Back in the 1980s a friend and I were thumbing through an American motorcycle magazine when we saw a picture that’s stayed with me ever since.

When Claudio Castiglioni bought MV Agusta back from Harley-Davidson in the summer of 2010 he must, surely, have wondered at his good fortune.

Moto Guzzi’s thoroughly revised V7 Special is hardly lacking in authenticity. Not only is it built in the same factory as the original V7 machines of the 1970s, its engine is directly developed from the V50 of the same decade.

Audi has bought Ducati, as expected, in a deal which has cost the car manufacturer £708 million (€860 million, US$1130 million) plus responsibility for Ducati’s liabilities, thought to be around £150 million (€180 million, US$240 million).

Another year and another new market sector for BMW. The Germans rocked the motorcycle world with the S1000RR two years ago, a bike which barged into the high performance superbike sector and not so much trod on the toes of the established Japanese order, it knocked them all sideways with its ultra-high spec and searing performance.

It's rare enough for to any manufacturer to admit its new adventure bike is a rival for BMW, even when that's stating the very obvious. But Triumph has gone a step further, it's not only said the R1200GS is in its sights, we've been told some rather more contentious stuff about the German bike...

If we needed a definitive answer to the question, which is best: conventional sports tourer or adventure bike, Honda’s new Crosstourer should help provide the answer.

Wrench open the throttle, feel the bike beneath you writhe as it punches forward with hungry force, and you’re not thinking about breathtaking technology, taut and feline style or searing performance. It’s much simpler than that: the Ducati 1199 Panigale is just the sexiest motorcycle ever built.