Gallery: Comfy Sportsbikes test – taking the softer option

Published: 09 September 2016

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Tired of being battered into submission by an uncompromising race replica? Maybe it’s time you considered a more real-world sportsbike

MCN investigates the best of the current options for riders who are looking for sportsbike performance from a bike that boasts slightly softer edges than the current crop of race replicas.

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We love the fact that bikes such as the Kawasaki ZX-10R, Yamaha YZF-R1 and Ducati 1299 Panigale are essentially WSB racers with lights. But with speeding penalties increasing and the prevalence of dash cams and our Big Brother surveillance society, it’s becoming far too risky to let a modern superbike stretch its legs on the road.

We took Suzukis GSX-S1000FA, Kawasakis Z1000SX and Hondas CBR650F to the Isle of Weight to test their real world potential and see if you really do need an all-out thoroughbred sportsbike or if the slightly softer option will give you everything you need.

Read the full story in this week’s issue of MCN. On sale now.

Looking for the perfect two-wheeled companion? Visit MCN Bikes For Sale website or use MCN’s Bikes For Sale App.

By Jon Urry

MCN contributor, original 916 & R1-owner, human Labrador, thoroughly nice bloke. Working for over 20 years in the motorcycle industry, Jon not only has an encyclopaedic knowledge of bikes, but has also interviewed many key players in the motorcycle industry, including designers, factory bosses and legendary racers. Still a passionate motorcyclist with child-like enthusiasm for two-wheels, Jon has a collection of both modern and classic bikes that he maintains himself and he writes a weekly column in MCN (newspaper) about used bikes and the state of the motorcycle market.