Superbikes 2012

Superbikes 2012

Nine bikes, two tracks, Workhorses and Exotics, we search for the ultimate road-legal track weapon in two price ranges

400POUNDS. 185 HORSEPOWER. 9-SECOND QUARTER-MILES. 180-mph-plus top speeds. Piloted by some of the best riders in the world in AMA and World Superbike races. These facts demand attention. With prices starting under $14,000, the liter-class superbike is typically 50 to 100 times less expensive than any of the few exotic automobiles that can begin to rival its performance.

And, of course, the story keeps getting better. This year, the new-from-the-ground-up Ducati 1199 Panigale S threatens to shake up any established superbike order, while the rest of the pack continues with the incremental improvements that have made this class the quickest and fastest motorcycles in the world.

To see where the 2012 Superbike competition has landed, Cycle World enlisted the aid of recently retired AMA and World Superbike rider Eric Bostrom (E-boz to fans and friends), rented the delightful and demanding Miller Motorsports Park tracks (both East and West Courses), and hosted nine manufacturers for two days of testing.

Some of the key provisions of the test: Lap times would be decisive for the racetrack portion. Manufacturer representatives could be on hand to witness the testing and help with chassis setup. Bostrom would run testing and setup laps on each bike, followed by an out lap and four official timed laps. Other riders of various skill levels would also participate in testing.

This year, we broke the showroom-superbike class into two groups, based on price. On Day One, the under-$ 17,000 “Workhorse” superbike group—consisting of the BMW S1000RR, the Honda CBR1000RR, the Kawasaki ZX-10R, the Suzuki GSX-R1000 and the Yamaha YZF-R1—would all run on Dunlop Sportmax Q2 street/trackday tires on the Miller East Course. (KTM was invited, but couldn’t supply an RC8R in time.) On Day Two, the over-$20,000 “Exotic” superbikes, comprising the Aprilia RSV4 Factory APRC, the Ducati 1199 Panigale S, the Erik Buell Racing 1190RS and the MV Agusta F4 RR attacked the West Course on race-spec Dunlop D211 GP-As—except for the Panigale, which ran on Pirellis (see “The Pirelli Question” p. 48). Additionally, the fastest of the Workhorses would also be mounted up with the D21 1s to see where it stood versus the Exotics. And dyno, dragstrip and top-speed numbers would help answer why these machines were fast or not. Track performance is the emphasis here, but we also ran all the bikes in the real world for the “Street Smarts” sidebar.

Grab your helmet. It’s time to ride. —Steve Anderson