Yamaha FZS1000

Why? Because it has good jump and, more importantly, doesn't require a pukka racer stance to make it work. I don't care how old or young you are, a full-on race attitude simply doesn't work on the road ­ or on the track for most people.

Give me a hot powerplant and chassis, some good tarmac, plus a heads-up attitude in the saddle, and I'll happily show you a punter on their way to a decent lap time. In most cases. Racers will do better, but they're working that last poofteenth of time that can only be garnered from the aerodynamics of a foetal position.

Hotrodding
What we have here is an attempt to work an already good thing into a hotmix. Here come the stats: Race cams ($2800), springs ($800), head port and flow by Dyno Developments in Qld ($1200 for a measured 13 per cent improvement), Over Racing full titanium four-into-one exhaust ($2499 ­ which includes a new, free-flowing, airbox top), Ohlins rear shock ($1600), front-end suspension mods including valve springs by Muddy Shock Service ($580), a factory carb needle kit ($225), Over Racing rearset rider pegs ($795) and a set of Dunlop GP207RR sports rubber atwhoops, didn't get that one.

Adding that lot up seems to come to a little over 10-ish. Ouch. And does it work? This is one of those times when I really hate people who are good at this gig.

Stafford Motorycles in Melbourne put this lot together and ringmaster Don Stafford is hardly what I'd call a new kid in the game. In fact he's an A-grade nutter who is old enough to know better.

On the tarmac
The fizzer is not famous for its bottom-end power and nothing changed with this bike. However the buttock dyno reckons there's a significant improvement in mid-range - certainly better response ­ which is welcome.

In this guise, the powerplant gets interested at 4000rpm (just over a third of redline) and ­ here comes the best bit ­ seriously crazy at 8000-plus. We're talking kick-em-in-the-freckle, omigawd-who-put-the-front-wheel-up-there, madness. Don claims in the region of 150 horses at the back wheel. Given experience on various Birds, Zed-twelves and Busas, I'm not prepared to argue details. He's in the ballpark.

The jump in delivery in the last third of the rev range means you have to be on your toes to make the most of it, but the good news is the neddies are there for anyone who wants serious urge without the racer pain ­ in a lighter package that could make a proverbial monkey of any similarly-powered big-bore sports-tourer.

This was only a quick punt, but we liked the suspension set-up a lot ­ good control with lots of feel at the handlebars. Rearsets seem like an extravagance, which they are. I wouldn't feel obliged, but can report they were surprisingly comfortable and seemed to mesh with the package.

Add in some custom paint, and you're talking a seriously fast motorcycle for mid-twenties-plus. Maybe not a bargain, but not as silly as it first seems if function and rarity ring your bells.

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