What are you meant to do once you’ve cleaned everything twice already? I, like a lot of people in the UK, seem to have found salvation in getting my hose pipe out and blasting anything and everything: the car; my motorbikes; the driveway… even the dog. We are living in crazy times, but I hope you are coping as well as can be. If there’s one consolation, the weather has been kind to us so far (if only we could be out riding in it). I’ve not ridden a bike in weeks, which is something I’m not used to saying, especially at this time of the year. It is what it is and it’s only fuelling my desire to get back out there and clock some big miles. What about you; what have you got planned when the world returns to normal? It’s likely there will be restrictions on overseas travel, but that’s not such a bad thing. The UK in the summer is a biking paradise, with amazing roads and scenery aplenty. Where’s your go-to place? Get in touch and let us know where we should be heading to, because we want to make the most of this year.
Just before the weather turned good and coronavirus kicked off in earnest, we did manage to get a fair few miles under our belts on lots of different bikes. One very telling test was a comparison between Ducati’s updated V4S and the new-in-name, smaller V2. The question was whether you needed 200+bhp and a £25k budget to best enjoy the roads, or whether the £10k cheaper, 59bhp lesser machine could be just as much fun. Frodo found the answers to that one, and he was kind enough to jot them down inside this issue. When you stop and think about it, price and power doesn’t always mean you’re in for the best of rides. I had a belter of a time a month ago on a 2008 Blade. It was bog basic, but handled well, stopped easily enough and had all the power I could wish for. It’s nice to have the latest and greatest, but there’s a lot to be said for used machines. We’ve gone a bit old-school with this issue, taking a look at two great machines from the late 90s. There’s a detailed archive read on Aprilia’s RSV Mille, and we’ve also got pretty personal with Suzuki’s iconic GSX-R750 SRAD. Who’s owned either? Both are starting to go up in value, along with a whole load of other bikes from that era. If you could own one bike from the 90s, what would it be? My list is already too long, but I’m always keen to add to it, so let me know. Enjoy the mag and stay safe.