Learners
The smallest class of full-sized geared motorcycle. Most use two-stroke engines - simple but powerful for their size, and running on a mixture of petrol and oil - but four-strokes are taking over. You fill the two reservoirs separately, and they are mixed to the correct ratio before being sucked into the cylinder. The oil plays no part in the combustion process, but is there to lubricate the cylinder. This is what produces the trademark white smoke...
There are also manual-geared 50cc two-strokes (companies such as Rieju and Aprilia offer sports and trail-style 50s) and a number of interesting 125s - including small-engined replicas of larger off-roaders, cruisers, sports bikes and trails. Many of the recent firms to launch in the UK specialise in quirky, learner-powered alternatives.
Small Sports
250s: Two-stroke nutters with race-bred chassis and amazing peak power for the engine size. These make excellent track bikes as they steer very quickly and only get going in the top third of the engine's rev range. The same features make them somewhat awkward to ride in town.
400s: Once an unheard-of capacity in the UK, the 400cc race replica class has been big in Japan for years, and there is still a roaring trade in importing new and used examples. Kawasaki now sells its ZXR400 as part of the official UK range and importers' showrooms are full of Honda CBR and VFR 400s. These are a good entry into the world of sports bikes, as they are fast-steering, fine-handling screamers with a good power-to-weight ratio, if not much low-down pulling power.
Restricted A-Licence Legal
This recently introduced licence allows riders to take their test on a smaller machine (usually 125cc) but restricts them to machine of 33bhp or less for two years. Trouble is, there aren't many new bikes over 250cc that fit the bill - Cagiva's Canyon and River 500s are about the only contenders.
Your other option, instead of buying a bike specifically designed to fit the new law, is to have a more powerful bike restricted. Most bikes can be converted, see your local dealer for details.
Commuters
Generally half-litre motorbikes that produce about 50bhp. Many, such as Kawasaki's GT550 and Honda's CB500, have been around in one form or another for donkeys'.
These are simple, rugged, often unfaired bikes, usually with proven inline four-cylinder engines or V-twins, and decent comfort and range. Most are capable of reaching just over 100mph (which is plenty on an unfaired bike) and some will easily exceed it. Some, like the Honda Deauville, have maintenance-free shaft drive instead of a chain.
750 Roadsters
A traditional style and capacity that was popular in the Seventies and Eighties, and now the entry point for those who want a proper, grown-up naked bike with all the essential features.
That means a 750cc-odd, 80bhp-odd engine, understated looks and a decent range - but no unused sport/touring addenda. Honda's CB750, Kawasaki's ZR-7 and Suzuki's GSX750 epitomise - and pretty much sum up - this dying breed. They're well priced but not the most exciting bikes.
Muscle Bikes
A large engine in (usually) a traditional, tubular steel frame clad in basic, unfaired body parts. So they're big and powerful but lack the handling prowess of supersports bikes (with which some share their engines) and their wind protection.
It's a popular class and one that's getting bigger and better all the time. The latest entries (Yamaha Fazer 1000, Honda CB1100SF X-11) also handle well.
Naked 600s
A very popular class that was arguably started by the appearance of Suzuki's 600 Bandit, but is now so competitive that the boss has been left behind by Honda's Hornet and Yamaha's Fazer 600.
The engines are modern, smooth, flexible and powerful, and the chassis able to cope with being ridden like a full-on sportsbike. Quirky alternatives to the standard include Ducati's Monster 600 and Suzuki's pair of SV650s.
Sports 600s
The most hotly contested category of motorbike on UK roads, it's the usual fight between the four Japanese brands with the occasional challenge by British or Italian marques.
600cc bikes now produce as much power as many much larger bikes, but because they are small and light they also steer and corner very quickly. Many buyers are finding larger capacity sports bikes to be intimidatingly powerful and are opting for something cheaper, smaller, nimbler, less likely to fly past the national speed limit in three seconds flat - but still very focused and enjoyable.
