Suzuki, Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha.

[MidgetTodd]

there is probably 3% of the people on this board who can ride any bike to its full potential. so yeah pick whatever floats your boat and move on

I can crash any bike to its full potential. Like a BOSS

[2fat2fly]

By bike class.

1000-Honda

750-Suzuki

600-Yamaha

250-Kawasaki

Supermoto-KTM

Touring-Canam

I'll be the guy stuck in the past that points out that only Kawasaki won the World Superbike Championship on an inline 4 cylinder 750.....

[2fat2fly]

My vote is any of the 4 bikes as long as they have a turbo.

I like this guy's position on this.

[Bad324]

They're 95% the same.

this

I prefer Honda's myself but owned a Kawi for a season and an R6 for 2 days that I actually never rode except for on and off the trailer

[MidgetTodd]

My vote is any of the 4 bikes as long as they have a turbo.

Maybe if all you ever ride is a straight line

[J_Copeland]

I am a big fan of the Buell 1190 RS.

Or any Buell for that matter!

[DTM Brian]

Maybe if all you ever ride is a straight line

Big Turbo = LAG = Safe Power for the turns.

[Mr Anderson]

Easy answer, Yamaha r1 and r6. They have proven it countless times.

[89 suzuki gsx]

Easy answer, Yamaha r1 and r6. They have proven it countless times.

This I have heard nothing but praise for the r1

[Mr Anderson]

This I have heard nothing but praise for the r1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-UJ_pkzktk

Yamaha r1

[mfs81]

I think this is a Japanese import discussion, you Italians can piss off.

[Moto-Brian]

there is probably 3% of the people on this board who can ride any bike to its full potential. so yeah pick whatever floats your boat and move on

This. It is essentially pick a color you like and ride it. But, I like Midget's list with exception to the 1000. Right now, the list for me is as follows since we are Japanese only...

1000 - ZX10. Plain and simple. The bike is fast, handles now and doesn't have the chatter issues when pushed like previous models. I gotta say that chasing these things and watching the number of guys running them now, it is the choice to be on. Again, street-wise, I say pick a color. You won't use anywhere near the potential, but they all are wicked and amazing. But, just to add a punch here, until you ride a big bore twin, you have a bike with no soul...

1st - ZX10. Wicked, great chassis, highest performance and awesome tunability.

2nd - GSXR1000. Yes, squid bike, but the newest 1000 has an awesome motor in it finally and I think it pulls itself to second.

3rd - Honda. The new Honda is pretty good. I haven't ridden it yet, but it is pretty good from the comments I have heard thus far. The thing with Honda is that they do not ever push the performance levels and they tend to fall right in the middle. That's cool, but they will never set the world on fire with their machine. But again... It's light, fast and agile. All key ingredients.

4th - Yamaha. Hey Yamaha - Take the fat and old R1 and revise in the mindset of the R6? Great and cool crossplane, but once you drive out of a corner, it doesn't do much after. Handles good though, but reminds me of the ZX7 in the day. The bike actually handled better than people thought but just didn't have the ass it needed where it counted. Longest tooth of the bunch and it is starting to show. 2014 is a design change I believe for the ZX10 and Yamaha better start getting thing put together. BMW, Ducati and the other 3 Japanese are advancing and Yamaha has stayed still a LOOOONG time.

750 - Duh. Suzuki. Only one making it. It's pretty long in the tooth to the point that 600s are really a better choice at this stage in my opinion, but the best nonetheless...

600 - R6. Wicked and razor sharp. The GSXR is close also and honestly, the 636 is going to be a good choice also. I just think the 600s of all the bikes are amazing and REALLY close in performance. The triumph guys will disagree, but at the end of the day, the Japanese are really the best choice. I would say the Triumph is third place behind the R6 and GSXR... I haven't ridden a new ZX6 so I do not know how they are. I think the 600s are so much closer than the 1000s. I think in the 1000s when you start discussing, there is only two at the top and it really is a big difference.

