When I wore a younger man?s clothes, I had no real interest in classic anything, least of all classic motorcycles. Why would anyone want to own, let alone ride, a bike that looks like it should either be in a museum or a scrapyard" I just didn?t get it. But now I do. And I think this is why?

Classic motorcycles don?t tend to be as ?good? as modern ones. What do I mean by that" Well they don?t do any of the things that most of us want motorcycles to do, anywhere near as well as new ones. They?re not as fast, not as reliable, don?t handle as well, are more difficult to use, the list goes on.

As far as I could see, classic motorcycles didn?t have anything going for them at all. To me, they were just ?old? motorcycles. I know some people might think classic bikes look good, but I?ve never subscribed to that school of thought.
All I was interested in was the latest and greatest superbikes. Until I was about 30. It was when a friend of mine let me have a go on his 1998 R1. It was an old bike, but probably not old enough to be called a classic bike.

Double dick

The Yamaha R1 was a bike that I?d grown up drooling over. I can remember the poster on my bedroom wall, and I can remember saying to myself that I was going to have one. Over the years I?ve ridden a few R1?s but never had the opportunity to ride the original, from back in 1998; the exact bike that I had on my bedroom wall. So when I swung a leg over this one, I was like a dog with two dicks....