Cross Country is the Polaris answer to the Harley Street Glide, just bigger and smoother.

In the United States they're called 'baggers' - second-tier touring bikes with hard panniers but no top box, a very low screen and rather limited (by American standards) infotainment systems.

These are bikes for people who like to get out of town on weekends but who don't want to take the kitchen sink on a month-long road trip.

Welcome aboard Victory's bagger: the Cross Country. Mind you, at 347kg dry with a 1670mm wheelbase and handlebars pulled so far back it's like tiller steering, it's more like a land yacht.

The Cross Country is, of course, Polaris Industries' answer to the Harley-Davidson Street Glide, and comparisons are inevitable. To start with, the Victory is bigger in almost every dimension, which means more room for the crew to get comfortable but makes it difficult to ride in heavy traffic.

Commute on it by all means, but don't try lane-splitting.

The 1731cc, 50-degree V-twin has overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder and dual downdraught throttle bodies, putting it at least 60 years ahead of Milwaukee's pushrods and awkward side-draught set-up, so it runs more smoothly, pulls more evenly and has a broader spread of torque.

The Victory's swoopy, almost art-deco styling is better integrated than anything we've seen from Juneau Avenue (Harleys wear their engineering on the outside), with a distinct Ness influence and very little external ironmongery. Even the built-in crash bars (chrome-plated aluminium castings, rather than conventional steel tubing) look like they belong on a powerboat.

But that's where we'll stop the comparisons, because it was the Cross Country we were riding and we'll concentrate on that.

That monolithic V-twin thumps into life, first push on the button, hot or cold, with what can only be described as a wheeze from the hard-working starter motor, and will pull away, unfussed, with less than 2000rpm on the clock.

Then you can wind it on, as the smooth spread of torque takes over and the bike gathers momentum rather more quickly than you'd expect. The engine begins to sound a little stressed above 4500 rpm, as an unpleasant secondary vibration makes itself felt from 4000rpm upwards, but with 148Nm at 4250 revs and 68kW at 4750rpm, you don't often need to go there.

YOU ALWAYS KNOW WHEN IT'S IN

Riding between 2000 and 4000rpm (which is where the Victory V-twin runs smoothest) all you hear from the engine is an inoffensive chuffing. Even without water jackets to absorb the clatter there's very little mechanical thrashing.

But the same cannot be said of the Cross Country's six-speed gearbox (top is an overdrive) which is as clonky as an old BMW transmission - and just as positive. I'm sure nobody ever misses a shift on a Victory because you always know when it's in (quiet Cyril!), as does everybody within 100 metres.

As I got to know the bike better, I found I could change up more quietly without the clutch if I got the revs right (3500-3750rpm) and feathered the throttle just the right amount, but given its sheer bulk and intimidating engine-braking, I wasn't about to try the same stunt changing down.

The final drive, a carbon fibre-reinforced toothed belt, is brilliant, soaking up the engine's power impulses and the gear-box's thumping changes and delivering butter-smooth, gloriously muscular drive to the rear wheel.

For the record, the Cross Country rumbled up to a true 183km/h on our six-kilometre test straight, with 192 on the speedometer at an indicated 4500rpm. The steering was distinctly vague and a little “floaty” at that speed but the bike tracked true despite a slight sidewind.

At more sensible touring speeds the vague steering wasn't an issue; neither was the supple, comfort-orientated suspension, as the Cross Country flattened our ride and handling section at a relaxed 110km/h without (to my surprise) anything scraping.

Initial turn-in was sometimes a little unpredictable, but the bike always seemed to wind up within spitting distance of the apex anyway and from there on, as with any traditional American vehicle, it was a case of “turn it on and hold tight.”

SOAKING UP THE BUMPS

Given that the Victory weighed more than half a tonne with a full tank and a 106kg rider aboard, you'll understand that it almost ignored the inequalities of our bumpy test section even at 90km/h, refusing to budge off line, move up or down or even shake its head over the worst bumps.

All that came through to the rider was the occasional thumping from the short-travel rear suspension and some very low-amplitude vibration in the handlebars. On any other surface it simply soaked up the bumps and proceeded serenely on its way.

