There's much more to the Buell Lightning than first meets the eye. For starters, the chap who conceived this street fighter-style machine is the ex-motorcycle racer and gifted engineer, Erik Buell; think of him as the Colin Chapman of the bike world.

Mr Buell is obsessed with handling, rather than outright straightline speed, which is pretty strange given that both the man and the bike hail from the US, a place not really known for its twisty roads.

Given his love of corners, the Lightning uses a host of engineering tricks to create a machine that loves to dart through bends.

To keep the weight down to the bare minimum, the wheels are super-lightweight, and even the tyres were chosen because they're the lightest around.

The Buell doesn't have a heavy steel-linked drive chain, like a conventional machine, and, instead, uses a light, maintenance-free Kevlar reinforced belt.

And, while most sports bikes have a twin brake disc set-up, the Buell uses just one big one, cleverly bolted to the rim rather than the hub.

To keep what weight it does have nice and low, the fuel lives low down inside the chunky frame rails, and the oil that feeds the 100bhp, air-cooled, 1203cc V-twin engine is kept inside the swingarm.

Yes, some would say this slow-revving, low-powered, heavy, almost agricultural cruiser engine is the Buell's Achilles' heel. It limits the Lightning to a top speed of around 135mph and doesn't have the wheelie-inducing acceleration of its rivals.

Buell fans, on the other hand, will tell you the torque-laden engine gives the bike character no other sports bike can offer.

So long as you don't mind getting left on the straights, the Lightning is a cracking bike. It handles and stops like a race bike, it looks stunning and above all is different. It's cheap too; costing just £7,745, and that's a lot of bang for your buck.