Wasn’t the good ol’ sixties a marvelous era to be part of? Think of things like the Beatles, Hendrix, mini-skirts and of course ‘free love’, (which means you had sex without ‘investing’ R500 behind the bar), and of course motorbikes. But there were also bad memories, like Vietnam and the end of ‘free love’, for example.

Let’s get one thing out of the way before I start. This bike has THE most advanced suspension of any bike designed for road use, EVER! Now that’s some statement and for some reason it seems the general fraternity of bike riders don’t know this. How do I know, because every time I proudly showed off this gorgeous motorcycle I went into ‘eccentric scientist mode’ and wouldn’t let anyone depart from my company until I told them about Aprilia’s ADD suspension system. And all who listened suddenly became equally impressed and wanted to go and tell their friends what was sitting outside, but obviously not as comprehensively as I did.

There are few brands in the world that stir passion as the Ducati brand does, it's always been right up there in the desirability stakes and in most cases just out of reach. Ducati now change this with the launch of the new 899 Panigale, putting a Ducati in reach of every superbike rider.