Sadly, other aspects were not so serene. The Cross Country boasts 300m floating discs in front with top-drawer four-pot callipers and a similar platter on the rear wheel with a big twin-piston floating calliper, yet the brakes lacked bite and, in particular, the front brakes lacked power.

When I remarked to Herself that my own sports bike, with essentially the same set-up and a smaller master cylinder, could be made to stand on its head with two fingers, she reminded me that the Victory weighed more than twice as much as the little red bike and would therefore take twice as much stopping.

At which point I began using both brakes scooter-style (first the front then, an instant later, the rear, then hard on both) and was rewarded with some impressive Wet Cement Effect. You just have to remember that the Victory is not a sports bike and should not be ridden as such.

It's a bagger, a touring bike.

Nonetheless, the fashionably low screen set up a vortex behind the helmets of both rider and passenger. At anything faster than 90km/h my visor would slam shut and Herself complained of severe buffeting, which was also worse with her helmet's visor open.

We both found that the buffeting was least with visors firmly closed but it never entirely went away, and it also meant neither of us could hear the radio except when riding slowly in traffic, which was rather a waste of a very decent sound system.

As a result, other than during performance testing, we wound up riding the Cross Country a lot slower than it deserved (our average over more than 400km of mixed touring and commuting was 86.7km/h!), which undoubtedly contributed to its very creditable fuel consumption of 6.6 litres per 100km.

I couldn't help wondering whether this bike was designed to be ridden with jet-style (open-face) helmets. Either way, it would be a lot more comfortable with the taller screen from the full-dress Cross Country Tour version, which shares the same fairing.

PERFECT ERGONOMICS

Other than the buffeting, the bike is superbly comfortable for both rider and pillion. The ergonomics are perfect for a 1.78-metre rider, once you get used to the tiller-like steering, and there's plenty of room to move around and stave off the dreaded Numb Bum Syndrome on soft, wide, deeply padded and beautifully upholstered seats, with generous footboards for both crew.

The instrument panel is clear and uncluttered, with white-faced dials for speed, revs, fuel and volts, a panel of warning lights and a trip computer, operated by the left forefinger, that scrolls through range-to-empty, ambient temperature, time, and fuel consumption while always displaying gear position in the middle.

Below that there's a second panel for the radio, showing frequency and station ID, with bar-graphs for volume and tuning as required.

All the fiddly stuff is on the handlebars, with the audio controls in a simple six-button panel below the left-side switchgear and the controls for the easy-to-use cruise control below the right 'box'. It's the neatest, most intuitive layout I've seen on any touring bike, and earns full points for rider/machine interface.

VERDICT

But it’s the Cross Country's imposing size and swanky styling that never fails to draw a crowd no matter where you park it. There's acres of chrome and plastic to look after (although it cleans up easily, as I found out preparing it for the pictures after getting caught in a rainstorm the day before!) but the lines are sweet and harmonious, the design language consistent and understated.

It's as easy on the eye as it is comfortable - just order the taller screen and get a pair of open-face helmets for yourself and your favourite pillion.

SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 1731cc air/oil-cooled, 50-degree V-twin.

Bore x stroke: 101x 108mm.

Compression ratio: 9.4:1.

Valvegear: SOHC with self-adjusting cam chains, hydraulic lifters and four overhead valves per cylinder.

Power: 68kW at 4750rpm.

Torque: 148Nm at 4250rpm.

Induction: Electronic fuel-injection with dual 45mm throttle body.

Ignition: Electronic.

Starting: Electric.

Clutch: Cable-operated multiplate wet clutch.

Transmission: Six-speed constant-mesh gearbox with final drive by carbon fibre-reinforced toothed belt.

Front Suspension: 43mm inverted cartridge forks.

Rear Suspension: Gas-charged singled-tube monoshock with air-adjustable spring preload.

Front brakes: Dual 300mm floating disks with four-pot opposed-piston callipers and ABS.

Rear brake: 300mm floating disc with dual-piston floating calliper and ABS.

Front tyre: 130/70 - 18 tubeless.

Rear tyre: 18/60 - 16 tubeless.