The current leaders are Yamaha's YZF-R6, Honda's CBR600F, Suzuki's GSXR600 and Kawasaki's ZX6-R. Triumph also entered the fray with the TT600 and Ducati aims at a similar (though wealthier) buyer with its 748 series.
Supersports
The modern sports bike era was arguably invented by the Suzuki GSX-R750 and subsequently reinvented by the Honda Fireblade and again by the Ducati 916. Since then, lightweight, aggressive twins and fours - many of them road versions of World Superbike contenders - have become the stuff of bikers' dreams.
The born-again biker and the conspicuous consumer snap these models up in large numbers. They are still small and light but very, very powerful - too much for some. It's almost impossible to exploit their abilities on the public road. If you rarely get a chance to use your superbike on a race track, which is about the only place you can open it up and keep your licence or head, you might be better off with a Sports 600.
Ultimate Sports
Having a flagship that's officially the fastest production bike on the planet does wonders for the kudos of the entire brand, or at least that's the thinking behind bikes like these.
Five years ago it was Kawasaki's ZZR-1100, then Honda's Blackbird and now Suzuki holds the crown, it's GSXR1300 Hayabusa having clocked just under 200mph in standard tune. Kawasaki attempted to steal the crown back with its ZX-12R - only missing the mark by a couple of mph but producing a sweeter handling machine in the process.
Generally these bikes are easier and more pleasant to ride than you might imagine, and would be an interesting way to cross Germany in record time.
Sports Tourers
The do-everything bike, for those who need one machine that is capable of commuting and touring two-up, but also has the suspension, balance and engine performance to pass for a sports bike when you need one.
Honda's VFR750 (now VFR800) has been generally regarded as the best all-rounder, but Triumph's Sprint ST, Aprilia's Futura and Ducati's ST4s each make an interesting and very capable alternative.
Tourers
Comfort for two, weather protection, tank range, effortless performance - these are the attributes of the tourer.
Large, windcheating fairings, fat comfy seats and large, unstressed engines makes these among the largest, thirstiest motorbikes on the road. Consequently, although they are nimble for their size, they mostly feel huge when you're threading through city traffic. The police ride them all day, every day, so that must mean something...
Retro/Cafe Racers
As motorbikes become ever more computer controlled and technologically advanced - and distant from their dirty-fingernailed origins - there are those who long for a return to the look and feel of older bikes.
The advantage of modern retro bikes is that most use modern mechanical components and electrics, so should be as reliable as any other modern bike, but look like an old, 'proper' bike - with an exposed engine, rounded tank, shiny silencers and not a ounch of plastic in sight.
Both Triumph and Kawasaki have launched very convincing replicas of the original Bonneville, Moto Guzzi produces a great-looking café racer in the V11, and Royal Enfield and BSA are still selling the real thing...
Cruisers
Harley-Davidson is the grandfather of the cruiser genre, and almost every other cruiser on the market is at least partly a copy of something the great Milwaukee manufacturer has built. That means two big cylinders in a vee, a long, low body and relatively high handlebars.
These machines have their own style and do not have the speed, refinement and handling priorities of other types of bike, but generally make a lot of noise and show about proceeding relatively slowly. All the Japanese bike makers have a cruiser or two in their line-up, and most are very good at what they do.
Trail
Unlike enduros (see next page) which look like off-roaders but are not (they're the two-wheeled equivalent of a Toyota RAV4), these bikes are designed to be driven on loose, lumpy surfaces.
Low weight, a long-travel suspension, a high seat, wide bars and knobbly tyres help them in this department, but can make them less suitable for road use. If fitted with road tyres, though, they can be very effective traffic tools, easy to thread through narrow gaps while the high seating position gives a great view of the road ahead.
Enduro
Styled like large trails bikes, or Paris-Dakar enduro bikes, these are essentially built for the road.
They are mostly too heavy to ride on loose or soft surfaces and have smooth, road tyres - great for tarmac, terrible for gravel. But the tall riding position gives a good view ahead, and some of the larger models (such as BMW's R1150GS) make excellent touring bikes.
