Those of you who know me won’t be surprised to read that my twin interests are techno-gadgets, and fast transport. The house has, of course, been wired for a computer network; there’s a server, a couple of desktops and a laptop scattered around, not to mention assorted peripherals. Nothing outrageous, no gigahertz Athlon or anything - but more than enough to be going on with.

On the transport front, the current company car is a Vauxhall Vectra SRi estate - only the 2-litre four-pot version, I’m afraid. This has proved reliable, although relatively boring, over some 80,000 miles - it does have masses of grip, and can be hurled around corners unfeasibly quickly. It will hopefully be changed for something different over the next few weeks - not a company car, since I’ve decided to take the money and buy a second-hand car for myself.

So for seriously fast transport, it’s down to the bike - a Honda Firestorm. 1,000cc V-twin sport-bike - each time I ride it, I get a huge smile on my face. It seems almost ridiculous that something this fast, and this much fun, can be legal to ride on the road.

But it also has to go, once finances allow. It might be fun, but it sure isn’t practical; being a sports bike it’s no fun at all on motorways, being too harshly sprung, the tank is ludicrously small - maybe 120 miles to a tank, ridden normally, a bit less given some stick - it’s very difficult to carry luggage, and the mirrors are almost useless. Figuring out what to replace it with is tough; maybe a VFR750, or (preferably) a BMW R1100S.