The Most Iconic Superbikes Ever Made – From pre-war Hendersons and Harleys to classic dirt bikes of the 1970s, the collector motorcycle market is hot and getting hotter. The market for Japanese superbikes is on the rise, and big power sports bikes from the late 1960s – early 2000s are quickly gaining popularity. Many have already reached big money territory, but these machines have been churned out in large numbers, and there are still many important big-bore bikes from Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha that can be bought cheaply and enjoyed as they increase in value. .
This is the bike that started it all. The original superbike of the modern era, it was the fastest and most sophisticated thing on two wheels when it debuted in 1969. Unlike the British bikes from BSA and Triumph, it offered electric start, a disc brake and a five-speed gearbox with the shifter on the left. Fairings weren’t a thing yet, so these Hondas are bare bones with their air-cooled single overhead cam 736-cc inline four-cylinder on display. Although heavy by today’s standards, at about 500 pounds, they packed about 67 horsepower at 8000 rpm, which was huge at the time, and they could hit 125 mph. The engine also revved to 8500 rpm. Good condition CB750s are still out there for under $10,000, but values are on the fast track.
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Although this model was sold from 1992–2003, the original design, with its distinctive round headlights and perforated hoods, is fast becoming a classic. These machines redefined speed when they were new and revitalized the sport bike market with revolutionary power and weight savings. They are powered by an 893-cc DOHC inline-four with water cooling and around 100 hp. And they only weigh about 450 pounds—about the same as Honda’s 600-cc sports bike at the time. Most were white, red and blue. Good condition examples are readily available for less than $5000, including bikes in the more rare black, silver and red paint scheme.
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These bikes were designed to compete in the Superbike World Championship, where they won two championships with riders Colin Edwards and Troy Bayliss. In 2002 it also won the AMA Superbike title ridden by the late great Nicky Hayden. They are powered by a fuel-injected 999-cc, water-cooled, 90-degree V-twin that produces around 133 hp, mated to a six-speed gearbox. RC51s only weigh about 440 pounds dry, and they can run above 160 mph all day. Despite their incredible engineering, speed and racing pedigree, RC51s are cheap. They can be found for under $5K, and low mileage, factory stock, all original examples are still under $10,000.
This is the bike that Kawasaki created to dethrone the Honda CB750. Which it did. When the Z1 debuted, it was an engineering masterpiece and the fastest and fastest bike you could buy. They are powered by a 903-cc inline four cylinder with air cooling, DOHCs and four carburetors. It was the first large-displacement Japanese bike to get a DOHC valvetrain, and the engine made just over 80 hp, making it the most powerful four-stroke street bike the country had ever produced. At a time when Detroit was toning down performance, Japan’s motorcycle manufacturers were still improving it. These bikes can reach 130 mph. Good condition examples are out there for under $10,000.
This is Kawasaki’s first motorcycle to be marketed in America under the Ninja name. It’s also the first sports bike to reach 150 mph, plus it’s the bike ridden by Tom Cruise
. (Have you seen the trailer for the sequel?). Powering these full screen machines is a 908-cc inline four cylinder with liquid cooling, DOHCs and four valves per cylinder. In the United States they made 115 hp at 9500 rpm. The engine was used as a tension member of the chassis to increase its stiffness and save weight. These Kawasakis were made for 12 years, so there are still plenty out there and they can be had for under $5000. The earliest examples probably have the most benefit.