Wheelbase: 1670mm.

Seat height: 667mm.

Dry weight: 347kg.

Fuel tank: 22 litres.

Top speed (measured): 183km/h.

Fuel consumption (measured): 6.6 litres per 100km.

Price: R235 000.

Bike from: Viper Lounge, Cape Town.

The Fast, the Furious and the Frantic will face off in Regional Superbikes at Killarney.

This Saturday sees the first round of the 2012 Western Cape Regional Motorcycle series at Killarney, with new bikes, new riders, and a new series sponsor, so when we talk about the Mike Hopkins Motorcycles series, you'll know what we mean.

One thing that hasn't changed, however, is the ongoing rivalry at the sharp end between Malcolm Rapson (the Fast) who held on to his regional title in

2011 by a combination of strategy and consistent finishes, and Trevor Westman (the Furious) who dominated the latter part of the season on the Xylem S1000RR.

Rapson, however, has retired his long-serving Honda CBR1000RR in favour of a new BMW S1000RR with backing from Donford Motorrad so, with the two fastest riders in the Cape on identical machinery, Superbike fans are in for a treat at every meeting, starting this weekend.

ODDS-ON FAVOURITE

Waiting to pounce if either of the main manne should make a mistake will be Quintin Ebden, now fully recovered from his arm injury and his Honda CBR1000RR as fettled as it is going to get, and young gun Chris Williams on the quicker of the tow DEA R1's - but they'll have to deal with fired-up Sharl Wasserfall (the Frantic), back on the Starlight R6 after his umpteenth spectacular crash. Wasserfall is very quick indeed when he stays on the bike and could well give the two litre-class machines a big fight for third.

That, of course, also makes Wasserfall the odds-on favourite for 600 Challenge honours, but don't write off Ryan Snyman (Yamaha R6), who is very quick on his day, or the quiet man of Challenge racing, teenager Gerrit Visser on the Konica Minolta CBR600, who has been paying his dues under the mentorship of veteran Paul Medell and looks just about ready to start making some of his rivals pay theirs.

At the top of Class B will be 2011 class champion Shakir “Shrek” Smith, who reckons he can get one more season out of the seven-year-old Entity CBR1000RR, but that may not be an answer for the much younger Fireblade of Shane Nell.

Dark horses for the Superbike races will be David Bolding, pout for the first time on a Kawasaki ZX-10R with PJ One backing, and Dario de Wet, younger brother of the immensely talented Dino, who quit Superbike racing after he was involved in the huge crash that led to the building of the (now thankfully removed) chicane.

Dario will be riding a Yamaha R6 under the banner of father Leon's Monza Group.

“He has to learn to ride a four-stroke sometime.”

Powersport princeling Hayden (who beat adult riders to take the regional title at 13!) has been told by his father/manager Lance that he has to learn to ride a four-stroke sometime, so he'll be out on a Honda RVF400, instead of the familiar little Bizhub RS125 Grand Prix two-stroke.

Ironically, his main rival will be JP Roux, on a rare and very quick Suzuki RGV250 two-stroke!

Tony Sparg, on his beautifully prepared Suzuki GSX1100, and Buddy Ekron, whose Kawasaki Z1000 has been rebuilt to Eddie Lawson Replica specs, will be leading the charge of the Vintage Superbikes.

Racing starts at 10am and the bikes are on first, so be there early.

Whether you are talking engine, handling or styling, the word it brings to mind is sharp.

Whether you're talking about handling, throttle response, brakes or styling, the one word that Honda's CBR250R mini-sportster brings to mind is “sharp”.

Sling a leg over the saddle - only 780mm off the ground - and the first thing you notice is how slim this 249cc fuel-injected single is; the engine is less than 300mm wide across the cases and the handlebars, at 710mm, are only just street-legal.

Punch the button to fire up the engine and blip the throttle: throttle response is as fast - and as precise - as a cobra strike. Pull away, and I promise you will stall it at least once, as you learn that the clutch is as sharp as a light switch.

This bike makes absolutely no concessions for ham-fisted riders: you will ride it right, or you'll look like an idiot.

