of mental effort, and I am aware how off-
putting that can be for most when they first
encounter this level of dial-up control. The
fear of doing something they can’t figure out
how to undo is long learnt from buggering
up the laptop from time to time. Ahem.
However, perhaps the hardest thing about the
Tuono RR for me to grapple with, was riding
it legally – without either flogging the engine
to death, or running at race revs, which meant
every bump and dip could cause unwitting
acceleration. On Auckland’s ludicrously
speed-bumped, coned, channeled, and road-
worked byways, this is a real consideration.
I left the horrors of town as quickly as was
respectable. Under normal conditions in
Auckland’s Spring/Summer there was rain,
and mist, and damp, and traffic. Nevertheless
I worked at getting the ‘strips’ narrower, and
when I say worked, I mean grinned my head
46 KIWI RIDER
off and actually cackled with excitement as I
found preposterous levels of bank angle and
grip, snaking through tight roads near the
maximum security prison. Which was where
I was headed if I had stayed out playing, as I
was tempted to. When the level of control is
fingertip, pin-point and perfect, one is teased
beyond the plodding realms of legal limits,
in a microsecond – and it takes real resolve
to understand and accept the monotony of
simple traffic passage. Yes, this is a road bike
that’s for the track, but much, much more than
that, it is a bike to explore physics, and the
genius of 21st century design, which, of course,
is what makes the testing of motorcycling
control so thrilling on occasion. Even in the
rain you wouldn’t swap this gig for any other.
The RR also offers a much more favourable
seating position for a pillion, with a decent
saddle and riding position on the bike.