Hello

It is the season of peace, goodwill and cold fingers. And of dragging that project bike, which hasn’t progressed since last winter (or much longer), out of the garage and into somewhere warm. (And sincere thanks to Mrs W for her understanding in this matter. It’ll be out of the house by April, I promise.) Then you can try and remember how it fits back together without contracting frostbite.

This issue, on your doormat late January, feels like the ideal time to celebrate those excellent people who are using seasonal shed time, and another Covid lockdown, to turn ambitious dreams into reality (RC30 from parts? It’s on page 52) and inspire the rest of us to get on with more modest schemes. Or maybe start one.

While grazing my knuckles and rounding off nuts on my own project bike (and how exactly can fitting a speedo take two years?) I have been thinking about Peter Williams, who died just before Christmas. Our tribute (on page 56) explains how he used ingenious engineering to make up for a lack of power on his race bikes. Really his Arter Matchless and Monocoque Norton are the ultimate project bikes; one person’s unique vision of the ideal motorcycle, made into race winning reality. Peter would have approved of the ethos of the new Aprilia RS660 too, and the Italian twin’s lack of bulk has excited a lot of Bike readers. We’ve done the first proper UK road test, with our own independently recorded speed, power and weight figures as well as a thorough ride on UK roads (albeit in December).

The important numbers are revealed in our story on page 32, and the ride was further proof that you don’t need a big bike to deliver captivating performance on UK roads, and that sportsbikes are still relevant, especially when they make some concession to road riding, rather than being totally track focused.

Enjoy the issue, now I’m off to break something else.