Combustion perfection

Expensive, complicated, but the V4 is considered the benchmark motorcycle engine configuration. Here’s how to ride some mechanical magic

£14,999 Ducati Panigale V4

Quite the thing and in another ballpark

» price-wise for most, although now almost hovering into reach on the money front as a pre-loved buy. And what a package you get: 200bhp, 87 lb.ft in a device weighing just 199kg (438 lb). With an electronic suite to transform a potential accident into accessible performance, the 1103cc Panigale V4 is a manageable beast. This 2020 one-owner machine is showing just less than 2000 miles, with a service book hardly thumbed. And if transferable Motogp tech is high on your list of essentials the crank spins backwards. There, that should clinch the deal.

£17,995 Yamaha VMAX

Yamaha’s Velocity Maximum has been

» around since 1986 in one form or another. This machine is the later 1679cc edition (launched 2009, canned 2017) and without doubt one of the finest straight-line loony bikes ever conceived. The money asked for this 5000-mile, FSH, two-owner machine is right at the top of the book but few bikes hold their value like a VMAX. You can buy it, swan round revelling in its might and fabulous quality, and sell it for the same. Its laudable 200bhp is only half the story – 120 lb.ft of twist is what makes it.

£8999 Honda NC30

Nearly all the sensations of an RC30 for a

» fraction of the outlay. Yes, nine grand is dear for a 400, but what price the exclusive whine of gear-driven cams? You’re buying the finest nano-engineering for buttons. So what if 399cc only kicks out 55bhp. Who cares about spending a full day checking valve clearances. You’re buying the zenith of zillions of Honda’s development yen for tuppence halfpenny. This 1992 Euro-import is unrestricted (Japanese imports aren’t) so 130mph is on the cards, and with just 19,000 on its dial the cross-hatching will still be on the bores.

£4895 Honda VFR1200F

These things are ace value. For some

» reason everyone expects them to be more of a motorcycle than they are. How much more do you need than 150bhp and 90 lb.ft of the torque in a glitch-less chassis with shaft drive? Yes, the switchgear is a little weird, the linked brakes not everyone’s fave, but get real. It’ll go forever, there are boxes if you want them and this one’s got a Wilbers shock, more R&G bungs than you can shake a sidestand accident at, and FSH with ten keys. The most ignored good big bike in the world today.

£16,995 Yamaha RZV500R

Better known as an RD500LC, this Japanese » import is the aluminium-alloy-framed RZV as opposed to the steel tubed Uk-market RD. With coveted steel-framed UK versions changing hands for well north of £20,000 this may appear to be something of an opportunity, as long as you don’t mind a not-quite-minty but honest example. Don’t be seduced by the recently blown Yamaha North America paint, most fasteners are manky and the vendors admit it’s ripe for a restoration. With 12,450 miles on the dial, the engine could well be OK with some fresh crank seals. Oh, the smell, the noise.

£13,495 Aprilia RSV4

Make sure you buy the 1100 version with

» all the bothers of the earlier 1000 ironed out. And don’t fixate on having the Factory version over this the cooking model. Do you need 217bhp (claimed) over the stocker’s (also claimed) 201? No, not really. Or the posh suspension? Negative. This one-owner 2021 bike has a mere 1600 miles troubling the dash, will get a fresh service before being delivered (for free) to your gaff, and is as stock as the day it left the Noale production line. Aprilia knocked it out of the park with this bike.

£4599 Honda ST1300

More diplomatic to call it an ST13 than a

»

Pan European now we’re not enjoying quite such a close relationship to our cousins. Yet for social jaunts deep into Euro heartlands this remains one of the choicest tools. Quick enough, comfy as a bean bag, and rather fetching in this pearly white. This 2006 product has had four names in the logbook and can only show a patchy service history after 27,850 miles. But it runs sweetly (there’s a vendor video), has no nasty cracks in the panels, and looks almost pristine for an 18-year-old bike. Very tempting for a tour.

£3490 Yamaha XVZ1300

The Venture Royale with pinstriping, an aerial » or two, and blue-spot brake calipers – in 1985? Must be a retrofit, and shows someone actually gave two hoots about this Chesterfield on wheels. The 70° V-four has got almost 42,000 miles on it, but hardly a concern with something so big (1294cc) and unstressed. If it doesn’t rattle or smoke it’s good for the same again. You could most likely get this in your garage with a £2500 offer. And then sit back and wonder, while grinning, what possessed you. All these bikes offered on MCN bikes for » sale at time of writing, unless stated