Several years ago, the Discovery Channel had a show called Twist the Throttle. Each episode of the series featured a different OEM – including Bimota, BMW, Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, MV Agusta, Suzuki and Yamaha. Thanks to reader Tim S, I just discovered that the episodes are still online for your viewing pleasure.
In Discovery’s words, “Discover what it is like to ride these machines on some of the most spectacular racetracks in the world, such as Kawasaki’s Autopolis on the island of Kyushu and Honda’s top-secret proving grounds in California’s Mojave Desert. For the first time ever, outside cameras were permitted on Yamaha’s private test track, Fukoroi, Hamamatsu where TWIST THE THROTTLE put two of Yamaha’s newest sports bikes to the test. The series also travels on the open road through picturesque locales such as Northern Italy’s Futa Pass, which was originally an ancient Roman road linking Florence to Bologna.”
I’ll start you with Part 1 of the Bimota episode. You can keep watching to go through the entire season, or click here to see the complete playlist so you can pick and choose what you want to watch. Either way, it unfortunately seems like part 4 of the Honda episode is missing. Still, there’s enough here to keep you happy for hours:
This bike-uriousity brought to you by Tim S!