It’s that time of year where we wave goodbye to our families and head off to distant lands for the sake of skids, wheelies, and general evaluations of the new metal. As hard as we make this sound to those at home, the truth is it’s perhaps one of the high points of the job, with the actual hardest part about it being to look sufficiently tired and sombre when we get back from bouncing bikes off their limiters, on road, track, or dirt. January was a pretty busy month and February has followed suit, as you’ll grasp by the number of new bikes we’ve been clocking the miles on. It’s been nothing short of awesome, and there’s still plenty more to come. In fact, I’m writing this on a plane, destined to go and cock a leg over Ducati’s new supermoto, which will star in this very issue. Will it be any good? I hope so, but that’s the fun thing about a launch; it’s full of unknowns, and the pressure’s on you to get your head around a package, both technically and physically, super-quick. It’s essentially speed dating, but with motorcycles. In the UK’s warmer months, you can take your time to learn what a model’s all about, but time is a luxury on these gigs, especially when it’s your turn to do something ‘impressive’ on a photoshoot. You can feel the eyes of your mates, the industry, and sometimes even the locals burning as you pop the clutch and hope the front wheel is going to lift in the way you want it to… and when it doesn’t, there’s nowhere to hide – not even in the bar at night. It’s all part of the fun, and it sharpens your mind, that’s for sure. The other thing you do is to accelerate your learning about a product. I find myself making so many mental notes that I bleat them out in abundance to a voice recorder the minute I stop for two seconds. In all honesty, a launch is only that first taster session, often governed by the destination and the schedule you’re subjected to, but most brands nail the formula. In 20 years of doing this, there are only a few gigs I’ve been on when I’ve asked myself what the hell I’m doing there or what I’m meant to take back from the launch, other than a few blurry photos and a potential hangover.
On a more positive note, a launch is also a great place to get a feel for a manufacturer’s focus and enthusiasm for the year ahead and the new models in its pocket. Every now and again, there are bikes that slip onto the market without so much as a press ride to Skeggy, and you can’t help but feel that those bikes are a little less loved by their creators. Why didn’t they make the cut and get their own launch? It gets the mind wondering... but then again, sometimes it’s just a matter of poor timing or limited budget. The last few years have been pretty sporadic in terms of who’s got what on the cards, but there appears to be more consistency in the air in 2024, which is exactly what we want. Actually, the main thing we want is just loads more great bikes – and you’ll find four such examples in this issue, so I’ll tap out at this point for you to get stuck in, and reading what we make of them.