IT GOES WHERE YOU LOOK

But it's only when you get it out on your favourite twisties that you find out what sharp is all about. In the time-honoured tradition of lightweight European sports machines (think Ducati 250 Diana) you don't ever steer the CBR250R; it goes where you look, with precision response to the slightest input that makes you concentrate on what you're doing - which is never a bad thing on any motorcycle.

The seat is little better than a plastic plank (although perfect ergonomics ensure that the bike is surprisingly comfortable) and the suspension on the race-track side of firm, so the CBR250R tells you in razor-sharp detail exactly what's going on 'twixt tar and rubber.

Nevertheless, it's seldom twitchy; I was quite surprised at how well it coped with the poor surfaces and sudden camber changes of my everyday commute, and it ran straight and steady at full taps, for as long as I wanted.

I held it wide open all the way down our six-kilometre test straight, draped over the tank like melted cheese, with knees and elbows neatly tucked in, trying to squeeze out a genuine 160km/h (100 miles per hour in the old language) but the best it would do - even with the race-spec Yoshimura tailpipe - was 154, with 164 showing on the digital speedometer and the rev-counter halfway between 9 and 10.

A quick look at the specifications, however, reminds you the that the twin-cam, quarter-litre single delivers peak power (19.4kW, according to Honda) at 8500rpm; that the power doesn't begin to tail off for another 1000 revs is a striking tribute to how sharply the boffins at Honda Thailand have set up the 38mm fuel-injection system.

As is its overall fuel consumption of 4.5 litres per 100km, given that this bike lends itself to being ridden almost everywhere flat out - and was!

“What have you been up to?”

Which is what makes the CBR250R just as sharp a commuter as it is a Sunday-morning canyon carver; there are not many modern sports bikes that can be ridden hard enough in traffic to make them work properly, without placing their riders in grave and imminent danger.

The afternoon commute becomes the Eastern Boulevard Grand Prix and the grin on the rider's face wide enough to prompt Herself to ask: “What have you been up to?”

The brakes are discs at both ends, albeit with low-budget Nissin sliding callipers, and are sharp enough to inspire confidence that they can handle anything this 161kg (with a full tank!) bike can throw at them. They got hot enough on one 6am 'down' run through a favourite bit of inner-city lunacy that I could smell them, but manfully refused to fade.

The styling is just as sharp, seemingly equally derived from CBR1000RR Fireblade and the VFR1200F sports-tourer and reflecting, in particular, the latter's 'layered' lower fairing.

The execution is clean and tidy (when last did you see a fully lined fairing on a 250?), fit and finish a cut above the average, while the comprehensive and stylish instrument panel would do justice to any sports bike and is, in fact, significantly easier to read than that of Honda's much-hyped VFR800X Crossrunner.

Even Herself, who stands 1.8 metres tall and usually disdains anything boasting less than 850cc, said she didn't feel that she was on a 'little'

bike and would happily go shopping on it.

VERDICT

At R39 999, Honda's spicy little Thai is one of their sharpest blades yet, a precision tool whether slicing the commute or the circuit; in fact Honda SA has already developed a racing version for the Northern Regions 250 Production Class series, including the Yoshimura tailpipe you see on the test bike.

SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 249.6cc liquid-cooled four-stroke single.

Bore x Stroke: 76 x 55mm.

Compression ratio: 10.7:1.

Valvegear: DOHC with four overhead valves per cylinder.

Power: 19.4kW at 8500rpm.

Torque: 23.8Nm at 7000rpm.

Induction: PGM-FI electronic fuel-injection with 38mm throttle body.

Ignition: Computer-controlled digital transistorised with electronic advance.

Starting: Electric.

Clutch: Cable-operated wet multiplate clutch.

Transmission: Six-speed constant-mesh gearbox with final drive by chain.

Front Suspension: 37mm conventional cartridge forks.

Rear Suspension: Pro-link monoshock adjustable for preload.

Front brake: 276mm disc with twin-piston floating calliper.

Rear brake: 220mm disc with single-piston floating calliper.

Front tyre: 110/70 - 17 tubeless.

