Leo Fender, I salute you. And Mr. Honda.

I have always had a love of beautifully designed machines, or indeed anything that fulfills a design brief. Modern sports motorcycles are one example of finely engineered and functional machines. I still think that my '03 Fireblade is a lovely piece of kit. It's not that it's exceptionally attractive as a whole, but I like to look at it from different angles and study the way the different components fit together. It has deceptive beauty, like the best-looking women. Am I allowed to say that?

It's the detail that matters. It can be tiny features such as the design of the bolts, or small flutes and creases in the metal fabrications. The wrap of the carbon on the rear can. The titanium rear hanger for the silencer. The shape of the tank at a certain angle.

In terms of functionality, it's a very fast bike, easy to ride, versatile, corners, handles, stops, and makes blokes (and the odd biker chick) stare at it when parked up in town. Therefore it fulfills all my needs.

I suppose you could also say that many of the so called 'classic' British bikes from the 70's such as the Triumph Bonneville are beautiful and I wouldn't argue. But they were slow, oily, unreliable and needed constant maintenance.

Most bikers would probably say that the Ducati 916 is easily the best looking bike ever made. I agree. But my problem with it is the electrical faults, the heavy clutch, the instability at slow speeds and the stupid side stand. So, in terms of fulfilling my design criteria it fails. And it cost too much. I'd still like to own one though.

My bicycle , a Specialized Roubaix S-Works with Shimano Dura Ace, Bontrager compact crank, stem and bars is also an example of a machine designed to fulfill a particular need. It works fantastically well. I don't think it's much to look at actually. The carbon frame construction represents an example of using modern materials to achieve improvements in weight saving, strength, flexibility and ease of mass production, compared to metal. Carbon framed bikes are very expensive at the moment, but they won't be in 5 years time. The bikes will be much better in 5 years time too.

Electric guitars are fascinating. Leo Fender is pretty much credited with designing and building the first examples in the early 1950's. He came up with the Stratocaster in 1954 and amazingly his original design has never been bettered. Never. For sure, lots of variations on the theme have come along, some good, many terrible. Gibson, Gretsch, Guild, PRS, Hamer, Rickenbacker, Ibanez, Yamaha and many more have thrown their hats into the ring. Actually the Gibson Les Paul is probably the second most iconic guitar design. Think Jimmy Page. Or Slash if you're a kid. I believe '59 Les Pauls go for £45K or more. I used to know a bloke who owned one in the seventies but he sold it to buy....wait for it....a Betamax video recorder. AAaaaarghhh. Honestly. Now let's not start to discuss VCR's or eight tracks.Or the Sinclair C8.

But in the end, an electric guitar is just a tool. A combination of wood, metal and plastic, and in the form of the Fender Strat you have a 50 year old design which achieved perfection. I suppose one can play any piece of guitar music ever written with a Strat. The original has prevailed. Even more incredible is that Fender designed it to be a mass production instrument, cheap and reproducible for jobbing musicians. Remember, dance bands were the order of the day, not vinyl, cassette ,CD or MP3. What serious electric guitar player does not own a Strat? One more thought. If you buy an electric guitar today, there is no reason why it shouldn't last forever, literally. Virtually no maintenance either. OK, you need to be a little careful with it. Don't leave it in the garden or garage, avoid too much sun and heat, don't prop it on the edge of the settee and change the strings every now and then. The frets need dressing every 5 years or so. Then you can pass it on to your son after you've made your millions. They are relatively cheap as well. Around £600 will get you the best possible USA Fender instrument. How much is a comparable trumpet or a violin? Or a drum kit?

So, before I get carried away, let's all raise a glass and drink to 'perfectly designed tools'.

Suffice to say today I rode my motorbike to work. I'm getting over a virus, so I'm not cycling, but will hopefully do a big ride on Sunday. I received a 'parcel' from King Jacko today of biking goodies. I need to show you my new cycling kit in the near future. I'm off for some guitar twanging. I'm learning some Tony Peluso (The Carpenter's) guitar solos. Guess which guitar I'll use?