggered off. It was black and grey. Took me days to get over that. No Internet at the time or I would have spent hours researching.
   

6. 916. I had the last pre-Cagiva 916 in the UK back in 1998. They'd changed the decals from the bold 'Ducati strip down the side' to a small logo on the top of the fairing. It was November 1997 and a bunch of us were at the Bike Show at the Birmingham NEC, and there they were, the new 916 models. My heart sank. I was almost in a position to buy one but for me, they'd suddenly lost something. I called the dealers to see if they had any left - nothing. I spoke to a number to see if they had any ideas - nothing. Finally the main Ducati dealer in Bristol agreed to contact the factory in Italy to see if they had any UK models left. They did; and with a degree of persuasion they agreed to ship it. But for me today, I'd want one from 1994; that's when I first saw one. I can still remember the reviews.
   

7. RVF750 RC45 - this thing is just gorgeous. Every now and then it would appear in the superbike comparisons with its hugely tall first gear. It just looked so good. Crazy prices today. RC30 is right there too. These will undoubtedly remain a dream.
   

8. As will this - OWO1. I don't feel the OWO1 as much as the RVF but it landed with a bump when I first started reading about it, and it remains something special today.
   

I think it's fair to say that collecting bikes such as these would all be about feeding a collection habit. I got knocked off an old YZF1000R Thunderace in 2018 and hurt quite badly. It was the first time I'd ever had an accident in over twenty years of riding, but it had quite an impact on me and I've not been on the road since. So, I suspect the bike stable will remain a dream for a while; and as things currently are, I can't afford to indulge, in any event. There is however a lovely 998s taking up a bit of space in the garage, and an XS850 conversion that I bought to do the Distinguished Gentleman's Ride some years back, but have yet to use. I should focus on getting those and me back on the road and maybe track first, before I think about adding any more. Time to harden the f**k up.

I'll never tire of that design. Makes a bloody brilliant noise too...

One day I'll get this running properly and out on a ride...