Staff bikes MV Agusta Brutale - Brutale turns storm chaser - MOTOR GERR

The plan was simple enough. The reality turned out to be a tiny bit different thanks to the howling gales that affected the North of England courtesy of Hurricane Katia.

It was supposed to be a two-day trip on the MV Agusta Brutale to Moffat in Scotland to stay at the brilliantly biker-friendly Buccleuch Arms Hotel, taking in five National Parks on the way there and back. I loaded up the excellent MV tankbag and a rucksack and headed north.

That meant the North York Moors, Northumberland National Park, Yorkshire Dales, the Lake District and Peak District and all of the beautiful scenery and roads within. In the end my progress was halted some way into Northumberland, as fierce winds and driving rain forced a retreat into the Lake District. Riding was becoming much less fun than it should have been - and much more dangerous. Savage crosswinds made the normally excellent Brutale handle erratically.

For a card-carrying soft southerner seeing so many deserted, beautifully twisty roads was a treat. I loved every mile of the trip. The bike now has almosy 6000 miles on the clock and continues to run perfectly.

It doesn't use a drop of oil, averages 42mpg (nearer 50mpg when plodding), does an easy 200 miles on a 23 litre tank of fuel (including 40 miles on reserve), the chain hardly ever needs adjusting and a new set of tyres has transformed the way it handles.

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