READING all the hype and road tests about the current crop of sports bikes, you would imagine that all machines other than the mighty Yamaha R1 are pedestrian.

Well don't read - ride. It's the only way to know for sure whether a bike is to your taste.

Take Honda's Fireblade, for instance, for so long the cutting edge scratching tool. Top of the performance charts, top of the sales charts, now suddenly eclipsed by the young R1 pretender.

Rest assured, Honda would not allow such heresy for very long and so enters the latest generation 'Blade, a bike for the 21st century.

The very first redefined superbike combining as it did 600cc proportions with 1,000cc muscle. The twin headlamp projectile was all animal. It bucked, it bronked, it tried to spit you off, it was brilliant fun to ride.

The next models somehow lost their edge, blunted by over-sophistication. They were actually too easy to ride, too uninvolving, too good.

But in 2000 'Blade, the spirit of the original is back with a vengeance. Crack open the throttle and the world goes ballistic. Power floods in from as little as 3,000rpm catapulting the 170kg lightweight forward quicker than you would believe possible. Every fibre of your body is stretched to the limit simply trying to hang on. Working through the excellent gearbox, it is safer to forget the clutch and keep a vice-like grip of both sides of the bars otherwise you are in danger of flying off the back.

Power is phenomenal, astounding, breath-taking. The track becomes a grey blur between two green ones and three figure speeds are upon you in no time at all, the front wheel rising skyward even in fifth. It's as quick a bike as any mortal being could ever possibly want or need. Forget lap time differences measured in the hundreds of thousands of seconds. The reality is, at this high level speed around a circuit it is probably down to the skill of the rider rather than the machine anyway. The first corner arrives in seconds and the 'Blade is light and flickable while being massively sure and steadfast through the bends. The brakes are another phenomenon scrubbing off the speed as quickly as the 152bhp four cylinder motor piled it on.

On the track it's fantastic. On the real road of traffic, walls and people, it's just as good. You don't have to fly around at in-the-lap-of-the-gods speeds. The motor is refined and tractable easily capable of pulling top gear from as low as 20mph.

Surprisingly for a multi it is also extremely torquey which negates frenetic cog swapping to find a power band. It will breeze past most traffic in top with just a twitch of the throttle wrist.

In the comfort stakes, like many sports bikes, you need to be going some to get that cushion of air to support your body weight rather than burden your wrists. The saddle and footpegs are perfectly placed and exceptionally comfortable. But I got a pain in my neck because of the riding position.

Being a Honda, the 'Blade is, of course, beautifully built and looks resplendent in red and blue. I make no apologies for the fact I am not really a fan of sports bikes (must be an age thing, perhaps when I'm 40 plus I will be) but I was surprised and pleased at just how much I enjoyed the new Fireblade.

l Bike lent by White Brothers, of Corporation Road, Darlington