As a kid, I didn?t get it. Why would anyone want to ride classic motorcycles when they can have a modern bike for the same money" Or often less! Modern bikes are faster, more reliable and better handling; it?s a no-brainer. But now I?m older and wiser (or, should I say, older and slightly less stupid), I finally understand. Classic motorcycles have got an abundance of something all modern bikes strive for; but it?s something of which many are all too deficient. Character.

I?m not saying modern bikes don?t have character. A lot of them have plenty. But my issue with most modern bikes is that they?re just so ?good?. Sometimes too good. Take the BMW S 1000 RR for example. It?s an incredible machine and it does everything you want and need a sportsbike to do. But it can sometimes feel a bit too nice. Too smooth. Too easy. It lacks a certain je sais se quoi. All because of the fact that it?s just so bloody good.
Older bikes don?t have that problem. We might have considered them close to perfection back in the day, but when we?ve got modern bikes to compare them to, dynamically speaking, they?ve all got room for improvement. The fuelling might be a bit pants and you?re not going to have a million bhp, the brakes probably won?t work and the gearbox might feel a bit agricultural. It?s easy to see these shortcomings as character flaws, but in reality, they?re the opposite.

When you?ve got to think about the way you ride just that little bit more, because the br...