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Honda CB 750 Four
The Honda CB 750 Four is the mother of all four-cylinder in-line engines and caused quite a stir when it first hit in 1969 with a full 67 hp and greedy sound. She called the scene simply “Honda Four”, the bike triggered a real motorcycle boom. From 1969, 736 cc, 67 hp, 200 km / h.
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Honda NR 750
V4 engine, 32 valves, oval pistons with two connecting rods per cylinder: the NR 750 pushed the limits in 1992. The technology carrier, limited to 300 pieces and costing 100,000 marks (around 51,000 euros), was and still is a bike for solvent enthusiasts. From 1992, 747 cc, 125 hp, 241 km / h.
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Bimota Tesi 1D 906
The Tesi was the only super sports car of its time to have wheel hub steering. The special front suspension separates the steering and suspension, which prevents the front from submerging when braking. Bimota still carries the Tesi, which has been revised several times, in its range today. From 1992, 904 cm³, 113 hp, 235 km / h.
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Honda CBR 900 RR
With the ambitious goal of creating a super athlete with the weight of a 600 and the punch of a thousand, Honda developed the CBR 900 RR. With 125 hp and a full tank of 207 kilos, it demystified
actually the heavyweight Japanese Superbike competition. From 1992, 893 cm³, 125 hp, 251 km / h.
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Ducati 916
The sport world was at her feet when Ducati presented the classy 916 in 1994. To this day she is considered a style icon. The dreamy design with the excitingly slim silhouette and spectacular technical solutions such as the underseat exhaust shaped an entire era of super sports cars. From 1994, 113 PS, 916 cm³, 254 km / h.
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Yamaha YZF-R1
Yamaha’s R1 hit like a bomb when it was released in 1998: 1000 cubic meters, 150 hp, 202 kilos with a full tank. Such insane values raised the driving dynamics into unknown spheres. From 1998, 998 cc, 150 PS, 270 km / h.
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MV Agusta F4
Five years after the Ducati 916, another machine with breathtaking lines came from the pen of design legend Massimo Tamburini. The F4 is the first MV since the company went bankrupt in 1980. Since 2004 it has had the full liter displacement. From 1999, 749 cc, 126 hp, 273 km / h.
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Suzuki GSX 1300 R Hayabusa
Suzuki’s speed hammer was the first production machine to break the 300 km / h mark. With real 303 things, the clock showed a brutal 340 km / h. In 2001 the manufacturers agreed on a Vmax of less than 300 km / h. From 1999, 1299 cc, 175 hp, 303 km / h.
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Ducati Desmosedici RR
The D16 RR is the first and so far only four-cylinder from Ducati. Only Suzuki’s RG 500 Gamma ever came as close to a racing version as the Desmosedici to a GP racing bike. Limited to 1500 units worldwide, it cost an impressive 61,500 euros in 2008. From 2008, 989 cm³, 188 hp, 302 km / h.
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BMW S 1000 RR
With its superbike first strike, BMW redefined the limits of what is possible. Measured 200 hp and an abundance of excellently functioning driver assistance systems: to this day, the competition is grappling with the S 1000 RR. From 2010, 999 cc, 193 hp, 299 km / h.
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KTM 1290 Super Duke R.
With the “Beast”, KTM represents a new type of sport bike that cuts a fine figure both on the road and on the racetrack. The power nakeds are well equipped and have great undercarriages. From 2014, 1301 cm³, 173 PS, 290 km / h.
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Kawasaki ZZR 1100
The speed bike is the first athlete with ram air inlets. Thanks to the direct air supply, an overpressure is created in the airbox, which has a performance-enhancing effect at high speeds. According to the speedometer, the Kawa ran at 300 km / h, none was faster at that time. From 1990, 147 PS, 1052 cm³, 270 km / h.
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Honda VFR 750 R.
This Honda is better known under its factory code RC 30. The premium racer, which cost around 25,000 marks (almost 12,800 euros) at the time, was built by a specially trained, small team with a lot of manual work. The RC 30 won the newly launched Superbike World Championship straight away. From 1988, 112 hp, 748 cm³, 245 km / h.
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Ducati 851
For years it had been quiet about Italian super athletes. It seemed as if Japan had completely overtaken them. But in 1989 Ducati returned with the 851. It formed the basis for the superbike racer that dominated the World Cup in the early 1990s. From 1989, 851 cm³, 102 hp, 212 km / h.
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Honda CB 900 F Bol d’Or
Bol d‘Or – what a sonorous name! As a tribute to the three Honda victories in a row at the endurance race of the same name between 1976 and 1978, the Japanese brought the CB 900 F to the people in 1979. The engine was considered to be very powerful. From 1979, 902 cm³, 95 hp, 213 km / h.
