Real life in the fast lane

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10 April 2012

Mark Prigg ditches his usual car for the super fast and easy Daytona 675, and is all praise for a two-wheeler lifestyle in the city...

Triumph Daytona 675

Price: £8,399;
Weight: 407lb;
Engine: 675cc, liquid-cooled, DOHC 3-cyl;
Max BHP: 124

Growing up in a small Welsh town, learning to drive and owning a car was a rite of passage - and, in fact, the only way to get out. However, in London car ownership has become almost frowned upon, with residential parking fees, worries over emissions and congestion meaning you're rarely out of second gear.

Despite this, I've always owned a car in the capital - until six months ago when I got rid of my company car and replaced it with a motorbike. The bike - a Daytona 675 - has performed
amazingly, as has the firm itself.

The Leicestershire-based company said sales rose by 1.5 per cent to 7,562 bikes last year as the overall industry suffered a slump of 14 per cent - allowing it to boast that it sells more bikes with engines over 500cc than any other manufacturer in the UK. The increase means the British group increased its share of the overall motorcycle market from 13 per cent to 16 per cent in 2010, according to data prepared by the Motor Cycle Industry Association.

It has been an amazing success as the firm - which is owned by the housebuilding tycoon John Bloor and has the former trade minister and
champion of British manufacturers Lord Jones on its board - was bought out of receivership 27 years ago. After six months with its flagship racer, it's easy to see why.

On the surface, my Daytona is an absurd bike to use as an everyday machine - a thoroughbred racing machine designed to be used on tracks, and a regular competitor in the top tier of British motorcycle racing.

It's got a 675cc, liquid-cooled, DOHC, inline three-cylinder unit getting fed through an advanced multipoint sequential electronic fuel injection system with forced air induction. It's been tuned to squeeze 124bhp at 12,600rpm out of it. On a bike weighing 407lb what this means is that it's fast - really fast.

However, it's also proven to be one of the best do-it-all bikes I've ridden. It's astonishingly quick, but also very stable at low speeds. It's also not too wide, so squeezing through gaps is possible. Another advantage of having such a monster engine is its unlikely pedestrians or cyclists won't hear you coming - although the downside is that my neighbours aren't keen on my early starts in the office. There are, of course, some issues with commuting on a sports bike - there is virtually no storage apart from a tiny area under the seat, and also nowhere to stash a helmet safely.

However, thanks to the absolutely brilliant £50 Pacsafe helmet bag, that's not been a problem - it has high-tensile metal wires in a mesh to keep your helmet safe when locked to the bike, and a waterproof outer layer and a soft protective inner liner so once it's locked to your bike everything stays safe.

Going away with friends or giving lifts is also a bit tougher (I don't have a family, which obviously makes things easier) - although my friends brave enough to ride pillion have, after the initial fear, enjoyed the experience.

There's also the difficult issue all riders face when commuting - what to wear. I've settled for leaving a suit in the office, and it generally works well, although I've had to go to the odd meeting in motorbike boots. It's also well worth investing in very light, summer trousers with full padding - they're perfect as you can easily wear suit trousers underneath.

In fact, the only times my plan backfired was a few days in December when my Brixton side-street iced up and heading home to Wales for Christmas - icy roads simply aren't a good idea on two wheels, in my (painful) experience. Otherwise, even the motorway holds no fear, with trips down the M4 actually being preferable to the drive at peak times, as you can simply weave through the gridlock until Reading.

However, using a motorbike as your main mode of transport does require a few lifestyle changes.
Ocado has become a favourite website, and I've not set foot in a supermarket for months. I also signed up to Streetcar, the innovative "pay as you drive" scheme, and despite having cars available on my road, I've never used them - the bike is so much easier and faster.

It's been a fascinating and surprising experiment, and one that has left me convinced that, for now, motorbikes are the future - for me at least.

The new Jaguar XJ purrs perfection

Jaguar XJ 3.0 diesel
Top speed: 155mph 0-60 mph: 6 secs;
Emissions: 184g/km;
Price: from £55,500;
Combined fuel consumption: 40.1 MPG (claimed);
Max Torque: 444lbs;
Max BHP: 275bhp at 4,000rpm

My colleague may (almost) have forsaken the car for two wheels but for those of us with kids, sometimes only four wheels will do. And when the car in question that needs to be driven is Jaguar's awesome-looking new XJ model, it's certainly no hardship.

"Ours" turned up in fastidiously applied Lunar Grey paintwork, nicely set off by Jet/Ivory interior trim and cool Ebony veneer. "Glueing" it to the road were beautiful 20-inch Kasuga alloy wheels. She was an absolute beauty.

Jaguar made a bold decision with the new XJ which has enjoyed - broadly speaking - the same shape for many years. The new one is a real departure and a bold one. And from most angles, the redesign is stunningly successful.

While it's still unmistakeably a Jaguar and still - obviously, from its size - the flagship XJ, it is now a very different car from its predecessor. While older models might have been fast they were also fairly soft-riding; better suited to wafting along rather than racing.

With the new model, Jag's engineers have kept the legendary magic carpet ride but it's now more controlled, making the latest XJ a great high performance proposition for serious drivers.

The steering, as usual, is light - at least compared to some others in its class - but it is unfailingly accurate, pleasing to use.

The test car came with a 275 bhp 3.0-litre V6 diesel that was both strong and subtle. Supremely quiet for an "oil burner", it delivered a powerful punch with (and this is what makes all the difference) a prodigious 443lb of torque (low-down pulling power) from just 2,000 rpm. It adds up to 0-60mph in a superfast six seconds and a top speed electronically limited to 155mph. Other engines include a normally-aspirated 385bhp 5-litre V8 petrol, a 470bhp supercharged 5-litre, and a 510bhp version of the bigger V8, too, delivering a blistering 0-60mph time of just 4.7 seconds.

It's the way that the car manages these turns of speed that is impressive, however; always composed, always fun.

David Williams

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