Eight motorbikes to awaken your inner Valentino Rossi

Thanks to its upright riding position and big springs, it’s comfy, too. bmw.com

How’s this for a bit of Italian design? The first thing you notice about the Ducati X Diaval S is how long it is. It has a wheelbase of almost 1.7metres. You also sit very low down with outstretched arms and legs. It’s all very un-Ducati, which has obviously decided that it can no longer ignore the growing trend – especially in the USA – for lolloping cruisers. 

You expect Ducati engines to scream. Not so with the Diaval. Peak power (154bhp) from the 1,262cc engine arrives below 5,000rpm. Having said that, drop a couple of cogs, open the taps, and there’s a serious burst of acceleration. It has a split personality – and you’ll be sure to like both of them. ducatiuk.com

The new Honda Rebel is so new, it’s not on sale yet (out later this spring). It mixes old and new school with its fat-tyre ‘bobber’ style. 

It will be fitted with an A2 licence-friendly 471cc eight-valve, twin-cylinder engine, which means it’s the first realistic chance for reasonably new or young bikers to get their hands on machinery with street-cred. honda.co.uk

The Yamaha YZF-R1 is a true super-sports motorbike, developed by nine-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi. Performance from the 998cc 200bhp 4-cylinder, 16-valve engine is astonishing: 0-60mph takes round 2.5 seconds, although you’ll need to be a skilled rider to achieve that. 

Top speed is rumoured to be 180mph. That, you'll agree, is pretty nippy. yamaha-motor.eu/uk

As someone who had a Bonneville 750 in his youth, this was one I was looking forward to. The new Triumph Street Twin takes a load of styling cues from the Bonneville but looks less cluttered and follows more of the retro custom scene. It’s 21st-century stuff, too, using ride-by-wire throttle and traction control. ABS is fitted as standard. It’s even got a USB charging point. Power comes from a 54bhp 900cc engine that makes a lovely growl. 

There’s a slick, five-speed gearbox. There are plenty of options (more than 150) to make your Street Twin look unique. At £7,350, it’s also something of a bargain. This is a super-comfortable bike. It’s one of those rare machines that makes town, country and motorway journeys enjoyable and, importantly, heaps of fun. The power arrives low down the rev range so you get loads of oomph from junctions and roundabouts. Love it. triumphmotorcycles.co.uk

Developed alongside the Kawasaki Racing Team (KRT), the new Ninja ZX-10R is the closest thing to riding a real World Superbike machine. It’s a stunning bit of kit. It may have six gears but there are reports of riders hitting the ton in first. You can opt for the matt grey model for £13,649, or this sexy KRT model (from £13,799) which is given a flashy paint job to make it look like a proper racing machine.

Add around £1,000 and you can get ABS braking. You need to be good to ride this bike. The 998cc, four-cylinder, 197bhp engine has more power than any real-world rider will ever be able to fully sample. Top speed is estimated at 190mph. If you’re an experienced rider, you’ll do the 0-60 dash in under three seconds. In other words, this is an exhilarating, road-legal track superbike adrenaline rush. kawasaki.co.uk

You don’t have to be a motorcycle sad case to know when a Harley is approaching. The sound is unique. You can count the strokes of the engine as it pulls away from traffic lights. The new Harley-Davidson Low Rider S is a bike that answers those people who felt that Harley was going a bit soft. They wanted an aggressive-looking Harley with a bucket-load of performance. The Low Rider S answers those critics.

It looks threatening in black with a few gold highlights – the wheels are stunning. Even the kit sounds threatening: a 1,800cc Screamin’ Eagle twin-cam 110 engine; Heavy Breather intake; shotgun-style exhaust. The resulting low-end power is truly a wonderful thing. The riding position is classic Harley-Davidson… arms up and out, feet square. It’s also extremely comfortable. This is a future classic and well worth the £14,995 asking price. harley-davidson.com

If Bruce Willis was riding a motorcycle and ended up stuck on the M25, he’d make a left turn, disappear up the embankment, leap over the fence and zoom off to clobber some bloke who had a dodgy accent, based in Virginia Water, and who was planning world domination. If he was riding the latest CRF1000L Honda Africa Twin, he’d do it in comfort, too. 

This latest adventure bike from Honda is to celebrate their first win, 30 years ago, of the Paris-Dakar race. It mixes all-day touring comfort with all-round usability, whatever the terrain. Prices start at £10,499. honda.co.uk