I had the chance of a demo on a V-ROD, just B4 flitting off on hols a week or so ago.

I have been toying with a retro or cruiser for a while, the reason being (all nod off now) my back injury. While I'm comfy on the CBR 6 for 100 miles or so the ache starts. The ZZR is much better cos its longer & bigger, but I like the retro idea.

So when a chance to ride the V-ROD came up I took it.

I turned up at "Thunder Road" on the ZZR to a mixed reception, punters outside on a quiet mid week morning all but snarled at me while the sales bod did his best to steer me away from the " I'd rather eat worms than ride a jap bike" idiots.

So out to the demo bike, all £13,000 of it, after 5 mins chat & explanation of the immobiliser off we go. Sitting on it, it's very comfy & I'm looking forward to the ride. Crank up the ever so long side stand & hit the starter-the noise from the stage 1 tuned pipes is very nice, how do they get away with it?

Into 1st via the VERY forward controls & off we go, nice light clutch action, up into 2nd, ready for a mini roundabout & BLOODY ####, lost 1/2 inch of heel from me right boot. The controls are so low & forward that your heels are just inches from the floor. Through town traffic & approaching a left turn, get my boot up as far as I can on the footrest, turn left & BLOODY ####, the footrest ground out!-I'm sure I had the thing upright!

Anyway, now onto a dual carriageway & I can feel every little bumps through the custom seat. The sales guy had told me to use the throttle positively & "ride it like your ZZR"?? So I gave it some, it got up to 100mph very nicely thank you & I settled down to enjoy myself.

I had a route in mind & turned off onto a country "A" roads. Five mins later & I was heading back to the dealers. The heat shield on the pipes didn’t work very well, burning my boot & heating up my right leg!

To combat this I had to ride with my leg at an awkward angle to avoid burning myself. This meant my hips were not sitting "square" on the seat-which led to TERRIBLE back pain. So much so that I had to take the bike back ASAP.

I was only on it for about 20 mins, which is a shame, cos I think I could have liked it.

On another note & the reason I will NOT be EVER buying a Hardly. When I got back to the showroom I discussed a ride on something less radical, then as I went to get on the faithful & ever so comfy ZZR I realised it was COVERED in fag ash. Those bastards with the Hardly jackets had used my bike as a F**king ashtray.