The most beautiful race bike ever?

It was good to see my old HRC team mate Shinichi Itoh making his final Moto GP appearance last weekend at Motegi. 

At 44 he was a bit off the pace compared to his younger team mates, but that didn't matter as it was a joy just to see him circulating on what I reckon is most stunning GP bike ever. And I gladly braved the pit lane walkabout chaos just to dribble and take a few snaps.

Unfortunately he lost the front in one session trashing a complete set of body work but was back in action on race day to grab a few world championship points.

While in Japan I also realised my dream of spending a day at the Honda Collection Museum drooling over hundreds of pristine race and road bikes from the last century. Watch this space over the next few weeks for more details.

By Niall Mackenzie