Since passing my motorcycle test in 1992 here in the UK, I have owned several bikes. I took my test on a CD200 which broke down during the test! Since then I've had a Kawasaki GPZ500, Honda VFR750J (best bike I've owned) and finally a Honda CBR600.

Circa 1995 I wanted to buy a house and the cost of ownership of a motorcycle started to increase mainly due to insurance costs. Therefore my bike was sold.

Since then I have owned performance cars, the best of which was my 1997 Lotus Esprit GT3. However, on 26th September 2006 I turned 40 years of age - eek! They say that if a man reaches 40 and doesn't own a motorbike, then he must be having an affair! My wife must have known this and presented me with a very nice 1991 Yamaha FZR1000 EXUP:

Well, nice bike but I can't go round corners on it yet! Ha Ha! As soon as you lean in, the bike starts twitching - something that I'll have to get used to. The engine is a bit peaky for me too but what an enjoyable bike to ride! Incredibly light and you tend to sit in it which makes you feel very secure.

Because you have to ride with your lights on all the time, I decided to make a few modifications to it - especially with LED lighting. I'll write an article soon because upgrading the indicators to LEDs is especially problematic.