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Kawasaki 900 Z1
Hardly any other machine had such a terrifying reputation as “Frankenstein’s daughter”. A brutal 79 hp encountered an undersized chassis, and the driving behavior was accordingly unstable. Despite or perhaps because of its reputation, the “Super Four” was a great success. From 1973, 79 hp, 903 cm³, 230 km / h.
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Kawasaki Z 1000
In 1977, Kawasaki donated the “Zett” the full liter displacement that the brand has kept to this day with its Top-Naked. With the switch, Kawa put a four-in-two system on the big bike instead of the magnificent four-in-four exhaust. From 1977, 85 PS, 1016 cm³, over 210 km / h.
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Benelli 750 Sci
The Italian is the first production motorcycle with six cylinders. The chrome-plated six-in-six exhaust system is a real feast for the eyes. About 500 buyers in Germany warmed up for the Sei, a total of about 3500 units were built. From 1974, 748 cm³, 76 hp, 200 km / h.
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Honda CBX
Four years after the Benelli six-cylinder, Honda finally rolled out a straight-six. With its 105 PS, the CBX was the first production bike in the world to break the 100 PS barrier. From 1978, 1047 cm³, 105 hp, 220 km / h.
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Kawasaki Z 1000 FI
First production bike with injection. With this type of mixture preparation, the Z 1000 FI (FI = Fuel Injection) was way ahead of the competition and pioneered this technology. Measurements confirmed lower pollutant values, but consumption only decreased minimally. From 1980, 97 hp, 1016 cm³, 218 km / h.
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Kawasaki GPZ 900 R.
The very first super sports hammer! For the first time, Kawasaki donated water cooling to a Japanese inline four-cylinder. The GPZ 900 R also set standards in terms of driving dynamics and was the first to crack
Production bike hit the 240 km / h mark. From 1984, 908 cc, 115 hp, 248 km / h.
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Suzuki RG 500 Gamma
As a genuine racing replica, Suzuki’s RG 500 Gamma came closer to a racing machine than any other production bike before. The half-liter two-stroke engine with four cylinders in a “Square Four” arrangement enjoys cult status in the scene to this day. From 1985, 95 hp, 495 cm³, 228 km / h.
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Suzuki GSX-R 750
Together with the RG 500 Gamma, the Japanese brought the GSX-R 750 onto the market. The world had never seen a combination of 100 hp and 201 kilograms. The GSX-R influenced subsequent motorcycle generations like no other bike before. From 1985, 750 cm³, 100 hp, 231 km / h.
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Kawasaki GPZ 600 R
The GPZ 600 R is the original mother of all 600 super athletes. What was already apparent in 1984 with the fully faired GPZ 900 R was consistently continued in the 600 series: the trend towards increasingly veiled athletes. From 1985, 592 cm³, 75 hp, 214 km / h.
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BMW S 1000 R.
It is the bare offshoot of the S 1000 RR superbike and, like KTM’s Super Duke R, represents a new generation of motorcycles. Also because of the superb performance of these bikes, super athletes in disguise are likely to lose their importance – unfortunately! From 2014, 999 cc, 161 hp, 258 km / h.
The best sports bikes from 40 years
Overloaded chassis, powerful engines
Content of
They generated hectoliters of adrenaline and sometimes even formed legends: the best sports motorcycles of the last 40 years.
NOften, contemporary witnesses tell true horror stories about indomitable monsters of the seventies, of wildly rolling chassis paired with powerful engines. In fact, the chassis of this era had little to oppose the increasingly powerful drives. Kawasaki’s 79 hp 900 Z1, which a tester reverently called “Frankenstein’s daughter”, is legendary.
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The best sports bikes from 40 years
Overloaded chassis, powerful engines
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The first "Superbike": Honda CB 750 Four
It all started in 1969 with the 67 hp Honda CB 750 Four, which triggered a true motorcycle boom in Germany. With it, the term “superbike” came up for the first time. Displacement and power increased over the years, and in 1978 the 105 hp six-cylinder engine of the Honda CBX broke the 100 hp sound barrier for the first time. In order to avoid a performance race, the manufacturers decided to voluntarily restrict themselves to 100 HP. What nobody could foresee at the time: Self-mortification was to last for a tough 20 years.
They were more revolutionary in other respects. Up until the early eighties, sporty bikes roared through the area undisguised and fairings were reserved for tourist motorcycles or real racing machines. But that changed in 1984 with the legendary Kawasaki GPZ 900 R. It was the first large-scale sports car to wear full fairing, which, however, still allowed a view of the engine. Our selection of the best super athletes from 40 years shows what has changed technically and optically to this day.
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