I was browsing todays pictures at sportbikerider.us, and a picture of the YZR M1 was the pictures of the day. I know over the past couple years I've seen some more sharp edges on GP bikes, but in general most GP bikes usually have more curves to them, and are some of the best looking bikes I've ever seen, meanwhile superbikes just keep getting shaper and more angular, and in MY opinion, uglier and uglier. Is there any specific reason for that? I know that GP bikes are made for nothing but racing and being fast, while superbikes have to appeal somewhat to the consumer market, and maybe other people aside from myself like the sharper angles?




As far as superbikes go, I know I tend to lean towards some bigger/rounder looking bikes as the ones I've always liked.... ZX7R, late 90s GSXRs, cbr900rr. None of the current lineup does anything for me. The cbr600rr is probably the best looking out of the bunch, but I still have to say I think the 2003-2004 was the best looking version they made.

What do you guys think about it?

I agree with you that a lot of the sport bikes are being overstyled.  I think the best era was around 2003-2005 as far as looks go for most of the brands.  The only thing I can think of (like you) is that the designers who do the GP bikes truly only have speed in mind, while the designers for the SBK (and thus street due to homologation requirements) do have to appeal to the everyday consumer.  Plus I think that a lot of hotshot young designers are trying to prove themselves with 'modern' designs - before they can make it to the racing development teams.

I think the 2003-05 R6 was especially good looking, and the new CBR1000s and especially the new Ninjas look terrible.

The design difference is simple. GP is an experimental racing class. The bikes are custom made one off creations, the rules actually preclude using production bike parts, alot of the testing and development done in GP trickles down to bikes we see on the show room floors, the honda unit link rear swingarm design was born in GP racing.

SBK is production based. You basically get a bike off the showroom floor throw the street legal compliance parts like lights and mirrors away and are allowed very few modifications from stock. A manufacturer actually has to make and sell x thousand number of the exact same units to the oublic every year to homologate  a bike and keep it legal for racing in AMA or WSBK.

I don't know much about the subject, but I totally agree that production sport bikes are getting way over-styled these days.  I'm not exactly sure who they think they are selling to, but I can assure you it isn't me.  Most of the new bikes don't appeal to me at all.  So much sweeping, angular plastic I can hardly tell what I'm looking at anymore. 

The '01-'02 Yamaha YZF bikes were the most beautiful of recent years, IMO.  The new Kawi ZX-R bikes make me want to claw my eyes out.

I hate the new kawasakis. I hear they're great bikes, but I just think they're so unattractive. It just looks like there was no effort put into the tail at all. It's a shame because I loved the tail on the 03-04 zx6r. I wasn't crazy about the ones before those either. As far as the faired SBKs that I actually find attractive......

2003-2004 zx-6r, I've been trying to like the new one, but it's hard


This bike has always been gorgeous. It's a little heavy and underpowered for a 750, but is supposed to make an awesome street bike. If I was a bit bigger I'd be more likely to consider one, but I'm a small guy, and a bike that big would just make me look smaller. haha


Don't know what years they made this one, it was somewhere around 98-2001. This color scheme in particular is my favorite yamaha I've seen.


This is my favorite looking 600, but I've heard that it was way too track focused and not that great for the street. If I was 19 still I'd consider that a good thing, but I'm not.


I've always thought these things looked awesome. If I was getting a bike that I knew I'd want to stay covered in plastic, I'd want one of these, but I know any bike I get is most likely going to get stripped down, and these are some of the worst looking bikes to strip with how big the tail is. Even if you replace the tail the tank is still too round to look right. That storage under the rear seat makes me drool though...


These things are just great looking bikes.....  The only 1000cc Honda's I really liked after this one was the Erion edition 929, other than that they didn't do much for me


In general I think the more plastic and curves, the better it looks. The zx6r gets dragged in just because I started loving the tail from the z1000, and naked bikes look better with less plastic.  I'm not going to drag more exotic looking bikes into this, but most of the great looking ones have more plastic as well. The side panels and tails on bikes like the MV Agusta F4 and the Ducati 996/748 were always big and those bikes looked great.

Quote from: tt_four on December 11, 2009, 09:48:09 PM
I was browsing todays pictures at sportbikerider.us, and a picture of the YZR M1 was the pictures of the day. I know over the past couple years I've seen some more sharp edges on GP bikes, but in general most GP bikes usually have more curves to them, and are some of the best looking bikes I've ever seen, meanwhile superbikes just keep getting shaper and more angular, and in MY opinion, uglier and uglier. Is there any specific reason for that? I know that GP bikes are made for nothing but racing and being fast, while superbikes have to appeal somewhat to the consumer market, and maybe other people aside from myself like the sharper angles?




As far as superbikes go, I know I tend to lean towards some bigger/rounder looking bikes as the ones I've always liked.... ZX7R, late 90s GSXRs, cbr900rr. None of the current lineup does anything for me. The cbr600rr is probably the best looking out of the bunch, but I still have to say I think the 2003-2004 was the best looking version they made.

What do you guys think about it?

Amen, TT!  You described why I don't like what I call "robobikes".  Sure, the performance is dazzling, but just looking at them makes me say "OVERKILL!!"  I also prefer curves to angles.  Women have curves, and they are beautiful.  For this reason I would much rather ride a 60's race replica than a late model superbike any day of the week.  I may be a fossil, but I don't think motorcycles were meant to look like Transformers with wheels, with its various systems intertwined into an almost unrecognizable nightmare of wiring, hoses, and plastic boxes, covered by half an acre of expensive plastic panels.  No romance for me there.  I was married by the time Transformers hit the air so my imagination wasn't influenced by it as today's sportbike designers undoubtedly were.

New sport bikes completely lack what I think is an essential aspect of motorcycling, and that is the beauty of simplicity.  They are not very beautiful nor are they simple.  Nor are they cheap, but that's a whole other subject.  They are popular however, proving that motorcycling means something somewhat different to every helmeted person you ask.

My question TT is why the erion? The erion was nothing but a paint job, exact same bodywork as the regular 929, also the erion exhaust was not part of the erion 929's but an aftermarket one many dealers installed to sell the bike.

I actually think the 954's are much sleeker and don't look bloated and misshapen like the 929 did. Just my .02 but then again I might be biased.

Yeah, I don't know what the deal is. I think I just like the paint job so much, that I can overlook the general shape of the bike. As far as the 954 and 929s go, I don't necessarily think they're ugly bikes, I think there's just nothing special about them. I look at them and just go "eh..." because they do absolutely nothing for me. Tossing in a good paint job takes them from being completely average(in my eyes) to actually being good looking. It's not like newer R1s or zx10rs that I think are so ugly that no paint job could ever help.

The Erion CBR is like that female friend you've always had, and never given a second thought to because she always just wears jeans and a t shirt, never stood out and you're so used to her being around that you never think of her as anything more. Then all of a sudden halloween comes and she puts on a sexy pirate costume and you're just sitting there like "WTF just happened?!!?"