With super naked bikes getting better, faster and downright sexier it’s no wonder they sell in the numbers that they do. With eight strong contenders vying for the super naked crown, part one of our mega-test sees the best Europe has to offer put through their paces.
Put your hand up if you love getting naked. I know I do – you can have all sorts of fun when you’ve got your kit off, and the same can be said for riding naked motorcycles. And if you like big, fast, naked motorcycles you are well and truly spoilt for choice these days with more than a strong handful of 140bhp+ options to choose from. And as we don’t like doing stuff by half here at Fast Bikes, for our latest monster-bike mega-test we’ve rounded up eight of the best super naked bikes available and well and truly put them through their paces.
We know that when you’re thinking of parting with your hard earned for whatever latest and greatest steed you so wish, you’re going to want to know all the details about it, so not only have we munched many hundreds of miles on the each of the bikes, to give you a detailed and fair assessment of their manners on the road, we have gone to the ends of the Earth (well, Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground) to get some proper, scientific data on each bike. We’ve got 0-60 times, lap-times round the test track and of course an all-important wheelieability rating.
Carlos was put in charge of 0-60 times as he is, to all intents and purposes, a child, making him the most computer savvy and therefore able to work out how to use the launch control systems on selected models. Dangerous Bruce loves talking about his lap-times (“1:34 round Cadwell you know…” Yawn), so we thought we would give him the job of setting some blisteringly fast laps round Bruntingthorpe’s test track. And since I (Boothy) am the only one who can wheelie a bike for longer than it takes the shutter to open and close on a modern camera, I was tasked with pulling the biggest mingers I possibly could (it just so happens that I’m the best at that, too) on Bruntingthorpe’s 3km runway.
So we could give you the most concise, in-depth and considered appraisal of each of the models, we’ve decided to concentrate on the four European bikes in the current issue (#347), and then give the four Jap bikes the same treatment next issue which in #348. The results might just surprise you, because they bloody did us!
So if you want to know if the BMW S1000R, KTM 1290 Super Duke R or the new Triumph Speed Triple 1050 RS had what it takes to bump the all-conquering Tuono off the top step, pick up the mag here!