Superbikes Today

[CVA-42]

My neighbor has a long history of building and running drag cars but hasn't been around motorcycles much, although he did just buy a Burgman for commuting. A few weeks ago, we were talking about drag times and so forth and I told him that there are bikes being built today that can do quarter miles in the nines, 0-60 in under three seconds, 0-100 in the mid-fives, and some with top speeds of nearly 190 mph right out of the box. As in stock, no mods. As a car guy, he seemed surprised. The latest Cycle World has a comparo of the Aprilia RSV4 Factory, BMW S1000RR, Ducati 1198, and Kawasaki ZX-10R and they bear all of this out plus they do an assessment of these bikes' factory-installed traction control systems. I'm familiar with the stats but every time I see them again in print, I'm still kind of amazed. So, I was wondering - - does anyone on this board own such a crazy-fast machine? Has anyone ever ridden one? What's it like in the real world? I'm not sure I can imagine it. The fastest bike I ever rode was a probably a 600 Kawasaki. Plenty fast, but not like these liter bikes.

[dougie]

I rode a Kawasaki 600 Ninja on a track.
If I used everything it had, things were happening faster than my mind could process them.
Maybe it's an age thing.
I can imagine riding a current sportbike because they are virtually flawless. State of the art.
Using something like a Yamaha R1 to its full potential I can't imagine. I bet very few riders can do that.

[Sibbo]

A mate lent me his 695 Monster Ducati recently and offered to sell it to me at a very reasonable price . I took it out for a 50 km run ,it's fast and a lovely bike but nothing like the big boys .It was still too fast for me ,I wouldn't trust myself to ride it all the time .

TOO DAMN FAST and oh so nice !

[SteveD]

.....
Using something like a Yamaha R1 to its full potential I can't imagine. I bet very few riders can do that.

The last insurance assessor I spoke to has a saying...

There are 2 types of R1's. Those that have crashed, and those that will crash!

I had a FJ1200 over 20 years ago. That was a torque monster and got to high speeds in the blink of an eye. Those new bikes would leave it for dead!

[Deleted User 62]

I can imagine riding a current sportbike because they are virtually flawless. State of the art.
Using something like a Yamaha R1 to its full potential I can't imagine. I bet very few riders can do that.

Just a thought, our airheads were "state of the art" back in their day, but how many of them were ever used to their full potential? You see the Boxer Cup guys scraping valve covers left and right, when was the last time any of us did that?

[dougie]

You see the Boxer Cup guys scraping valve covers left and right, when was the last time any of us did that?

On purpose?

[Chuey]

I had a R1100S and it was much faster than my airheads. It's still worlds slower than the new fast bikes. It was no problem at all, in any sense. I'd like to try the really fast bikes but I would need to try one before buying. I see ads where guys are selling fast bikes because they're "too much bike for me" or "too fast for me".

I am no knee dragger (I'd love to be able to do that). Still, I love to go fast. I'd like to go 200 mph in my lifetime. Maybe I'll buy one of those super fast bikes, do 200 and sell it. When I went 145, it was like heroin. OK, I don't know what heroin is like, but it was a really great feeling. After that, 90 seemed like 25. If it didn't get all wobbley, 200 would be enough for me. I'm pretty sure. Yeah, 200, then I'd sell it.

Chuey

[Deleted User 287]

In 1978 I bought a Yamaha XS750. That was the first time I tried 100 MPH. Very cool. Especially how quickly one passed the cars and how quickly they disappeared in the mirrors.

I doubt if I went more than 5 or 10 miles at that speed, though. I seem to attract cops like flies to shit.

That was the most powerful bike I've ever owned. I would take a FJ1100 in a heartbeat, just for the lovely styling.
KiO knows what I'm talking about.

[ME 109]

Bullet proof engines on them thar FJ1100
They were my second choice for a sport tourer 18 years ago. The RS was 1st choice.

[Sibbo]

I had a R1100S and it was much faster than my airheads. It's still worlds slower than the new fast bikes. It was no problem at all, in any sense. I'd like to try the really fast bikes but I would need to try one before buying. I see ads where guys are selling fast bikes because they're "too much bike for me" or "too fast for me".

I am no knee dragger (I'd love to be able to do that). Still, I love to go fast. I'd like to go 200 mph in my lifetime. Maybe I'll buy one of those super fast bikes, do 200 and sell it. When I went 145, it was like heroin. OK, I don't know what heroin is like, but it was a really great feeling. After that, 90 seemed like 25. If it didn't get all wobbley, 200 would be enough for me. I'm pretty sure. Yeah, 200, then I'd sell it.

Chuey

220 ?