The fastest production motorcycle for a given year is the unmodified motorcycle with the highest tested top speed that was manufactured in series and available for purchase by the general public. Modified or specially produced motorcycles are a different class, motorcycle land-speed record. Unlike those records, which are officially sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), production model tests were conducted under a variety of unequal or undefined conditions, and tested by numerous different sources, mainly motorcycling magazines. This has led to inconsistent and sometimes contradictory speed statistics from various sources.
Several models went out of production before being surpassed by a contemporary with a higher top speed. Until a model was introduced that was faster than any previous motorcycle, the fastest bike on the market for a given year was actually slower than an earlier, out of production bike. Models which are actual top speed record holders have their make, model, and speed in bold font, while slower models which were the fastest only in their own time are in italic. For example, in 1956, the Vincent Black Shadow remained the fastest motorcycle to date, with a 125mph top speed, but it was no longer in production. The fastest model on the market in 1956 was the BSA Gold Star Clubman, which at 110mph was not a record holder, but is listed for the sake of illustrating a more complete timeline.
| data-sort-type:number | Make & model | Model years | Engine | Displacement | Power | Top speed | Image | Notes< | -- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| --> | |||||||||
| BMW S 1000 RR (second generation) | 2019-present | Inline four | 310sigfig=3NaNsigfig=3 | By some measures, faster than MV Agusta F4 R 312.[1] | |||||
| BMW S 1000 RR (first generation) | 2009-2018 | Inline four | By some measures, faster than MV Agusta F4 R 312. BMW considered to have initiated the "gentlemen's agreement"; first party to agreement to exceed self-imposed limit.[2] | ||||||
| MV Agusta F4 R 312 | 2007-08 | Inline four | 998cc | 183bhp | 185.4- | First European motorcycle exceeding "gentlemen's agreement"; MV Agusta not known to have been a party.[3] [4] | |||
| Kawasaki ZX-14 | 2006– | Inline four | 1352cc | 163.3hp | 300order=flipNaNorder=flip | Speed limited | |||
| Kawasaki ZX-12R | 2000–05 | Inline four | 1199cc | 178bhp | 300order=flipNaNorder=flip | 2000 model year not speed limited, 2001 & later speed limited | |||
| Suzuki Hayabusa (first generation) | 2000–2007 | Inline four | 1299cc | 173bhp | 300order=flipNaNorder=flip | Speed limited[5] | |||
| Suzuki Hayabusa (first generation) | 1999 | Inline four | 1299cc | 173bhp | 188mph194mph | Last model before gentlemen's agreement.[6] | |||
| Honda CBR1100XX Super Blackbird | 1996–2007 | Inline four | 1137cc | 162bhp | 170mph180mph | ||||
| Bimota YB8 Furano | 1992-1993 | Inline four | By some measures, faster than Kawasaki Ninja ZX-11.[7] | ||||||
| Kawasaki Ninja ZX-11 | 1990–2001 | Inline four | 1052cc | 145bhp | 169mph176mph | [8] | |||
| Bimota YB6 EXUP | 1989–1990 | Inline four | 1002cc | 147bhp | 170mph | ||||
| Yamaha FZR1000 "EXUP" | 1989-1995 | Inline four | [9] | ||||||
| Kawasaki Tomcat ZX-10 | 1988–1990 | Inline four | 997cc | 135hp | 165mph | ||||
| Yamaha FZR1000 "Genesis" | 1987-1988 | Inline four | By some measures, faster than Honda CBR1000F.[10] [11] | ||||||
| Honda CBR1000F | 1987-1999 | 998cc | 132hp | NaNkm/hNaNkm/h | [12] | ||||
| Suzuki GSX-R 1100 (G-H-J) | 1986-1988 | 1052cc | 125hp | 160km/hNaNkm/h | |||||
| Kawasaki GPZ900R Ninja | 1984–1996 | Inline four | 908cc | 113bhp115bhp | 151mph158mph | ||||
| Honda VF1000R | 1984–1988 | V-four | 998cc | 122bhp | 150mph | First to exceed Vincent Black Lightning after 35 years | |||
| Laverda Jota | 1976–1981 | Inline three | 981cc | 90bhp | NaNmph | ||||
| Ducati 900SS | 1975–1982 | V-twin | 864cc | 79bhp | 135mph | ||||
| Kawasaki Z1 | 1972–1975 | Inline four | 903cc | 82bhp | 132mph | ||||
| BSA Rocket 3/Triumph Trident | 1968–1975 | Inline three | 740cc | 58bhp | 125mph | ||||
| Harley-Davidson XLCH Sportster | 1958–1971 | V-twin | 883cc | 55bhp | 122mph | [13] | |||
| BSA Gold Star Clubman | 1956–1963 | Single | 499cc | 42bhp | 110mph | ||||
