Honda CBR1000RR

Honda's Fireblade revolutionised the sportsbike market in 1992, setting new standards in performance, handling and excitement, but over the years - like all of us - it has become slightly more civilised, and now even comes with optional luggage. Could the Fireblade's fire be fading? Chris Moss finds out.
Racetracks are the only place to test the latest generation of road-going superbikes. Their huge power and speed dictate no other environment is sensible enough to sample them to the full in any sort of safety. That's clearly what Honda thinks too. and the Losail MotoGP track was the venue chosen for the press to ride its new 2008 Fireblade.

Ducati Multistrada

Living with the Multistrada.
Don't worry about choosing correct lines, the Multistrada knows them all and can alter mid-corner to suit any poor decision made by the rider. The trademark, steel trellis frame may not look as sexy as the huge alloy items found on most other machines but this minimalist design works better than most. With high spec Showa upside down forks holding the front end up, the handling is beyond reproach. Hanging off those long travel forks are a pair of Brembo Goldline calipers and massive 320mm discs, without even pulling a lever you just know that baby is going to stop with bags of feel and power, and it does every time.

Superbyke SBS125

The recent influx of budget machines from the Far East has made it relatively cost effective to start biking and, in fine style too. Using much technology (and thinking from the Japanese sector, in this case, the Honda CGI25 line), these small capacity machines offer much of the reliability and practicality of the original article, just at a far lower price.

Government Issue

Love the smell of diesel in the morning ?
You're a sniper and have to sneak up on a target you've been assigned to eliminate. You have a long distance to travel and must go undetected by the enemy for some 200 miles to the targets lasl known sighting. You've parachuted into hostile territory and have no ground support except for the HDT M1030MI diesel-powered motorcycle that made the air-drop with you.
At least that was the scenario going through my head as 1 made my early-morning rendezvous with HDT's Fred Hayes and Bryon Schmidt-who arrived in a diesel Sprinter van-in the high-desert at 0-dark-30 for a ride of the Marine Corps-issue diesel dirtbikc. Shortly after we rolled up, Clark Jones, our guide and IIDT's hired-in suspension engineer, arrived. As the 61 lec diesel Single warmed up in cold crisp morning air, its industrial clackity cadence made it clear that this was no ordinary enduro.

BMW HP2 Sport

ONCE A BASTION OF TWO-WHEEL CONSERVATISM KNOWN PRIMARILY for sensible, durable touring bikes with superior saddlebags and high technology, BMW has done something strange: It's added plastic sliders to the cylinder heads of its latest, most performance-oriented bike ever. Further, those plastic, replaceable inserts are mounted in carbon-fiber valve covers. Crazy times, yes. but, get this: those covers enclose dual overhead cams. And there wasn't a saddlebag to be found at the recent BMW HP2 Sport press launch.

BueLL XB12S

THANK GOODNESS MOTO insanity is a fully cross-cultural disease. It means that idealistic and inventive stateside maniacs like Erik Bucll get to make
their start building strange sportbikes in their garages using big, air-cooled American engines, and then get hired into the Bigs by none other than Harlcy-Davidson for mass production. And that an equally mad Frenchman named Ludovic Lazareth, working half a world away, gets to take the product of Buell s innovative mind a step farther.

Aprillia Mana 850

FOR SOME 20 YEARS, Piaggio has been toying with the idea of an Ultimate Scooter. Through that time, the project had moved forward, then been killed, then brought back only to get killed again. Finally, though, with Aprilia's new V-Twin 750 and 1200 engines (the smaller as fitted in the Shiver) the company thought it had the right powcrplanl to use as a basis for a production machine.

BMW R1200GS

SENSE OF ADVENTURE. In the right hands, BMW's GS can be a formidable overlanding tool, but we're not all Dakar experts and something as sizeable as the BMW can be a tad intimidating to those less experienced. Chris Moss took on a steep learning curve at the launch of the 2008 R1200 GS Range.

Honda CB600F Hornet

The Hornet 600 is one of Honda's better known and best selling bikes, and it's easy to see why. The first advantage it has is style, and plenty of it. Accepting that the colour of our test bike in its divisive Marmite-esque hue certainly won't please all eyes, few could argue that the Hornet isn't one of the better looking bikes from Japan. The sharp, yet flowing lines of its bodywork are bang up to date and the hi-level exhaust can add to the modernity. With mast of its mechanicals also on view to give it extra life and individuality, it makes a refreshing change from many of the plastic-covered and more anonymous offerings we usually get from the land of the rising sun.

Suzuki Intruder M1800R

Ride an M1800 and you'll leave behind a trail of onlookers sore from rubber-necking. It's no wonder really, as the Suzuki is as outlandish and eye-catching as a Las Vegas casino. It simply can't be ignored. A neighbour of mine who witnesses just about every bike I bring home to test, a collection that's included exotica like MVs and Ducatis, is rarely moved to give them more than a passing glance, but when I rolled up on the Intruder he just about tripped over his own front door as he rushed out to get a better look.

Suzuki GSX-R750

It's a two-year-old model so what's it doing here? Can Suzuki's middle Gixxer match new contenders?
Try as the Honda and Triumph might, but there's no kicking sand in this reluctant bully's face. Even though the pair dance round the Tarmac track and take to the local roads like natives, the Suzuki feels like it can deliver a knockout blow at any point of its choosing.
But rather than the GSX-R750 feeling like a clumsy blunderbuss, blasting its way past its diminutive but daring rivals, the Suzuki somehow feels every bit as cultured as the Honda and ultimately delivers a kick that not even the Triumph can match.

Honda CBR600RR

Since the original CBR600RR was released in 2003, Honda has boasted claims of kinship to its far-off relative, the RC21IV MotoGP racebike. Sure, the RR shared technologies with the purpose-made Grand Prix racer, like Unit Pro-Link suspension and such, but in reality, that's where the similarities stopped. The bike was overweight from its inception and was more street-focused than any other 600.

BMW R1200S

After a year's hiatus, BMW's sporty S-model Boxer returns to the company's lineup, leaner, meaner and with 85 more cc of displacement. It's the most powerful Boxer engine to date, cocooncd in the sportiest chassis ever to house a Bavarian flat-Twin. The result is an enticing package.

Ducati 1098

When Ducati introduced its 999 in 2003, the bike's radical styling caused quite a stir. Certainly the sensually shaped 916, 996 and 998 models preceding it proved a very tough act to follow, and sales suffered as a result. But with the new 1098, which is fresh from the ground up, it's visually apparent that Ducati has a winner here.

Aprillia RST1000

LIVING WITH THE FUTURA
Comparing the Futura to other sports tourers isn't really fair, but will always happen as it shares many similar attributes with the likes of the mighty VFR800, and yet deep inside the Aprilia is a heart of a real sports machine. The chassis being little different to the Mille with just a few social niceties added to make life a shade more comfortable for long distance use and a beefier front end to improve stability.