Australia is awash in Honda CT110 motorcycles. It just went on sale to consumers in 2009, but it's been the best-selling bike in Australia for decades. How? "Posties".
The Australian Post (as well as the New Zealand Post) snatched up tens of thousands of Honda's diminutive thumper for postal delivery, and it's a perfect fit. The CT110 is great on gas, ridiculously easy to service, and it comes with a clutch-less four-speed transmission that give Posties a free hand to shove mail into boxes. It is not, however, a speed demon, which makes it a perfect fit for James May.
So when Captain Slow landed in Sydney for the Australian stop of the Top Gear Festival, he and his producers had an idea. Get four clapped out CT110s and four racers to create the inaugural All-Australian Postie Grand Prix.
Superbike champ Shawn Giles, Superbike racer Glenn Scott, stunt rider Matt Mingay, and 125 champ Josh Hook saddled up and unleashed the full fury of the 200-pound, 8-hp bikes, and the result is one of the closest races you'll see – particularly if you're tired of watching Marquez dominate this season's MotoGP.