Sportbikes from Aprilia, Bimota, BMW, Honda, KTM, and Yamaha are the best in the game.
Although the sportbike market has dipped considerably since its heydays of the late 1980s through early 2000s, it is making a comeback. It could be argued that the formulas that drove market success were also its undoing for a while there. For decades the very rules that defined production racing around the world also hemmed in the type of motorcycles that the manufacturers were building.
For ages, the most popular middleweight sportbikes were Japanese 599cc inline-fours, while a few European V-twins and inline-triples eventually joined the party. Superbikes were either 750cc to 1,000cc inline-fours, or a variety of V-twins and later V-4s of various displacements, depending on how the rule makers were trying to balance the competition. Of course, with racing always on the minds of engineers, these bikes became more narrowly focused and also expensive. Many of these machines drifted so far away from the realities of real-world street riding that consumers started looking elsewhere.
And while a bunch of popular bikes still fall into those boundaries, consumers can now rejoice in the fact that a whole new breed of sportbikes have entered the market in recent years. The new focus is centered around ridability and practicality, without losing sight of the fact that sportbikes have to have performance and be fun. One thing that stands out, is that without racing rules locking everything into a silo, engine displacements and configurations are all over the map. So while a few traditional homologation motorcycles are on this list, there are also a lot of machines that were built with a street-rider-centric focus.
Clearly falling into the category of traditional homologation superbikes, we simply can’t ignore the beauty and potency of Bimota’s KB998. Since 2019, when Kawasaki invested in the tiny Italian boutique company, Bimota has utilized Team Green’s powerplants in its beautiful motorcycles. The 2025 KB998 will be the machine that will be fielded as the official entry in the 2025 World Superbike Championship for both companies. At its core is Kawasaki’s inline-four engine, electronics package, and chassis components from the ZX-10RR. While Bimota provides the unique and beautiful hybrid steel/aluminum chassis. It’s all wrapped up in carbon fiber bodywork that has to be one of best looking sportbikes we’ve seen in ages.
For sportbike lovers, this bike is one of the most exciting models to come out of Japan in quite a while. While Yamaha’s YZF-R1 soldiers on as the company’s flagship sportbike; sadly the R6 was put out to pasture back in 2020. And while the R6 is the perfect example of a motorcycle that put all its eggs into the racing basket and totally ignored street manners, the R9 promises to be considerably more well rounded. For years now, we’ve been begging for Yamaha to stuff the beloved CP3 engine that powers the MT-09 into a full-on sportbike, and it has answered our wishes. The last time we put an MT-09 on the Cycle World dyno it produced 107.2 hp at 9,950 rpm and 63.3 lb.-ft. of peak torque at 7,050 rpm at the rear wheel, but we suspect Yamaha might tweak the output slightly for this application. The chassis features a different frame than the MT, with more aggressive geometry, while fully adjustable KYB suspension and Brembo Stylema brakes are highlights. A full suite of electronic rider aids is standard.
Aprilia’s Tuono 660 Factory is the perfect example of the new generation of sportbikes that put real-world riding at the forefront of the design goals. It’s powered by Aprilia’s 659cc parallel-twin engine that puts an emphasis on torque and ridability for street riders. Claimed output is 105 hp, which is a 5 hp bump over the previous model. Chassis updates include an upgrade to a 43mm Öhlins NIX 30 fork and STX 46 shock, both fully adjustable. Brembo brakes all around and a claimed 399-pound ready-to-ride weight should make this a sneaky fast performance machine. Updated styling ditches the former bike’s bellypan, getting it closer to a true naked bike despite hanging onto the small upper fairing.
Despite KTM’s Ready to Race slogan, there have only been a few ultra-limited production, fully faired sportbikes in its range since the RC8 vanished years ago. But that doesn’t mean that the company has put any less effort into building amazing performing naked sportbikes. The new 990 Duke R may not be in the same category as its brutal open-class V-twin siblings, but we can guarantee that this 947cc oversize-middleweight parallel-twin-powered machine delivers balanced and stout performance. With a claimed 130 hp (7 more than the standard model), and weighing less than 400 pounds, the Duke R is undoubtedly a giant killer. Up-spec chassis and suspension components, and advanced rider aids promise uncompromised overall performance. Even better, we’ll see the 900 RC R soon!
