Sport Bike - Classes

Classes

The Triumph Daytona 675 triple is usually classed as a middleweight or supersport. A Yamaha YZF-R1 998 cc (60.9 cu in) superbike. Touring with a passenger on an open class Suzuki Hayabusa.

There is no universal authority defining the terminology of sport bikes or any other motorcycle classes. Legal definitions are limited by local jurisdiction, and race sanctioning bodies like the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) and the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) set rules that only apply to those who choose to participate in their competitions. Nonetheless, by present day standards in Europe, North America and the rest of the developed world, sport bikes are usually divided into three, four, or five rough categories, reflecting vaguely similar engine displacement, horsepower, price and intended use, with a good measure of subjective opinion and simplification. Marketing messages about a model from the manufacturer can diverge from the consensus of the motorcycling media and the public. Sometimes the classes used in motorcycle racing are approximated in production models, often but not always in connection with homologation.

The sport bike classes in common usage are:

• Lightweight, also called entry level, small or beginner bikes. Some two strokes in this class have dramatically higher performance than the four strokes, being likened to miniature superbikes. Sport bikes with engine displacements of up to about 500 cc (31 cu in) are usually in this class.
• Middleweight, mid-sized, mid-level, or supersport. Some of the models in this range qualify for racing in the classes AMA Supersport Championship, British Supersport Championship and the Supersport World Championship, but many middleweights do not have a significant presence in racing. Displacements of 600–750 cc (37–46 cu in) are typical.
• Superbike, liter-class, or literbike, i.e. 1,000 cc (61 cu in). As with supersport, many of the models in this class compete in superbike racing.
  • Open class, hypersport or hyperbike are terms sometimes used in lieu of superbike as a catch-all for everything larger than middleweight. Alternatively, these terms mark a class above the superbikes for the largest displacement sport bikes with the highest top speeds, with weights somewhat greater than the superbike class.

The terms supersport and superbike are sometimes applied indiscriminately to all high performance motorcycles. Categorization by engine displacement alone is a crude measure, particularly when comparing engines with different numbers of cylinders like inline or V fours with parallel and V twins, not to mention the greater power for a given displacement of two-stroke engines over four strokes.

In the less developed world, smaller engine sizes are the norm, and relative terms like small, mid sized and large displacement can have different meanings. For example, in India in 2002 there were about 37 million two-wheelers, but as of 2008, there were only about 3,000 motorcycles, or fewer than one in 12,000, of displacement 1,000 cc (61 cu in) or more. Similarly, the perception of relative sizes has shifted over time in developed countries, from smaller to larger displacements. When the original superbike, the Honda CB750, appeared in 1969, it was called a "big four," while today an inline four of 736.5 cc (44.94 cu in) would be classed in the middle range.

Besides having product lines that span from entry level through high end sport bikes, many manufacturers add depth to that line by having pairs, or several pairs, of similar sport bikes aimed at riders of different levels. These are designed to appeal to riders seeking more or less extreme performance features. The more expensive model will be in the vein of a race replica, offering the latest technology updated with frequent design revisions, while the lower cost model typically relies on older technology, can have a more relaxed riding position, and is generally more practical for non-road racing tasks such as urban commuting and carrying passengers or baggage, and offering lower fuel, insurance and maintenance costs. Examples of these paired models are Buell's Firebolt and Lightning, Ducati's 916/748 through 1198/848 paired series, Honda's CBR600RR and F4i middleweights and RC51 and CBR1000RR liter-class, several different concurrent models in Kawasaki's Ninja line, and Yamaha's R6 and 600R.