Three Ultimate Euro Superbikes Compared: One Is a Clear Winner

Cycle World tests the Aprilia RSV4 Factory, BMW M 1000 RR, and Ducati Panigale V4 SP2 head-to-head in a racetrack shootout, naming the best superbike of 2022.

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The only things required in the modern-day superbike are the essential go-fast elements of mass horsepower, wicked handling, and a heck of a lot of technology developed at the highest levels of racing. Anything else? Scrap it. Extra interferes with the ultimate goal of the ideal lap time. This is the category that has revolutionized outright road-going motorcycle performance as we know it.

It’s what has made superbikes so super. And every so often, one of these machines comes along and defies the perception of what is possible on two wheels, completely changing our expectations for a high-performance race-bred streetbike. To put things in perspective, a former Cycle World staffer purchased a late-’70s Suzuki GS1000, leaving it in the crate, convinced that performance of such an astonishing level would not be outdone. Boy, was he wrong.

Era-defining motorcycles like the legendary 1986 GSX-R750 followed with its remarkably low weight, high rpm, and unflinching sporting focus for the period. Other milestone machines include the wicked 1998 Yamaha YZF-R1, then the fabled 2005 Suzuki GSX-R1000 otherwise known as the K5, and more recently the technologically sophisticated 2015 Yamaha YZF-R1. Each represents a new realm in conceivable performance relative to its period and was built with the rules of production-based Superbike racing in mind, in order to win on Sunday and sell on Monday. Because if you want a great racebike, you have to start with a great streetbike...

Full story here: https://www.cycleworld.com/story/motorcycle-reviews/aprilia-rsv4-factory-vs-bmw-m-1000-rr-vs-ducati-panigale-v4-sp2-comparison-test/

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