Would you buy a factory special sportsbike?

[98tls]

Had a chuckle at the 4th choice option...........as a bloke who rides 99% of his kms on the road and in the real world the euro options hold no more mystic than the japanese bikes.......after 30 odd years of riding sports bikes ive yet to see a cloaked in mystic...whats the other word i keep hearing...ahhh..character dripping european bike do anything that any of the best jap sportsbikes cant.........in the real world on a real road........only euro i would chuck 30 grand at would be a select few bevel drive dukes.And yes ive owned some italian stuff.........but not anymore.

[onearmedbandit]

In the same way 98tls, yeah I couldn't bring myself to spend $30,000 on a bike that a $20,000 bikes does as well if not better, and is cheaper to insure etc.

Most will be able to tell that I prefer to do my own bike mod's as well, spent over $5000 changing stuff on my bike, not quite to the extent that you have. Although the option to be able to buy a factory special would be good.

However if money was no option I'd have some Euro's in the garage.

[TonyB]

But not Suzuki. Or for that matter Yamaha, Kawasaki, or Honda, not in the way that Ducati and Aprilia do.

I'm sure you know this OAB, but for the benefit of the class- they used to. Quite a number of them ended up here, but they were only made to fulfill the homologation requirements for WSBK. Since the change to 1000cc fours WSBK now has pretty tight rules for the 1000cc bikes, and larger manufacturers (which would be the Japanese) also have to make a lot more than the 500 they used to.

So I guess maybe the Japanese see no point in making specials?

[onearmedbandit]

Oh yes, I remember the 1989 GSXR750R, the OW01, ZXR750RR, all excellent bikes (in that they were tricked up versions of the std models, not saying they were all successful), even the R7 for a recent bike. But for every sportsbike the Euros put out, there is a tricked up factory version right next to it for x amount more.

[98tls]

Oh yes, I remember the 1989 GSXR750R, the OW01, ZXR750RR, all excellent bikes (in that they were tricked up versions of the std models, not saying they were all successful), even the R7 for a recent bike. But for every sportsbike the Euros put out, there is a tricked up factory version right next to it for x amount more.

there for the guys that like hanging out at the exclusive cafes.......... and before i get flamed by militant duc owners im just havin a crack.....

[Sensei]

When I seen the R1 SP I went straight to the Yamaha shop here & asked them to get me one ! a week later they phone for me & said they where unattainable from NZ Yamaha ?? Dream blown so off I went & got a RSVR .