Top 5 Superbikes

Ever since the bicycle was invented in 1817, man has been fascinated by movement on two wheels. The thrill and the convenience it offered was extraordinary. This lead to a push in innovation and the world got its first “cycle with a motor” — motorcycle in 1867! But that was only a steam powered motorcycle. But true to the nature of man, we kept toiling till we got our first internal combustion motorcycle in 1885 (it was the Germans and they have kept up with that! ). Man has kept up ever since, pushing the boundaries of what is possible to finally give us the most advanced version of a motorcycle – the super bike!

A super bike is a high performance motorcycle with a relatively higher engine capacity. While there is no universal definition of a super bike, most motorcycles are called super bikes based on engine capacity and performance. Typically, motorcycles in the 600cc engine capacity range and above qualify as super bikes. It is typical of most enthusiasts to term 1000cc motorbikes as super bikes.

Note: the general use of the term super bike is not to be confused with the use of the WorldSBK’s (World Superbike Championship Racing) definition of a super bike, which is very specific and has known to have undergone changes over time.

Super bike features and characteristics
Engine (the heart of a super bike)
Super bike engines are relatively larger. Duh! More engine more to play with!
They can start anywhere around the 600cc (cubic centimeter) mark like the Honda CBR600RR and can even go upto ~1440cc, like in the case of the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14 .
Most super bikes are usually in the 1000cc displacement range as enthusiasts would put it. Some of the popular super bikes in the 1000c range are as below:

Super bike Engine Capacity
Kawasaki NINJA® ZX™-10R 998cc
Yamaha YZF-R1 998cc
Ducati Panigale V4 R 998cc
Suzuki GSX-R1000 998cc
Aprilla RSV4 RF 999cc
Honda CBR-1000RR 998cc
BMW S1000R 999cc
What is also important to note is that a lot of super bikes have 4-cylinder engines. Inline-four cylinders to be precise are a staple of the super bike industry. Super bikes may also be built around three cylinder engines such as the Triumph Daytona and the Street Triple. KTM interestingly has been using a two cylinder engine for its naked super bike the Duke 1290. But it is the inline four cylinder that is the most common and synonymous with super bikes.

Speed and acceleration (super bikes are fast!)
Super bikes are known to be fast. With such high performing engines it comes as no surprise that they can go fast — really fast! But it’s not just about the top speed, it’s also how quickly can one get to those high speeds and which is what acceleration is all about. For newbies with little or experience with performance motorcycles, it is super important that they are very careful when first starting out with a super bike. In my experience, it would be best to first own a less powerful motorcycle before buying a super bike. Some amount of riding experience on an entry-level performance motorbike would be ideal. One such motorbike that comes to my mind is the Duke 390.
For super bikes, the tremendous power available on tap can be very enticing and tempting. The important thing is to remember that if you ride well and with care, you might ride for long 😂! Get what I am saying?! Responsible is the word my friend!

Check out this video of the Kawasaki H2R, which has been ridden to 400km/h — a pinnacle of top speed! A point to note here though is whether such a super bike is street legal or not! Well, in this case it is not!