Bond's bikes in No Time To Die will leave you shaken and stirred

Fast and flashy cars are a staple in almost every Bond movie.

The Spy Who Loved Me made me a fan of the 007 series, and I am always captivated by the explosive, action-packed chase scenes.

I thought that if James Bond's Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me was capable of spitting oil onto a chasing car's windscreen and destroying a helicopter by launching a missile while submerged in the sea, then I would definitely want such a car.

Likewise, in Die Another Day, his invisible Aston Martin V12 Vanquish, chased on ice by a Gatling gun-firing Jaguar XKR, looked simply out of this world.

As I got older, of course, I realised it was all just Hollywood CGI.

Motorcycles have also been featured in Bond movies, providing for similar thrills and spills.

While not as outrageous as the exquisite cars, the Kawasaki Z900, which launched an exploding sidecar towards Bond's Lotus Esprit, was a breath of fresh air.

Bad guys had cool tricks up their sleeves too.

In Never Say Never Again, Sean Connery gets behind the handlebars with a rocket-boosted Yamaha XJ650 Turbo.

He - or most likely his stunt double - rode it with lots of wheelies, brake slides and burnouts.

While the Yamaha is a street bike, nobody noticed its suspiciously long suspension travel or dirtbike tyres in the film.

In Tomorrow Never Dies, Pierce Brosnan upped the ante when he rode a BMW R1200C while handcuffed to Michelle Yeoh, fleeing machine gun-firing pursuers in the narrow streets of Saigon.

STUNNING STUNTS

The stunt sequence made me sit up in the cinema, especially when the pair jumped their motorcycle through a window - over a helicopter - to get to another building's roof.

In real life, you could bottom-out your suspension or injure yourself badly in a botched landing.

But this is Hollywood, where only the bad guys get hurt.

If there is one Bond frequently seen on two-wheelers, it is Daniel Craig.

From Skyfall, where the motorbike chase scene takes place on rooftops in Istanbul with the majestic Hagia Sophia mosque in the background, to Quantum Of Solace, where he jumps his dirtbike onto a boat, the British actor displays his death-defying bike skills.

In No Time To Die, Craig's last adventure as the famous secret agent, he rides a Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE.

Leaked behind-the-scenes footage shows it launching off a ramp onto a crowded European town.

The near vertical ramp and almost flat landing spot make you wonder if the motorcycles that make the silver screen possess the same capabilities in reality.

Another Triumph featured in the same movie is the Tiger 900 Rally Pro.

A Bond edition of the bike in black, with 007 labelled on its fuel tank, is available worldwide in limited quantities.

Unfortunately, that means only one rider gets to own it here in Singapore.

While the dual-purpose Bond bike may not possess laser-guided weaponry, it is top-shelf machinery with safety and performance as top priorities.

The question is its $45,000 price tag before COE and insurance.

Will it stir your interest or leave you financially shaken?