It all began with an early telephone call from good friend and competitor Rory Nesbitt. He was enquiring whether Kenny Roberts would be prepared to sell one of his Proton KR3 500cc Grand Prix bikes.

Rory had been trying to obtain a factory spec Grand Prix bike from the golden era of GP racing. Some might say that we are ‘now’ immersed in the golden era with the immense rivalry we are witnessing between Rossi, Marquez and Vinales et al.

Well there we go, the pictures here say everything about Yamaha’s MT-10 – end of story and goodbye. But I’m sure you’d feel ripped-off if I ended there and so you jolly well should. So as not to lose anymore of my withering credibility I will endeavour to keep you entertained for a while longer. May I severely suggest that you put on Diana Ross’ famous track in the background as you continue, because it goes with the title nicely? Hopefully you’ll know the Motown tune I’m on about, if not, you’re probably an alien on its annual vacation to earth.

Clinton Pienaar flies to Portimao for the world launch of the new Fireblade RR and SP versions, he comes back impressed, these are his words.

Before I even rode the bike I kind of knew what it was going to feel like. Honda is a bit of a predictable manufacturer and is going to please the masses rather than the few lunatics out there who always want the cutting edge. For want of a better word in the bike market, it’s almost as if Honda chose to be the Toyota model because everybody drives one and it might not win most competitions but it will always push hard for a podium place in all departments. But I am happy to say that with Honda’s new model I was sorely mistaken!