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These Kawasakis also lived a long life, with production lasting from 1989–2003. Although the machine has improved over the years, we prefer the first iteration, with its flat round headlamps and exposed ram tubes, which cooled the top of the engine with fresh air through holes in the front fairing. These bikes were very successful on the racetrack, winning many championships around the world, and they were very popular on the street. They were powered by a liquid-cooled, 16-valve, DOHC 748-cc inline-four and made over 100 hp at 11,500 rpm. And, like the GPz900R, they had an aluminum frame. Most were green, but Kawasaki also built some black ZX-7s, which have a coolness to them
It’s amazing that these bikes are so cheap. Super clean examples of these superbikes are out there for around $7500 and many are priced under $5000. When the Suzuki GSXR1100 debuted in 1986, it was the LS-6 Chevelle of superbikes, with more than 1000 cc of displacement and around 150 hp. The engine is a water-cooled, 16-valve DOHC inline-four and has a top speed of 185 mph. They were heavy, weighing over 550 pounds, but they were fast. They were also known to be a handful, and Suzuki added some wheelbase and changed the swingarm design in 1995.
SRAD, which stands for Suzuki Ram Air Direct, is a cold air intake system that feeds the Gixxer’s airbox through vents in its front fairing. It was just one of the revolutionary pieces of engineering that made these bikes so fast and so cool when they debuted in 1996. Their aluminum Twin-Spar frame was modeled after Suzuki’s RGV 500 Grand Prix bike, and Suzuki’s new engine was small and light, even using magnesium bits to save weight. These machines packed almost 130 hp at 11,500 rpm and could hit 185 mph, but they were also compact and handled as well or better than any other superbike on the market. And their styling was as forward-thinking as their engineering. Today they can be purchased in good condition for less than $5000.
Ask any superbike enthusiast about the fastest and most extreme factory bikes ever, and they’ll mention the Hayabusa. These big-bore machines were built for top speed with a long wheelbase, a sleek, aerodynamic fairing that covered most of the bike, and a fuel-injected DOHC four-cylinder that made a claimed 173 hp. The frontal area was kept to a minimum and the Hayabusa had ram tubes to feed its massive 1299-cc powerplant. Terminal velocity was over 190 mph. The top speed wars were on, and in 2000 Kawasaki’s Ninja ZX-12R came to beat the ‘Busa. The bike was rumored to be able to do 200 mph, causing problems with the fun police in Japan and Europe. A “Gentleman’s Agreement” was reached to limit all superbikes to 186 mph. Today it is an official regulation that remains in place. Clean Hayabusas can be had for under $5000.
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These Yamahas were all over the streets of America in the mid-1990s because they were light, fast, compact and looked killer. Only the R model was sold in the United States; unfortunately the SP, which was a homologation special for World Superbike Racing, was never imported. The standard bike features a 749-cc inline-four making about 120 hp, which was a ton since the YZF750 only weighed about 490 pounds. Like all superbikes of this era, modifications were common, but these bikes sold in huge numbers, and you can still find clean, unmolested examples out there for under $5000. Walk away from the beaters.
When this bike hit the streets 21 years ago, it was like something from outer space. It was so radical. That revolutionary. So fast. The bike magazines said the R1 could hit 60 mph in less than three seconds and cover the quarter mile in about 10 seconds flat at more than 130 mph. Wow. Top speed was 170 mph. The original R1 was small and light for the one-liter class, and it packed 140 hp from its carbureted DOHC engine, revving to 11,750 rpm. The whole bike weighed about 420 pounds dry. Updates were made over the years, including a suspension change in 2000 (which smoothed out the ride), bodywork that same year, and fuel injection in 2002. It was the king of sportbikes in 1998. Today, nice examples cost around $5000. The Honda car company started in 1948 and entered the US in 1969. Since then, it has made hundreds of interesting models of motorcycles. With a population rebuilding after a devastating war, the opportunities to build cheap transportation were plentiful. Honda’s first products produced were gasoline engines attached to bicycles, which provided the cheapest and most basic form of transportation during the most difficult times for post-war Japan. The company grew rapidly from that point and became a global phenomenon when it introduced the Super Cub, which became the best-selling vehicle in the world.
Honda is known for the impeccable reliability of its product in all the areas in which it operates, from motorcycles to cars and outdoor power equipment. The company was also responsible for numerous technological breakthroughs, such as its CVCC