For years supersports bikes formed the backbone of Biking Britain. Now, after years in the wilderness, a new generation of supersports has arrived including Ducati’s Panigale V2 S and Yamaha’s R9. Freed from capacity limits and loaded with fresh road focus, the big question is whether either can thrill with the same single-minded purity as Honda’s screaming CBR600RR. The answer is revealed in this month’s group test.
As well as spending time with today’s machinery, this issue we revisit the past by gatecrashing the Suzuki RG500’s 40th birthday party, then explore the future by explaining the tech that’ll power tomorrow’s engines. We’ve asked experts to divulge zero-cost techniques that instantly make you faster, head behind the scenes at Britain’s newest bike manufacturer, ask Mat Oxley to rank racing’s angriest riders and join Nick Sanders on a 20,000-mile lap of Europe. All this and plenty more besides…