Test of time
It’s mad to think that by the time you read this, we’ll be into the third quarter of the year… where the hell does the time go? I swear it was only Christmas last week. That said, it’s been an absolute blinder of a season so far, with lots of launches, lots of tests, and lots of two-wheeled adventures punctuating my daily shenanigans. We’ve actually just wrapped up an epic five-bike test on 1990s and 2000s icons only yesterday, which took place in 34-degree heat over a few days at Cadwell Park. We couldn’t have asked for better conditions, a better circuit, or a better line up of bikes, either. Forgive me for teasing you with this, as the big test won’t be in print for another couple of issues, but getting back onto bikes of that era was really profound and has been consuming my mind these past 48 hours. If anything, it hammered home how special that era was, with such varied and unique propositions… no two bikes were even slightly similar in style, performance or handling characteristics, whereas in today’s world, it seems like the spec and competence of most machines is that chunk more similar. And don’t even get me started on how much easier it is to throw around a modern, more lithe and technologically friendlier motorcycle. It’s mad to think that a litre bike of today has almost twice the power of a ZX-7R (at the rear wheel) yet can so more slick and effortless to push harder. I’m grateful of that, undoubtedly, having earned the blisters these past few days, battling enough with stopping bikes, let alone blasting them out of bends. Still, it’s all part of the fun, and a trip down memory lane never does anyone much harm. I think Michael Rutter felt the same while putting together this issue’s cover test, tooled up with the 2004 Honda Fireblade he raced at BSB back in the day, alongside the latest and greatest version of CBR1000RR-R SP. He too had his eyes opened, as you’ll soon grasp, and understandably so… time and tech stand still for no man (or woman). The question is, just how much more advanced will bikes be in the next 20 years? How much more powerful? How much lighter? How much more sophisticated? Who knows, but if the past few decades of innovation are anything to go by, we are in for a treat.