NSX, king of the passes

For the past 20 years I’ve owned a Honda NSX-T. Each summer my wife and I travel through Europe for three to four weeks, going where the mood takes us. Over the years we’ve covered every country west of Poland: Portugal, Spain, Corsica (three times), the Czech Republic, Croatia, too many Alpine passes to mention (okay, I will mention the Stelvio). And the Honda has never missed a beat.

A few years ago we visited the start of the Mille Miglia, then decided to head for the Dolomites, taking a route past Lake Iseo and over what looked like a hairy mountain pass towards Bolzano. No sooner had I started the climb than I heard a roar and saw six bikes in my mirror. Three tore past me, with the other three hanging back. Normally I’d have let them go – beautiful day, lovely scenery, targa top stashed above the engine. But something inside snapped and I though, ‘Let’s go for it!’

What followed probably only lasted 15 minutes but in my mind’s eye took an hour. Dropping a couple of cogs, I went after the three in front and soon caught them up (they obviously weren’t trying at this stage). Game on! Glancing behind, they opened up and started pulling away, but it was a fascinating match as, although they had the advantage on the straights, these were rather short and bikes, no matter how powerful, don’t like hairpins. With every tight bend I’d find myself back on their tails, their glances telling me they were wondering what they had to do to shake me off. VTEC screaming, we soon dropped the three behind and spent a glorious time in a nip and tuck to the top, my heartbeat matching the revcounter.

Sadly, within a half mile of the downhill section I had to let them go or I would have cooked the brakes, but I still have the grin (and the flies in my teeth!) to this day. A memorable drive indeed. And the NSX is still going as well as ever. Ken Green

Ain’t that the truth! The only bikes I’ve ridden that enjoy hairpins are adventure bikes like the BMW R1200GS; narrower tyres and wider handlebars make them quicker to change direction. BM