29. Straight Talk:The best SUPERBIKE in India

This is one question that keeps popping up every time a group of biking enthusiasts get together."Which is the best superbike?" I’ve personally been asked the same questions countless number of times. Earlier in the day, way before I owned a superbike, I used to be thrilled to answer this question. Those days I considered myself to be a Mr. Know it All. However my opinions were never original. Whatever opinions the big names in the motorcycle journalist’s world recommended I would accept as mine and begin the task of spreading the word.

There were not too many people in my engineering college who were well educated in appreciating superbikes. I used to take it upon myself the job of imparting to them the nuances of this obsession. The bike that featured high on my list was the R1. Many of you reading this post will also be sharing a similar opinion. The only reason I loved the R1 so much was that it was so beautiful to look at. Unless you own a superbike, the only sense with which you can judge a bike is by looking at it. Hence the bike that appealed to me most was the one that I considered best.

Little later in the day when I befriended a superbike mechanic, I got to touch and feel the bikes a little more. My loyalties from the R1 quickly shifted over to the Gixxer for the simple reason that in the mechanics opinion the Gixxer was a far more evolved bike. My fascination was towards the GSXR 750. I thought that the 750 was a great displacement for a superbike. Don’t ask me how I came to that conclusion even before I’ve ever ridden a superbike.

When I was in business school I happened to see a video of the 600RR on youtube. That video was shot with so much style that I fell in love with the bike. Also all the magazines claimed it was the best bike in the world. These two reasons made me freeze on the bike I decided that I would buy. Unlike the car market where you can take a test drive and decide, in the biking world that’s not much of an option. A year ago I got myself a middle weight CBR600RR. The boy I bought it from let me ride it for 100 meters. That’s the first time I ever rode the 600RR. However I had already decided on buying it even before I took that test ride. I’ve had the bike with me for a year now and I’ve done close to 10000 KM on it. Now its time for me to tell you if all those bike magazines were right about the 600RR being the best bike in the world.

The answer is "not really". Please don’t get me wrong and assume that the 600RR is a bad bike.. its an incredible bike, but is it the best bike in the world? No its not. So which is the best bike in the world? The answer is going to be complex but let me make an attempt to answer it.

One should understand the effort put in by biking firms when they begin creating a bike. Every biking company of repute begins by trying to make a machine that’s the best in the world. They do hundreds of hours of research, talking to riders to understand their needs and figuring out ways to improve on the product. It takes about three years for each of these companies to bring in a new model and trust me this is even with best engineers working on it. Finally when its time to roll out they give their bikes to a few big auto magazines. The mags employ top championship riders to evaluate the bikes on parameters which are closely related to circuit racing. After doing 10 to 15 laps on the bikes they sit together, discuss and bring out the verdict. Very fair exercise for anyone planning to buy the bike to use in a racing circuit. The real question is how many of us are buying the bike for its closed circuit racing abilities?



Barring these auto magazines most other critics tend to rate bikes based on their specifications. In my opinion rating a bike based on what you see on paper is a terrible folly. Mike Tyson weighs close to hundred kilos and is 5’10 inches tall. A year ago my height and weight were close to that figure too. So on paper if Tyson and me were to be in a boxing ring we should be having an even fight right? In reality we know that I’d be lucky to last even 10 seconds.This is because Tyson has way better skill than me. Similarly its a bikes "feel" that is most important.
A bikes on road characteristics never ever come out on the specs sheet because Torque and Bhp are not exactly the only attributes that make a great bike. Several other softer attributes often are far more important than the above two. Let me list down some of them

1.Smoothness of the engine
2.Effective engine heat management
3.Quality of Brakes
4.Level of Vibrations
5.Sitting position
6.Suspensions
8.Exhaust System
9.Leaning ability
10.Reliability
11.High Speed stability
12.Finally the looks.

Tell me how do you put a number beside any of these attributes.? Its impossible as they are qualitative attributes. However at the same time these attributes are so important to make the ride a far more involving one. Over the last year I’ve had the good fortune to ride almost every bike there is to ride in India. Until I rode each of these bikes, my ignorant mind kept telling me that the 600RR is the best bike in the world. But I convinced myself to have an open mind while I rode the other bikes and trust me I found joy in everyone of them.

I love the rough, raw power of the R1, the butter smooth power delivery of the Blade, I’m amazed by how light and nimble the Gixxer feels while having all the power of a litre class. I’m taken to another world of luxury on a Busa- incredible how the guys at Suzuki made a superbike feel so comfortable. I love the simplicity of a monster 796. The incredible looks of the street fighter, the elegance of the 848, the low center of gravity and rumble of the Harley V twin and the gut wrenching acceleration of the ZX- 12R Ninja,The all round practicality of the Bandit, the attention grabbing ability of the Intruder...

All the bikes I’ve been on had that one special thing about them. We should realize that companies go a long way to fine tune that special spot. That’s what makes these bikes so unique.

Another very important reason why you or I can never ever judge a superbike is because we don’t have yet the skill or the expertise to master these machines. I’m yet to come across a rider in Delhi who has managed to exploit the full 100% of the bikes potential. Unless we are masters of the machine we ride, its unfair to pass a verdict on the same. Let me give you an anology. Riding a litre class bike in India today is like owning a 200 channel Television in 1995 when there were only 20 or so channels in the air. We simply don’t have enough road to even push these machines to their max.

Hence in the limited infrastructure that we have all similar class bikes will behave more or less in the same manner. If we do a blind test, that’s covering the riders eyes and make him test all the bikes without telling him which is what( not a great idea) it would be very hard for him to identify each bike as the street skills of all these bikes are almost at par with each other.


Hence the only true method with which we judge these bikes are with the heart and all of us do it so well all the time. I’d like to tell you that all bikes are special, everyone one them was built with a lot of time, money and love behind it. So go on and keep an open mind. Love every bike and appreciate each one for what its worth. To finally answer which is the best Superbike in India? Its actually rather simple..It’s the one that’s sitting in your garage right now. You would not have spent your hard earned money if you thought that its anything less than the best, will you?