So I haven't been posting on lifeofsuch that much of late - yes it is bad I know - but trust me when I say I have a couple of good reasons. Part of the reason is that I haven't had much to write about, another small part is that I have been playing with some changes for the site, and the other - far more substantial - part is that I have been spending far too much time googling, searching and looking at motorbikes. Because I just got my motorbike L's.

I have spent many an hour in the past week awake at 2am, staring at the ceiling and dreaming about riding. I have had the dream about cruising along a nice scenic road by the ocean, rolling in and out of the hills... I have had the dream where I am stretching out on the long country roads through the trees. I have even had the dream about being knocked off my bike in traffic by a retarded P plate driver and being sent under a bus.

But still I dream, and google, and search the bikesales / bikepoint / autotrader / netrider sites for advice, tips, reviews and bikes for sale. And I think I have narrowed my selection of bikes down to four... A Yamaha, two Hondas and a Suzuki. All naked sports bikes (because naked is sexy right?), all 250cc and preferably all in black.

So I don't usually post this kind of stuff, because most of you don't care... but even if you don't care, please have a look at them, and tell me which one you think looks best... even if it is something trivial like "Ohh... that one is pretty... look at its extra sparkly bits". Trust me, I'm fickle, it might appeal to me.

No.4 Yamaha Zeal

Now, this bike was a late addition to my list, and only made it when I saw this photo on a website. 4 cylinder 250cc, to be honest it didn't float my boat until I saw this all black version AND ITS GIANT TWIN PIPES!! After seeing this pic, the zeal definitely made my list, albeit in fourth place. I mean, I haven't been that impressed by a big set of twin cans since I was 14 and a guy called Steve stole one of his fathers 'Hustler' magazines and brought it to school...

No.3 Honda VTR250

Now this bike comes highly recommended by novice and advanced riders alike. A 2 cylinder 250cc that pretends to be a much larger Ducati monster. In fact, I am surprised that Ducati hasn't sued Honda for copying its design (unless of course it works in Ducati's favour with more people upsizing to a Duke after getting off their L's). At first I thought the bike just looked weird, and I'm still not 100% sold on its looks, but like little dresses, thick rimmed reading glasses and my mates eye after he got into a fist fight with his younger (but stronger) sister, it actually looks a lot better in black.

No.2 Suzuki Bandit

This 4 cylinder 250cc bike floats my boat for two main reasons... first, it looks quite similar to the Honda Hornet (which is next on the list incidentally) and yet is cheaper. Second, it uh... well it looks like the Hornet, but costs less. Oh, and it also comes pretty highly rated by owners. Reliable, fast and fun. To me the Bandit is the same as going after the 'slightly less hot' sister at the local pub, knowing that realistically the more hot sister might be a little too expensive to acquire. Just because it is the less pretty sister doesn't mean it isn't one heck of a fun ride though.

I was talking about the bike you sicko.

No.1 Honda Hornet

By far and away the best looking of the 4 bikes here, with its neater appearance and finish, upswept tailpipe and big booty rear tyre. That back tyre is massive for a 4 cylinder 250cc, and certainly adds to the appeal of the bike. Oh, and if you change over that exhaust to a larger 'blueflame', it sounds wonderful... and with a 0-100kmph time of just over 6 seconds, this little beast is no slouch. In fact, at 6.16 seconds, the bandit is even faster than one of my mates affectionately known as the 'One minute wonder'. But of course, we won't make any comment here about his wife verifying the story...

The final wrap
So... decisions decisions. There are plenty of VTR250's out on the road, meaning their cost is diving, which is good for when I buy, potentially not so good when I sell. Hornets and Bandits are a little harder to come by as most of them were privately imported, and seem to command a premium over other 250's because they look like the bee's knees. The Zeal is the dark horse here, an interesting looking package with massive twin pipes, but to be honest, from what I have seen on Youtube, the Hornet, Bandit and VTR all sound a lot better.

In fact, coming to think about it, if I use youtube as a guide, and rank the bikes by the number of 'people being stupid on motorbike' or 'people showing off my bike' videos I can find for each bike, I think I get the exact same rank... Hornet, Bandit, VTR, then the Zeal.

I bet when the day comes to actually get out and buy a bike, I will accidentally come back home riding on a donkey. Or a Liger.

As long as it comes in black.