Rear tyre: 140/70 - 17 tubeless.

Wheelbase: 1369mm.

Seat Height: 780mm.

Kerb weight: 161kg.

Fuel tank: 13 litres.

Price: R39 999. (Yoshimura tailpipe R2250 extra) Test bike from: Honda South Africa.

Russelsheim sees RAD e battery bike as a link between home, bus and train in urban areas.

This teaser image gives us a first glimpse of Opel's RAD e design study, which will be shown for the first time on the Opel stand at the Geneva motor show in March.

According to Opel's PR mavens the futuristic battery-powered bike is intended to complement the company's existing battery and fuel cell-powered projects, “extending the concept of individual and urban mobility”.

OK, in English: It's a battery-assisted bicycle for when it's too far to walk but not far enough to justify unplugging the car from its re-charging socket.

BUILT LIKE A CAR

What makes the RAD e special, says Opel, is that it's the first battery bike to be built around automotive construction and production principles - even Grand Prix motorcycles still have a separate frame, which is regarded as archaic (to be charitable) in car-design terms.

And don't quote the Vespa at me, Cyril, that was designed by Piaggio aircraft designer Corradino D'Ascanio using aircraft construction principles, which is why the front suspension of early Vespa models looks like the nosewheel of a light aircraft - that's exactly what it is.

The RAD e, by contrast, reflects a lot of Opel's design language, such as the boomerang-shaped elements seen on the Ampera and the RAK e concept car.

“HELP MY TRAP”

Its “pedelec” technology, combining pedals with a 250W electric motor (in South Africa it would be called a “help-my-trap”) gives the rider “motorised support” when pedaling and, depending on gradient and rider effort, should be good for a range of between 60 and 140km.

Opel researchers see it playing a key role in future integrated urban transport, linking e-bikes, cars and buses, particularly in areas where cars are restricted or banned.

This concept cafe racer is the work of two university students, with help from Triumph.

This concept café racer doesn't come from Triumph's deservedly famous in-house design studio, and it's not the work of a custom bike builder. It's a project by two young English designers, Roy Norton and Tom Kasher, based on the Triumph Bonneville - and that's a story by itself.

Norton and Kasher came up with the idea - and the first sketches - for “a bike taking retro themes in a modern direction” during their final term at Northumbria University; it was actually their thesis project, and the final renderings were good enough to land them an internship at the Xenophya motorcycle design studio.

FULL-SIZE CONCEPT BIKE

But first prize was still to build a full-size concept bike, so they contacted Triumph product manager Simon Warburton, who was so impressed with their proposal that he wrote a brief asking for “a bike based around our 865cc air-cooled parallel twin, styled to appeal to younger riders.”

What he wanted, he said, was to see “the bike the Bonneville might have evolved into, in an alternative universe”.

He not only gave them a Bonneville as the basis for the project, he had the Hinckley white-coats help them create a 'digital tape' - an image of the bike from the side that allows the design to be checked against physical parameters such as seat height and ergonomics (will it be rideable?), fuel tank capacity (will it have the range to get from one fuel pump to the next?) and physical constraints (will the engine fit?).

TRUE CAFE RACER STYLE

Norton and Kasher said the factory “provided huge amounts of support and guidance through the design stage,” to make sure the resulting bike would be feasible, that it would run and even that it could be made street legal.

The standard Bonneville frame was chopped off and a whole new rear cradle and subframe (very short and cobby in true café racer style) was fabricated and welded into place, at the same time creating an upper mounting point for a monoshock rear-suspension conversion.

The front suspension was also ditched, this time in favour of a modern take on the old-fashioned girder fork, all sleek, tapered lines and crisp edges, with a single, central damper and very short links.

The seat and handlebar grips are finished in waterproof fabric (supplied by British bikewear specialists Barbour), while the fuel cap and instrumentation were specially made for the bike.

LEARNING NEW SKILLS

Then the basic mock-up, with its furniture made mostly from polystyrene foam and clay, was moved from the university workshops to Xenophya, where it was shaped, moulded, smoothed and spraypainted into what you see here, complete with Firestone tyres, Triumph Thruxton brakes and 1930's style inverted levers.

