P138
CN II LOWSIDE
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
Aprilia certainly knew how
to make the RSV look as
good as it rode. Could a
new model be
on the horizon?
APRILIA, WHERE
ART THOU?
they would be in current spec.
Also, the manufacturers are not
selling enough 1000cc sport-
bikes to keep propping the class
up.
Only BMW, Ducati and Honda
have invested in 1000cc sport-
bikes in the last five years, and
that's
not good enough to keep
that particular ball rolling.
The supersport class, on the
other hand, boy, howdy! This is
where the action is if you're a
A
few months ago, I wrote a
column on the changing
face of superbike racing
and how, eventually, the current
next-generation supersport class
will replace 1000cc superbikes.
There are a few reasons for this,
namely MotoGP's new 850cc
rule for 2027 to slow the bikes
down and the fact you can't have
production superbike be faster
than MotoGP prototypes, which
sportbike manufacturer. The class
offers a massive array of diverse
bikes and specs, such as the four-
cylinder machines of the Yamaha
YZF-R6 (599cc), Kawasaki ZX-6R
(636cc) and Suzuki GSX-R750
(750cc); triples from MV Agusta's
F3 800 (798cc) and Triumph's
Street Triple 765 RS (765cc); and
the twins of Ducati with its 955cc
Panigale V2 and the incoming
KTM 990 RCR/RCR Track.
Oh, and the "we-don't-com
-
ment-on-any-possible-future-mod-
els-but-everyone-knows-it's-com-
ing," Yamaha USA spokespersons,
three-cylinder Y
amaha YZF-R9.
There's also the emerging threat