Smaller classes like 250/300? Don't have a clue. All seem very user friendly.

[Moto-Brian]

Big Turbo = LAG = Safe Power for the turns.

I can provide a few turbo racebikes that will suggest lag was always a bit of an issue, but they were so damn fast. The Turbo Twins had two identical CBR900RRs with turbos and they were so damn fast. Holy shit!! During when WERA had the FUSA series when we were running Nationals, those two bikes were so amazing it was crazy. But, yes. They still had some lag. Not much, but enough.

I remember that when at Putnam for a National, they were telling us to watch the wheelies out of 10 and they would black flag for excessive wheelies. One of the twins raised their hands and told Jim that they honestly would try, but it would be very hard and they were not doing it intentionally. They'd wheelie from exit of 10 to almost the start tower!!

[cOoTeR]

It really depends on what you want. Also the EPA has really hurt the ZX-10rs power in the US restricting it by 20-25 hp yet they still keep up with the other liter bikes. Its exhaust system is 50% bad ass and 50% cost savings. The headers are titanium and pretty much the same as you'll find on a full system. The catylic converter (boom box as some call it) is bulky ugly and easy to remove. The can is basically a straight pipe with an exhaust servo in it since the boombox deadens all the noise. So kawi knows everyone is going to pull the exhaust and throw an aftermarket system on and saved them the hassle of needing to get a full system when a slip on with mid pipe will do just as well. It's a nice bike right off the showroom floor but it has a lot of things that can be upgraded but once those are done it is a crazy beast. The rear shock is way under sprung for riders over 150lbs. The gearing is really high some people say it is so new riders are less likely to loop the bike since it has 180hp at the wheel (euro models and unrestricted US). The traction control is awesome but can also be a down side. It allows for little mistakes by correcting them faster than the rider can even notice. The downside is it makes the it easier for an inexperienced rider or a rider that thinks he is an awesome rider to get on and ride hard. Making the bike appealing to squids. The gen4 Zx10r is taking over as the new squid bike. Reading the things that people put on the 10 forums is insane and I now know why my insurance rates are so high. But if you have the patients or money to make the small adjustments to the bike it is an amazing machine. There are guys running 8 sec quarter miles on them without nos or turbos running a stock engine and wheel base. That's crazy what else can you buy put a tune exhaust and gearing on all under $16,000 and run 8 sec 1/4 miles? Then still have excellent handling for the street/road courses? A guy on another forum posted a dyno graph from his 2011 Zx10r. The mods were k&n filter slip-on and it was derestricted. No tune he had 182 hp in the full power mode and 164hp in the lowest power setting. I'm not sure what his torque was. That is without the ram air working since the bike was stationary on the dyno. My old cbr with a slip on and a great tune put out 152hp and 72-75 ft.lbs. if I recall right. That bike was a beast.

The 10 is a great bike if you like doing upgrades that make big differences. It's electronic package is as good as the R1 and no other bike can touch them. The Zx10r is great if you want top end power otherwise go with the R1 or Honda if you want midrange. But as it has been said the differences are tiny pick on that has the best ergos foryyou unless you have a specific task you want it to be better at.

Edited May 16, 2013 by cOoTeR

[Triumph]

I'm with the few others on here that say to get what you like. Unless you're going to race it on a track and can push the bike to its limits, they are essentially the same on the street. Not that I'm opposed to liter bikes but I don't even see a need to get one unless you're going to track it. The performance differences between a 600 and a liter on the street is the difference between sort of sane and ludicrous. Anything more than a 600 class just isn't necessary if speed is the only factor. Not saying I wouldn't own a liter bike if I liked it but saying one needs that power for more than mid range power for easier riding on the street is purely ego.

That being said, buy what stirs your soul or feels best for your frame. Weighing reliability along with safety options, like ABS, is also something I would consider. The new Triumph Daytona 675R gets my heart racing but can't justify the cost over my CBR RR.

Edited May 15, 2013 by Triumph