Features

This is it, the big one. It's the current holy grail of high performance motorcycles; the two-wheeled answer to the Ferrari Enzo.

It's the £30,000 MV Agusta F4 1000 Tamburini. Elegantly designed by the legendry Massimo Tamburini - the same guy who penned the legendry Ducati 916 - it's got more power lurking beneath its smooth, clear-laquered carbon-fibre flanks than any production motorcycle you can buy.

The latest crop of Japanese superbikes, like Suzuki's GSX-R1000, have got nothing on this missile.

Its 998cc, in-line four-cylinder engine (originally developed by MV in conjunction with Ferrari) pumps out an amazing 173bhp - enough to get the Tamburini howling to 190mph, and reach 100mph in under five seconds.

What makes this bike really special, though - if you're able to ignore its gorgeous lines, Marchesini wheels, Ferrari F1-spec Sachs racing shocks and titanium nitride-coated Marzocchi 50mm forks - is its variable inlet system.

Perched on top of its fuelinjection throttle bodies is a bank of four inlet trumpets. These stay in position until 10,000rpm, at which point a pneumatic pump lifts them clear, effectively changing the airflow dynamics.

This tricks the engine into thinking it's tuned for low and mid-range power below 10,000rpm then goes 173bhp-beserk above. All this adds up to an engine that makes astonishing power everywhere.

Just twist the throttle and the MV assaults you with a severe bout of acceleration. And that's just the engine. Handling is as good as it gets for the road too.

The combination of top-level suspension, a rigid chassis and super-sticky tyres ensures ridiculous angles of lean, while you rack up corner speeds you thought were never possible.

Only 300 of these beauties are being built, and just a few will reach the UK, so even if you can afford the £30k asking price, you'll probably still have to dream like the rest of us.