The closest I have come to the feeling of a bike on 4 wheels was my old Tiger Kit Car. Small, light, open and had a very revvy Toyota 4AGE engine. Brilliant fun
It was, I had a few sports cars when i was younger but have swapped cars for bikes now as they are much cheaper...
It was from the mk1 mr2 and the corolla gti. 1.6 twin cam, absolutely brilliant little engine. I swapped the injection system for a pair of dellorto 48s and ran a ford dis coil setup to make life a little easier. The fiat 20v lump is a cracker, that would be awesome in a lightweight kit!
I think the love of the swinging motion is something very deep-seated. Kids play on swings and roundabouts. People enjoy funfairs - not necessarily to scare themselves, but just to enjoy swinging and rocking motions. Babies are rocked by their parents in prams and arms. Is it something to do with the weightlessness you experience as the motor hauls you upright again on the acceleration (because that's the best bit)? You get some of this in a car, but it's much more powerful on a bike.
It's the speed, innit. Sure some sportscars may be quicker through a set of bends, but they don't feel as fast. It's the feeling of speed that's more important than the speed itself. I can't help feeling all the modern trinkets on modern bikes is robbing us of some of that all-important feeling. Those of a certain age will remember well how exhillarating a good death weave on a fast sweeper is...
That's why I love my SF. You live every single mph on a naked and the SF's complete absence of electronic water-wings make it feel like an old-world analogue brute in a sanitised digital world. Even better with the state of tune its in now. Its like an angry pitbull looking for a fight.
It doesn't surprise me that it was the Route Napoleon which prompted this post. I've ridden it twice and loved it - possibly my favourite road ever. I think there's something about the way the bends there flow into one another - not too tight and hairpinny after the initial climb out of Grasse, but you can keep the momentum going and swing from one into the next - combined with good visibility, a lack of traffic and perfect weather which makes it such an awesome ride. My other half used to have a Westfield kit car - I never drove it (non-adjustable seat) - but hated being a passenger as it combined all the sense of exposure to the elements, and sensation of speed, you get on a bike, without my being in control (needless to say I'm not a very relaxed pillion). I think the sensation of speed and acceleration is critical.
That looks like a fun machine! Cars should not be undervalued for thrills round the bends. The closest I've come is an Ariel Atom on a track that would steer on the throttle and was an absolute buzz (and easily get past other much more expensive exotica). On the road it's much easier to get thrills on a bike though but there is the element of the extreme harm you would come to if you get it wrong. I drive a Volvo on the road.....
The nearest I've come to excitement on 4 wheels was being chased through London by the police, in a Transit full of tools and co-workers...
