tyres

In homage to Valentino Rossi's Yamaha-mounted world championship win, TWO takes all four generations of R1 to Spain for a right good thrashing and a weekend at the races .

Four of the sexiest Italian bikes on the planet, a run through the Alps and a cappuccino in Milan

Take sixteen of the best sportsbikes in the world to a circuit for three days, put them on identical tyres, add thirteen journalists from ten different countries and you have the most comprehensive test ever.

The face of motorcycling may be changing...

On the face of it, this is a pretty odd bunch of motorcycles. Take the motors for instance - a 781cc V4, an 955cc inline triple, and an 899cc inline four. Hmm, not exactly the most comparable bunch on the planet.

£2,500 gets you a lot of motorbike if you use your noggin these days. We did just that and landed a trio of minto sportsbikes. Then we got a Beemer for the same miserly sum just for comparison's sake

What would get you out of bed an hour early in winter just to play on deserted roads? try the new KTM 990SM or Ducati’s Hypermotard. It certainly worked for us...

The Duke has been, and KTM intend it to continue, as the flagship of the smaller end of their range. And as such the engine and drive train is virtually the only thing that it has in common with the Enduro and the SMC. The rest is all different

The menacingly handsome, retro-cool and capable ZRX series has been with us for a decade now, so how does it fare as a used buy? Bertie Simmonds finds out.

For sheer naked fun, nothing short of a frolic with Lucy Pinder can beat the Aprilia Tuono. Launched in 2003, it immediately won an army of fans

Like the original but on steroids, the Monster S4 grasped bare-biking from Bologna by the bars and took it into the new millennium. But are there any bugs? Used-bike fact hound Bertie Simmonds finds out.

Yep, it's true. Back in 1996, when Triumph first mooted a middleweight sportsbike - codenamed T806 - they looked at making a triple.

Born in 1998's naked middleweight boom, the Honda Hornet has evolved into a more capable, practical machine than the tiny-tanked original model.

Quiet, unassuming and unpopular the Sprint RS may have been as a new buy, it now has a loyal following and makes a bargain sports tourer.

A revelation when it first appeared: here was a proper British effort at a big sportsbike. Over the years while the competition has got wilder, the Daytona has stayed milder which makes the mature Daytona a very solid road bike

Kawasaki built a Blade beater for 1998, just in time for Yamaha's R1 to trump the pair of 'em. But all was not lost - the ZX-9R drew a dedicated following.

Yamaha's feisty little R6 has deservedly gained a cult status amongst its fans, as a rev-happy, sharp-edged alternative to Honda's more easy-going CBR600.

Cheaper than chips and more versatile than a Swiss Army knife, the Yamaha Fazer is one of the few bikes that really can be (nearly) all things to all men - and all for under two grand

An aesthetic and performance revolution in its day, the 916 series has guaranteed iconic status for Bologna's blood-red bullets for time immemorial. But are those stories of Desmodromic histrionics all true?

Year-on-year since its introduction in 1987, Honda's venerable CBR600F has been the undisputed king in the white-hot battle royal of the middleweight 600cc sports category. Bertie Simmonds checks out the last of the line

With looks and performance akin to a kick in the pods, Aprilia's Mille proved that not every Italian sportsbike had to be a blood-red, 90¡ V-twin from Bologna.

In the mid-90s, V-twins were red, temperamental and raced by Carl Fogarty. Until Honda brought out the Firestorm, that is. We examine Honda's first big-twin sportsbike

The ZX-6R exploded onto the scene in 1995 and has been with us ever since. Bertie Simmonds explores the myriad of myths and litany of lies about the G and J models of the big K's popular middleweight blaster.

For 10 years now Honda's Pan European has been one of the sharpest touring tools in the box.