Japan vs Germany

I love bikes. Big bikes. For many years I have enjoyed the Teutonically-efficient two-wheeled products of BMW. But last year, whilst searching for a good used BMW, I was offered a Honda ST1100 Pan European. It's a great bike, although I'm not totally converted - next time round I'm pretty sure I'll get me a nice K1200GT.

Mods I've made to the Honda:

• Two Brothers exhaust system - the original made the bike sound like an asmatic sewing machine - now it sounds like a Ducati's big brother,


• Stebel Nautilus air horn - 115dB (@ 2m) guarantees breaking into the car-driving idiot's phone conversation,


• Tall screen from BikeQuip - the stock screen is fine as long as you're less than 5ft tall.

The best thing about this bike is the way it hides it's speed: 80 feels like 50. You're always going faster than than you think till you glance down at the instruments. Even after a year it still catches me out sometimes. It has an amazingly low centre of gravity since the fuel tank is actually under the seat. The "fuel tank" between my knees is actually just a cover for the air box.

The worst thing about this bike is the airflow. The original screen had my helmet in dirty, turbulent air - horrible. The new tall screen only improves the situation marginally. This is the main reason I'll switch back to BMW next time - their tourers handle the airflow much better.

Close, but no cigar, Mr Honda.