Never underestimate the importance of test rides. I picked out my first bike after DAS, a Yamaha Fazer, on the strength of the magazine write-ups and the cheap comprehensive insurance. The dealer wasn't too keen on handing out shiny new demonstrators to people as wet behind the ears as I, so in the end I had to buy blind.

All went well for the first tentative months - the Fazer seemed nice and comfy, and had bags of power compared to the old Bros I learned on. As spring came, however, things began to look distinctly less rosy. I'm quite tall, and I began to notice that as the speed picked up, I was getting blown around badly. The wind seemed to hit me at chest height, and overtaking trucks on motorways was a wobbly, scary nightmare. I began to realise I'd bought the wrong bike.

Anyway, that's the post-purchase rationalisation out of the way. The real reason I changed to a CBR600 after 8 months is that I always fancied a nice shiny sportster and not, as one of my mates described it, a "shopping bike". Still, the Fazer can't be that uncool, since I managed to persuade him to buy the damn thing, which has remained in his garden shed ever since.

The CBR is physically quite small, although once on board the riding position is nicely relaxed. The pegs aren't too high, which suits long legs like mine, and the bars are placed such that there isn't too much weight on the wrists.

The first thing I noticed when I got the bike is how differently it steers compared to the sit-up-and-beg Fazer. On that bike, it seemed like you just turned the bars the way you wanted to go. On the CBR, and presumably most sportsbikes, it's more about pushing down on the opposite bar and shifting your weight around. Weird at first, but it didn't take too long to get used to.

Starting the bike up is sometimes a touch tricky, requiring just the right amount of choke and a bit of help from the throttle. Once it's up and running, the idle seems a little uneven, but the bike pulls away nice and smoothly. The power below 5000 rpm is never going to be earth-shattering on a four cylinder bike, but it's predictable, and more than enough for noodling around town.

With the revs above 8000, there's a huge surge and snarl, and in low gears with the throttle nailed open, the front gets very light indeed. I have no idea whether the wheel leaves the ground, because at this point I'm generally hugging the tank, whimpering, and praying it will all end soon. It's the middle bit which disappoints. At best, the acceleration's sharply reduced. Pick the wrong gear on the wrong day, and the bike coughs and spits and even slows down. Spirited, BOTAFOT-type riding tends to happen at high revs where the bike bounds along gleefully, but forget to change down when you leave town and roll on the throttle and you'll never get past Granny Grimes in her Hillman Imp. To try and sort this out I had a Dynojet kit and some K&N's fitted. This seems to have narrowed the range over which the bike bogs down, but get it wrong and there's still a patch where the bike's unhappy. With hindsight, I should have spent the cash on some extra training.

The gearbox has never missed a beat, and is nice and positive, unlike the clonky old bag of cogs on the Fazer. Clutchless changes up the box are easy, although I don't make a habit of them. Actually, I think I've only done three ever.

I'm no connoisseur of good or bad handling, but the bike feels stable, always goes where you point it, and has never done anything weird on me. I did have the bars flap once accelerating down a bumpy straight, but that's it. The ride feels pretty hard to me, but then I don't weigh much. I reckon this bike lets me stop worrying about what the machine might be doing, and leaves me to concentrate on improving how I ride.

A chance encounter with a rusty nail gave me the opportunity to replace the stock D207's with BT010's. This has made a huge difference to the way the bike handles. I haven't noticed the increased grip which others rave about because I'm not an ace cornerer, but it's so much easier to tip the bike into bends now that I'm starting to enjoy twisty roads much more.

The finish is excellent, and after little more than a hose-down the bike looks like new. None of the fasteners have furred up, despite being ridden through the winter. The bike also feels rock solid one year on - the Fazer was starting to get rattly and look shabby after only a few months.

Overall the bike's both a doddle and a hoot to ride, and the only blot in the copybook is the hole in the midrange, which can be sorted simply by riding properly. I'd have another, especially now there's a tasty Sports model for 2001, although the centrestand, while not really "hardcore", is something I'd probably miss. And anyhow, I quite fancy a twin next ...