Absolutely the bike to have in 2005, the K5 is so small and fast it makes everything else feel a bit short of go and rather unwieldy.

The bike is incredibly easy to steer and hustle down a twisty road, although the payback is a shade more nervousness in long, fast bends. But that is more than made up by the heroic entry speed you are now able to demonstrate to your awed mates following along on their Yams and Hondas ... well, until the 2006 Yams and Hondas come out of course.

Nice growly engine with that immediate injected throttle response, and a very scary top end. Makes anything else seem a little bit flat, although in head to head riding there's nothing much in it so it's more down to the way the Gixer presents the power than the absolute amount of it.

People have been dribbling on for years about litre bikes feeling like 600s, or even 400s come to that. Well the K5 really is getting close to 600 handling territory, although you'll still struggle to stay with a good 600 on a bendy road. But you won't be wearing your boot out on the gearshift. Shame about the 1958 Stephenson steam steering damper, but you at least have an excuse to buy a decent one!

Looks-wise ... well, it's a strange beast but beauty is in the eye of the beholder so we won't slag it off too much.

The exhaust can is an odd triangular affair, of considerable girth and is undeniably weird, but grows on you after a little while, and at least it isn't heating the seat unit up to RC30 temperatures! Anyone who's ridden the current R1 on a hot day will appreciate the cool seating afforded by a standard pipe setup.

And the sooner manufacturers stop sticking red hot exhausts under bloody seat units the better! What's that all about? Still, it did give us a good laugh at John's heated-bum expense in Amboise last year. Suffice to say he chopped the Yam in for a K5.

Another advantage of the exhaust - it allows you to strap some luggage on the back for your continental jaunts, although the little indicator wing things do get a bit in the way of the bungees. And you can get a fair amount under the pillion pad, which makes a nice change from the new 'Blade or the R1.

More strange design ideas ... indicators stuck on the back of the mirrors - or perhaps the mirrors are stuck on the back of the indicators. Either way, they're handy for track days, removing both of these vulnerable sticky-out bits in one, or rather two, fell swoops.

Mind you, anyone who does track days on their cherished road bike is mad as a hatter anyway, and you realise that removing odd bits was a complete waste of time when you watch the whole lot dismantling itself as it tumbles through the gravel trap and eventually smashes terminally into the barrier.

But this bike is very very good. Whether or not you want something quite this good on the road is up to you. It does take away a little bit of the challenge as the kind of entry speeds this thing can comfortably manage are getting beyond the level of bottle available. Well, speaking personally anyway. I mean, just how fast are you prepared to enter a blind gravel-strewn bend just before you disappear up some horses arse? ...