Fettle for trackdays

You don’t need to mess with a late 750 too much to get it really singing. It was pretty much bang on out of the box, but if you did need to fiddle, the few improvements it needed cost pennies: a 4mm washer under the top shock mount to raise the rear for quicker steering, and a one-tooth smaller front sprocket for more oomph out of corners. Granted, the latter is at the expense of some top speed, but an L1 has plenty to give away: I rode Pirelli’s used and abused GSX-R750 tyre-testing mule at the eight-mile Nardo speed bowl in 2011 and it blasted to a Gpsverified 181mph.

For serious track work, replacing the standard rear shock (with its almost impossible to access preload collar) with a stiffer race version is a must, as is fitting an uprated fork cartridge kit, and a better master cylinder and braided steel brake lines. A Power Commander will smooth-out the fuelling and with trackday tyres fitted, like Metzeler’s Racetec RR K3, you’ll have more grip than horsepower – the perfect recipe.