thegrimreaper will sit upon his hands

I ride for performance ProT, not for conspicuous consumption, what convinced me that the Ducati had to go was last year when I raced an X5 on the Okehampton to Launceston carriageway, I was averaging 154 mph over some ten miles, and I was still unable to shake the X5 off.

For most of the time I was riding virtually blind due to the intense vibration set up by the big twin’s engine, this meant easing off the throttle when passing clusters of traffic, not good when your eyeballs are jumping around inside your head, and unbeknown to me when I bought it new the 900ss only produces some 78 bhp.

Now things are a little different, the ‘unrestricted’ 2000 R1 has some 146 bhp, and with its four cylinder makes it possible to see clearly throughout its speed range, I don’t have any trouble with X5’s now or any other four wheeled obstacles.

Admittedly the Ducati sound and looks were unparalleled for busy town work, but when your trying to keep up with some of the south-west’s finest riders on our Sunday ride-outs, you need all the edge you can get.

The brake horse power per kilogram ratio for the YZF-R1 is the highest for any of the sports bikes on today’s streets, its even higher than the GSXR 1000 which although has a faster top-end and a bhp of 171, it cannot boast being the lightest most powerful machine ever created for today’s roads.

There, you see, I told you I hadn’t grown up, miss-spent youth that’s what it was.

Safe riding with your bike by the way, thegrimreaper.