The pneumatic tyre was invented by John Boyd Dunlop in 1888 for use on push-bikes. Boyd also invented the word �pneumatic�. Slick tyres offer more grip in the wet than treaded tyres up to the point at which they aquaplane. Modern sports bike tyres don�t contain any natural rubber. Front tyres disperse water at three times the rate of rear tyres. When cornering, 75 per cent of a bikes grip comes from the front tyre. The GS in GSX-R denotes four cylinders with overhead valves. The X means four valves per cylinder and the R is for race replica. Vespa means wasp. Cucciolo (the name of the first Ducati) means puppy. Hayabusa is the name of a Japanese falcon that preys on blackbirds (you gotta larf!). It was also the name of a WW2 Kamikaze fighter plane. Steve McQueen didn�t do the famous 65 ft motorcycle jump in The Great Escape. American Triumph dealer Bud Ekins did it � in one take. The first Honda motorcycles were pushbikes with generator engines for army field telephones bolted on. Yam