I’ve just sold my Fireblade and gone back in time, I’ve picked up a really clean Ducati 900SS FE.

The chap I bought it off has had it from new and it came from a collection of (at one time) 15 Ducatis! He’s now 70 and has started letting some of them go, he’s now down to five.

Bye bye Blade... The Fireblade was (and is) an incredible machine but I became increasingly apathetic towards it. Don’t get me wrong, get it over 6000rpm in any gear and you enter the Matrix but that was half of the problem - I’m hardly doing any trackdays anymore and I need to keep my licence! A superb machine but a bit too clinical for me.

Colin Edwards wasn’t going to lose his ride anytime soon.. I have to admit it, I made a mistake when I traded in my SP2 for the Blade, that was a truly special bike that was set up beautifully and handled like you would expect, razor sharp and planted. I never found it as uncomfortable or uncompromising as the tests made out, it was perfect. Sure it popped and banged on the over-run and pensioners would dive for cover when it came into earshot but that’s all part of that over used expression ‘character’.

‘Mini me’ model came with the bike.

So, I’ve gone from 165bhp down to 80bhp but I couldn’t be happier. I’m genuinely thrilled to open the garage door and see my beauty from Bologna. I intend to spend the winter fettling, removing the hideous stickers on the outside and changing the belts etc on the inside. I always say this, but this one is for keeps.

Cooler than before: 1990 Ducati 888 SBK

Beautiful.