Adventure starts here… review of the best bikes

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Just because the weather isn't great, it doesn’t stop us fantasising about cruising around the country on some of the best motorcycles available on the planet. Whether you are looking for a new purchase in time for the spring and summer or just love drooling over bikes, here are our top four for 2014: Suzuki V-Strom 65A great all-rounder at a fabulous price (£6899 basic), the Suzuki V-Strom is the kind of bike that makes you feel like man was born to ride a motorbike when you mount it. It’s got great balance and touring ability. The seat is extremely comfortable and there is still plenty of room to get into a comfortable position when the seating is upright. Suzuki V-Strom 650 is a great practical bike - it is the kind of machine that you will feel comfortable using to commute to and from work, especially with its six inch wheel travel, so it isn’t necessarily just for showing off at weekends!

Yamaha MT-09

This fantastic Yamaha bike, with impressive speed and good handling, comes in at a basic price of £6799. The Yamaha MT-09’s frame is light and agile and it comes with a high performance Torquey three-cylinder engine, which still feels smooth. The bike can climb to a top speed of 140 miles per hour. Even at high speeds, the stability of this bike is impressive, despite the fact that it has a sit-up-and-beg position. The bike certainly sets male hearts aflutter with its low price; it undercuts the Street Triple by no less than £200, and probably reflects Yamaha’s overarching business strategy to veer slightly more towards creating practical but sexy and well performing bikes for everyday people.

BMW R nineT

Definitely one for hip youngsters with an eye for bikes that just look plain jaw-droppingly awesome. The BMW R nineT stands out with its striped, colourful front, slightly vintage feel and black black rims. It also has a brushed-aluminium tail part that gives this bike something of the cafe racer about it. It is built with the air and oil cooled 1170cc boxer engine. The engine has 88 pound-feet of torque and reportedly is also endowed with a 110 horsepower. You can nab this bike when it comes on sale in March. The price is not yet confirmed it seems but could be around the £11,000 mark.

Honda Gold Wing F6C

This is a monster of a bike. Honda says it “injects a shot of adrenaline into the performance cruiser arena” and maybe it does. Honda motorcycles have a reputation for pushing the boat when it comes to creating the wow factor and the Gold Wing is no exception. The black version looks like it was part of the Batman movie set and even in the other colour options the bike wouldn’t look out of place in a hard rock music video. This is a naked version of Honda’s Gold Wing. There has not been any compromise on the 1832cc six-cylinder engine, which it is still built into this scaled-down version, but the vehicle is 70kg lighter, weighing in at just 341kg. Other extras in this new version of the Gold Wing include radiators on the sides rather than on the front and a subframe made from aluminium. The F6C also has 115hp at 5500 rpm and 123ftlb torque when at 4000rpm. The European price is not yet clear but the cost in the USA is said to be around $17,000.