Another shot clearly shows the exhaust styling to be way ahead of its time, our photographer Guy 'big 'un' Cope reported unusual vibration through his whopper as the new bike passed, rumours were rife in the paddock that it was to replace the dated 1098 and be named as the 851, ayoung revvy whippersnapper, a throwback to 'the good 'oll days' an old man was heard to whisper in the paddock.
Just checkout that radical swingarm !
As can be seen from the spy shots, white wheels are already in place, radical styling can now be seen, all the early shots covered in foam and tape were clearly a diversion, this shot still shows the fairing in matt black, although a dead giveaway to colour is the red tank and front mudguard. The bike is understood to be very narrow, although it is unclear what height the rider in this shot is, all that could be gleaned from a girl in the paddock was - "he was a big lad" - she went red and scuttled off ?
Yeah she did. She said 'These new camera phones are blooming marvellous and its a good job it has an excellent zoom feature as I had to zoom right in.'