We have no idea what this Honda engine is ultimately going to find a home in, but whatever it is, we’re excited to ride it. The V-3 engine has two forward-tilted cylinders and the third extending to the back in a 75-degree Vee. Sources claim the engine displaces around 850cc. The layout makes the engine very interesting right off the bat, but added oomph comes from an electric supercharger that sits just above the front cylinder bank. The advantage of an electric unit is that it doesn’t rely on engine speed to develop boost, which means it can be spun up to help create low-end torque and also avoid the lag that early-generation turbo motorcycles suffered from. The best news? Honda intends to bring it to production in the near future. So whatever that bike turns out to be, we can’t wait to throw a leg over it.
Visually, MV Agusta’s F3 Competizione just drips with Italian style and design. The subtle but elegant paint and details make this bike instantly desirable, but digging a bit further into the details, its specifications make us drool all over the keyboard. The engine is a 798cc inline-triple that MV claims makes 160 hp at 13,500 rpm with the race kit’s Akrapovič titanium exhaust and ECU mapping. In that configuration, the bike weighs less than 400 pounds without fuel. Absolutely top-shelf chassis components from Öhlins and Brembo are included as are beautiful BST carbon fiber wheels and full bodywork of the same lightweight material. Of course it comes with a full suite of advanced rider aids. It won’t be cheap with a price approaching $40,000, but let’s be honest, would you rather have the Competizione or a Toyota Camry?
While we can’t deny our love of Ducati’s amazing and breathtaking Streetfighter V4, there is a reason the Italian company created the Streetfighter V2 a while back: more manageable performance for the masses. For 2025, not only has Ducati created a brand-new middleweight powerplant—the 890cc 90-degree V-twin with spring-controlled valves in place of the traditional desmodromic valvetrain—but it powers this new Streetfighter. The engine makes a claimed 120 hp at 10,750 rpm with 68.8 lb.-ft. peak torque at 8,250 rpm and sits in a motorcycle that weighs just 392 pounds without fuel, a full 40 pounds lighter than the previous-gen model. The braking system is anchored by Brembo’s M50 Monoblocks at the front, while the fully adjustable suspension is either a Marzocchi/KYB combo on the base model or all Öhlins on the S trim. For those not looking for a naked bike, the brand-new Panigale V2 is the Streetfighter’s faired sibling.
Yamaha was one of the pioneers that tried to get away from just building hardcore, track-focused bikes by transforming its naked range into what it calls the Master of Torque (or MT) series of bikes. It has been refining its roadster lineup for years, trying to optimize performance for the street rider in all of the available displacements and engine configurations. And while there isn’t just one engine formula, with triples, inline-fours, and the MT-07′s parallel twin within the family, they all share the goal of achieving the best torque and ridability possible for each engine size. The MT-07 has always performed beyond expectation, but updated electronics and rider aids promise to sweeten the bike’s performance further.
We referred to the KTM’s LC8 V-twin above and called it brutal, but we of course mean that in the most flattering way. For 2025, the big Duke GT gets the larger 1,350cc engine that it shares with the Super Duke R EVO and new Adventure models. In the GT’s state of tune, it produces a tarmac-ripping 188 hp and 107 lb.-ft. of peak torque. Who is the GT for? Take everything that we love about the naked Duke R Evo and tack on some additional wind protection in the front, a roomier cockpit, and a stronger subframe designed to carry luggage or a passenger more easily, and you’re ready to “sport-tour” like never before. While the frame is all new, lighter and more rigid, the bike also gets third-generation WP semi-active suspension, and an upgrade to Brembo Stylema front brake calipers. Of course it comes with KTM’s latest suite of electronic rider aids.
You didn’t think we’d leave the updated versions of the S 1000 RR and M 1000 RR off of our sportbike list, do you? Of course not! As sportbike enthusiasts we can’t hide our fondness for BMW’s flagship sport model. Few would dare argue against the bike’s potency, and after years of trying, BMW now has the trophy to prove it after winning the World Superbike Championship with Toprak Razgatlioğlu. And while there were a bunch of changes to the engines of both machines for 2025, they were largely made to meet the stringent Euro 5+ emission requirements without losing performance. Both are still rated at 205 hp at 13,000 rpm and 83 lb.-ft. of peak torque at 11,000 rpm for US models (Euro models, ironically, make a bit more). The primary changes for ‘25 are to the chassis, aerodynamics, and electronics package. There’s no doubt the RRs will remain as impressive as ever.