Everybody has been pleased with the result; Warburton said: “The bike looks great and there are some elements of it that may have an influence on some of our future projects.”

Kasher feels they've achieved what they set out to, “and we've learned new skills”, while Norton said working alongside Triumph had been a fantastic experience.

“It has given us an insight into working within the motorcycle industry at the highest level.”

Xenophya were also impressed; Norton and Kasher are now working there full-time, so we can look forward to seeing their fresh thinking and elegant engineering on future projects from this young design house.

Honda SA has put 10 race-kitted CBR250R sports bikes where its corporate mouth is.

How often, when riding a new sports bike, have we said, “What a cracking 250 (or Powersport, or Supersport, depending on the bike) racer this would make - all it needs is a pipe and a body kit.”

But that's usually as far as it goes, because one (or two, or three) bikes do not a racing class make.

But when somebody at Honda SA realised that the new CBR250R could be seriously competitive in 250cc Production Class racing, which has until now been the preserve of little green meanies, they did more than develop a kit and advertise it to would-be racers.

They built no less than 10 bikes - thus ensuring that there would always be enough starters for the results to count for championship points - and invited up-and-coming young riders to race them in last weekend's Northern Regions meeting at the Red Star circuit.

CLOSE RACING

And it worked: in the end there were 10 Hondas and just three Kawasaki 250 Ninjas on the grid, but the racing was frenetic, with the riders tangling elbows and bashing fairings through each of Red Star's 13 corners in a display of close racing that had older spectators comparing it to the glory days of 250cc Grands Prix.

Overall honours for the day's two races went to one of the experienced Ninja riders - but he was followed home by a tight formation of seven Hondas, jostling for position all the way to the line.

In typical racing style, Honda SA's Dave Gunning was full of plans for 'next time'.

“We can make some small changes to the suspension set-up and gearing,” he said, “and we should have that Kawasaki in our crosshairs at the second round of the series.”

He sees the 250cc Production Class as the perfect next step for riders progressing from the tightly-contested 150cc Class, but who don't feel ready for the huge jump to 600 Supersport's four-cylinder, 85kW+ rocketships - or as an cost-effective introduction for new riders entering the sport.

SEALED ENGINES

The CBR250R comes with a liquid-cooled, fuel-injected, twin-cam four-valve single that has a reputation in its native Thailand for robustness and a broad spread of power throughout its rev range.

Class rules mandate that the engines be sealed (which usually makes for ultra-close racing!) allowing only the fitment of race body kit, an aftermarket performance exhaust and air filter, and a slight update for the suspension, all of which is available in a race “kit”; the only thing you need to add is your racing number!

The original 10 bikes will continue to be available through the Honda Racing Academy on a subscription basis, or you can buy your own race-kitted CBR250R from a participating Honda dealer at what Gunning is promising will be a very discounted price.

As you read this, IOL Motoring has a CBR250R with the (very authoritative) Yoshimura racing exhaust, but otherwise street legal, on test. Look out for our road test story, coming soon to a computer near you.

It was as if the motor racing clock had suddenly been turned back a quarter of a century.

It was as if the clock had suddenly been turned back a quarter of a century; rather than placing the emphasis on primitive British singles and (rarely) twins or the insanely complex multi-cylinder Grand Prix bikes of the 1960s, fascinating as they are, the organisers of the 2012 SA Tourist Trophy series - which reached its climax at Cape Town's Killarney circuit at the weekend - had placed the spotlight on the howling two-stroke Grand Prix bikes and sledgehammer-style endurance machines of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

These were indeed the last of the privateer racers, before electronic fuel-injection and computer mapping changed the game so that only factory-supported bikes were competitive.

And they're recent enough so that most (adult) motorsport fans could remember when they were the state of the art - and they were being run hard enough (by their original riders, in some cases!) that those who were too young to remember them could get some idea of how intimidating they were, both to ride and to ride against.

AWE-INSPIRING SOUND LEVELS

Perhaps the most evocative was eight-times World champion Phil Read's 1976 Suzuki XR14 - the original RG500 square four. It was revolutionary in its day but doesn't even have end cans on its expansions boxes, which not only results in a power-band like a light switch but also awe-inspiring sound levels - no matter where on the circuit you stood you could hear Read all the way round.

