Here's me on my (not stunningly clean, but nice and black) Suzuki Bandit 1200. Could I have picked a second bike more different from my SZR660? Not much.

For a start, it's quite a bit bigger and heavier than my little SuperSingle... When I first picked it up from the dealers, I was a bit wary of the Bandit's bulk, but within only a few months I'd begun to think of it as the "right size" and that it was my SZR that was small..

For a start, the riding position on the Bandit is much less radical. Instead of the chest on the tank, elbows on your knees, arse in the air riding position of the Yamaha, the Bandit is pretty much in "sit up and beg" territory - although as I'm only 5'7", I do have to lean slightly forward to comfortably reach the bars.

As I've already mentioned, it's a much bigger bike physically than the SZR (which is about the same size as an Aprilia RS125, if that gives you a clue), and it has much better "road presence". Perhaps it's something to do with the "get the hell out of my way" blackness of the thing, and perhaps it's got a little bit to do with the "real bike" non-faired looks, but whatever it is, it has the effect of getting other road users out of your way pretty damn sharpish.

Speaking of looks, in case you've been living in a cave somewhere in Wales with a plastic Tesco's "Bag for Life" over your head for the past 4 years, the Bandit is a curious mix of traditional and modern. The (black, naturally) perimeter frame cradles the huge (and black) engine pretty much in the way it was done it was done in the 70s; but there's nothing retro about the monoshock rear suspension of the hugely effective front disk brakes. On the other hand, the clocks are pure old-school chrome affairs, and sit slightly incongruously with the modern sculpted fuel tank.

The overall effect, to my mind at least, is hugely attractive to the eye - the Bandit always has been a "real bike", and there isn't really a single bit of it that looks wrong.

Handling wise, it's a bit of a mixed bad. The lazy steering angle and 1430mm wheelbase makes for a fairly slow steering, but stable ride - it's a different story in the wet, at least on the original Michelin Macadams - they don't appear to be up to the Bandit's 215Kgs on dodgy surfaces - squirming in a sphincter-tightening manner if you ride over a manhole cover on a corner.

But handling isn't really what the Bandit 1200 is all about. No - that can be summed up in a single word: power. The Bandit is simply stupidly powerful as standard, and the addition of an after market end-can makes it one of the best deals you could get in terms of power for your pound.

The acceleration in all gears is phenomenal - so much so that Suzuki installed ignition retardation for the first two gears; this is something that can be easily fixed, allegedly.