I can ride a superbike. But can I ride a superbike? The former is the result of riding barely tamed missiles, getting more comfortable each time I've gotten on one. The latter, a product of watching madmen at the Isle of Man TT.
You've seen it before, haven't you? The wind howls, beating off mountainsides. Perhaps it's the mountains that howl. But soon you realise that nature's voice is being drowned by the howl of man-made chaos. Light glints off metal and plastic, failing to define shadows that move too fast for cameras to focus. Aerodynamic faces smoothly convince the air in front of them to make way, front wheels refuse to touch the road. You see figures crouched on colourful rockets, their worries far more solid than air - stone walls, lamp posts and the like. The last bit is what sets the Isle of Man apart from run-of-the-mill races - brave men who find skimming a stone wall with their shoulders at over 200 kph a comforting thing. And of course, I want to know what it feels to ride like that. To enable these racers to do those heroic things, their bikes need to be absolutely sublime and not scare the hell out of the poor sod in the seat. Not surprisingly, the 'Blade and the Gixxer happen to be two IOM favourites. These bikes are a doddle to ride on the street every day, letting riders believe that they've actually tamed their steeds. Their gigantic power is delivered with a disposition not unlike a friendly puppy and both feature near-GP-spec handling. So can a relative newcomer like me challenge a dyed-in-the-wool racer on one of them?
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