By contrast, former British champion and TT winner Mick Grant's 1983 RG500 Mk8 (ridden that year in Grands Prix by Dutchman Boet van Dulmen and still in his distinctive livery) sounded almost civilised - until you realised just how fast Grant was circulating on it.

Grant's second bike started life as a very civilised sports-tourer - an MV Agusta 750S America - before being converted to 800cc endurance-racing trim in 1976 by former MV race engineer Arturo Magni. Later bikes boasted as much as 851cc but this early effort has the elegant engineering (including a chain-drive conversion that's actually neater than the original shaft drive) and signature four swoopy pipes of Magni at his best.

For the record, there is absolutely nothing inside those pipes and the music they make is almost overwhelming at close range.

Then there were two 1981Heron Suzuki XR69 1000cc “semi-works” endurance racers (the direct ancestors of the iconic GSX-R750) for Robby Burns and Steve Maxwell, which were quieter than the MV but even faster, while six-times World champion Jim Redman - who turned 80 in November - was uncannily smooth and deceptively quick on a rumbling Ducati TT2.

Also deceptively smooth was the 1991 works Honda RS250 Grand Prix machine of Yoshiaki Nakamura, then a factory rider, now the managing director of Honda Southern Africa.

SILVER SLEDGEHAMMER

But the two biggest noises at the final round of the 2012 SA Tourist Trophy were destined to be a pair of local Suzukis: Danie Maritz's 1985 GSX-R750, being ridden on this occasion by older brother Frans, and Big Bertha, David Bolding's authoritative 1983 Suzuki Katana.

Bolding put the silver sledgehammer on pole for Saturday's Race 1 with a qualifying lap of 1min22.509, 3.5 seconds quicker than anybody else, with Maritz, John “Konstabel” Kosterman (1986 Suzuki GSX-R750) and Burns making up the front row.

Bolding, however, fluffed the start completely, and wound up third behind Maritz and Kosterman. He relegated Kosterman on lap two and by mid race was all over Maritz like a rash. Twice Bolding got past the smaller, younger machine before making the decisive pass on lap six, but even then Maritz wasn't about to hand him the silverware without an argument and chased the Katana all the way home, finishing only four seconds adrift.

Kosterman finished third, 10 seconds further back, ahead of Sparg, with Tony Jones (Cagiva 650 Alazzurra) fifth after a superb dice with Burns.

Visitor Etienne Louw picked up a rear-wheel puncture on his Kawasaki Z900 during the parade laps, borrowed Kosterman's Honda CB1100R for the race, finished seventh (just ahead of Nakamura-san on the Rothmans RS250) and then suffered a rear-wheel puncture on the slowdown lap.

The man must be magnetic.

OVERNIGHT REBUILDS

Maxwell's XR69 blew its engine, and Maritz complained that the GSX-R was down on power so, when the sun came up on Sunday morning, both bikes were in pieces. The BSR Fabrications crew built a complete new engine for Maxwell overnight while Danie Maritz borrowed a set of valves, re-did the head of the Gixer - and both bikes were up and running by 1pm!

Maritz was nearly three seconds a lap quicker in Sunday morning's warm-up than he'd been in Saturday's race and outsprinted Bolding into Turn 1 again at the start of Race 2. Bolding, however, slotted in right behind him and the battle was on.

The two Suzukis swopped the lead on almost every lap, carving each other up into and out of every corner, neither willing to concede an inch. In the closing stages Maritz seemed to have a slight advantage but Bolding was ready to stake it all on a last-corner move. He outbraked the smaller bike, just held advantage up the hill on to the final straight and crossed the line 0.233 seconds ahead of Maritz.

Third, more than half a minute adrift, was Kosterman, with Sparg a lonely fourth, while Jones held off a late challenge from Nakamura to finish fifth.

Seventh was Alan Westman, in a striking performance aboard the AWR Yamaha, a late-seventies 500cc single; his was, in fact, the first single home in both races.