ON ROAD...DUCATI V4R

This is a hard bike to criticise, to the extent that I'll jump in with both feet and lay my biggest hang-up on the table from the get-go... I don't like the number one sticker on the front number board.

- BRUCE

There, I've got that off my chest, which means I can get stuck in and tell you why this bike is otherwise exceptional. For me, it's the complete package, with the best looks, tech features and performance of any sportsbike I've ridden in a very long time. It is a pukka race bike on the road, unapologetically crafted to perform, to blow minds, but also to be ridden down the chippy to get your mate a pea fritter. It literally does it all, and with levels of style and charisma that even Dorian Gray would struggle to match, getting you under its spell and luring you in with every mile clocked. While I enjoyed it on track at Donny, it's fair to say I fell in love at the Isle of Man. The biggest appeal? The motor. For me, it just resonated the right way, offering a good spread of power, bucket-loads of character and a clinical execution when it came to winding back the throttle. This thing felt so fast up on the Mountain - and it sounded ballistic, too. If you've never heard a V4 up at 16,000rpm, believe me, it's one hell of a treat, to the extent I could appreciate it regardless of whether I was the one riding it or watching from the sidelines as Joe or Tim gave it the big 'uns.

Of course, this bike's optional underseat system has much to do with that, not only letting the bike breathe that bit more and opening the output up to about 230bhp, but allowing for a noise that the stock fitment options just couldn't. Ducatis get a lot of stick for sounding, well, broken, but the only thing broken around this were eardrums. It was super loud, to the extent I realised how lucky we were not to have got flagged when we were riding it at Donny... not that I'm complaining. The noisier the better.