Bikes and cars. Love 'em. Not so much the modern stuff, more the classics of yesteryear. Spend many an idle moment or hour (like now, waiting for the British GP to start) scouring cyberspace in search of mechanical eye candy. Ol' Toady would do the same if he had internet access.
Spotted this gem a couple of days ago (photo won't load up!). A '93 Yamaha GTS1000, one owner, dark green, only 2797 miles and up for grabs at 3295 quidlettes. Bargain. If I'd won the lottery I'd snap it up immediately.
The GTS was a brilliant bike. With a radical front end (no front forks) which featured a single-sided swinging arm and hub-centre steering, it dared to be different.
![gts1000a[1]](http://data5.blog.de/media/970/3616970_a1bd50ff8f_m.jpg)
Also, it had five-valve heads, fuel injection, an 'Omega' frame with lowered petrol tank for lower centre of gravity (the 'petrol tank bit' houses the air intake system and a small storage cubby box) and ABS braking. Despite being Yamaha's flagship it didn't catch on. Withdrawn after just a couple of years. Maybe it was too quirky. Or, more likely, its astronomically high price (twice the price of ordinary bikes) put it way out of reach of us mere mortals. Made Yamaha a huge loss. Great shame. Never received the recognition it undoubtedly deserved. However, 'Bike' magazine have just voted it 'Coolest Modern Classic'. Maybe its time has at last arrived. Without doubt it's up there as one of my favourite bikes of all time. Had one a few years back. Second hand of course. Toured France two-up. Great fun. Bit heavy though. Swapped it for a Fireblade.
Discovered this, er, interesting snippet on YouTube...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOEU_elKTfw
To accompany perhaps the greatest bike of all time, I was thinking of perhaps the greatest guitarist of all time: Jeff Beck. But then I discovered he's taken on a new bass player. Not, as you'd expect, a hugely experienced, big name, heavy metal axe grinder plucked from the rock circuit shadows and plonked, blinking, into Jeff's dazzling limelight, but Tal Wilkenfeld, a wee Aussie lassie aged just 21...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1sE5gjyek0