| Vincent Black Lightning | 1949–1952 | V-twin | 998cc | 70bhp | 150mph | [14] First to exceed Brough Superior SS100 Pendine after 22 years. Record held for 35 years. | |||
| Vincent Series A Rapide | 1936–1940 | V-twin | 998cc | 45bhp | 110mph | ||||
| Crocker V-twin | 1936–ca. 1941 | V-twin | 998cc | 50bhp | 110mph | ||||
| Brough Superior SS100 Alpine Grand Sports | 1934–1940 | V-twin | 996cc | 75bhp | 110mph | ||||
| Brough Superior SS100 Pendine | 1927–1940 | V-twin | 981cc | 45bhp | 110mph | [15] Record held for 22 years | |||
| Brough Superior SS100 | 1925–1940 | V-twin | 988cc | 45bhp | 100mph | ||||
| Excelsior V-twin | 1918–1931 | V-twin | 992cc | 20bhp | 80mph | ||||
| Cyclone V-twin | 1916–1917 | V-twin | 996cc | 25bhp | 85mph | ||||
| Pope Model L | 1914–1920 | V-twin | 999cc | 12bhp | 70mph | ||||
| Williamson Flat Twin | 1913–1920 | Flat twin | 964cc | 55mph | |||||
| Scott two speed | 1912– | Parallel twin | 532cc | 3bhp | 50mph | ||||
| FN Four | 1911–1931 | Inline four | 491cc | 4bhp | 40mph | ||||
| Werner New Werner | 1901–1908 | Single | 230cc333cc | 2bhp3.25bhp | 30mph | ||||
| Werner Motocyclette | 1898–1900 | Single | 216cc | 15.5- | [16] | ||||
| Hildebrand & Wolfmüller | 1894–1897 | Parallel twin | 1500cc | 2.5hp | 25mph28mph | First production motorcycle. |
*Other models that tied the Trident at 125mph are the 1972 Laverda SFC and Moto Guzzi V7 Sport.
†Rear wheel horsepower. See Motorcycle testing and measurement.
These motorcycles are mentioned here because they meet some of this list's criteria, and are often discussed in media in the same context as production, street-legal motorcycles, but they do not strictly meet all of the criteria, being limited production or made to order, or not generally available for immediate sale to the public, or are track-only and not generally street legal in Europe, Asia, and North America.
| Make & model | Model years | Engine | Displacement | Power | Top speed | Image | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kawasaki Ninja H2R | 2015-present | Inline 4 | [17] | (without/with ram air) | Excluded as the record-beating H2R variant is track-only and not street-legal.[18] | |||
| Lightning LS-218 | 2014-present | Electric motor | N/A | 200bhp | 215.96adj=ri0NaNadj=ri0 | The 216 mph record was set using an LS-218 modified from street-legal form, with "high-speed gearing and fairing". The top speed of the stock production vehicle has not been clearly defined by an independent, verifiable source.Otherwise, first electric vehicle to be considered for the position of the world's fastest street-legal production motorcycle,[19] [20] [21] to have won against ICE motorcycles in a professional road-based event and to have won any such race using only solar power.[22] | ||
| Ducati Panigale R | 2013-2017 | V-twin | 1198cc | 202bhp | 202mph | Top speed achieved with OEM track-only exhaust system.[23] [24] |
After just over a century of one-upmanship by motorcycle manufacturers, beginning with the 1894–1897 Hildebrand & Wolfmüller, the competition to create the fastest production motorcycle reached a truce, with the arrival of the 1999 Suzuki Hayabusa, that lasted about 8 years. A gentlemen's agreement was made among the major motorcycle manufacturers to limit the speed of their machines to 300 km/h (186 mph), starting with 2000 models.
After the 1999 Hayabusa sent shockwaves by exceeding the Honda CBR1100XX's record by more than 10 mph (16 km/h), and rumors and leaks from Kawasaki hinted that their upcoming 2000 Ninja ZX-12R would pass the 200 mph (322 km/h) milestone, some regulators and politicians in Europe called for an import ban against high speed motorcycles. There were fears that there would be "an outbreak of illegal racing as riders try to break the 200 mph barrier". To preempt regulation and avoid negative publicity, the manufacturers voluntarily ended the race to ever higher speeds.
Sources vary as to whether this unofficial agreement is precise or only approximate, and whether it is defined as 300 km/h or as 186 mph, though the European and Japanese manufacturers normally use metric units. While Honda did announce that its motorcycles would not go faster than 300 km/h, Suzuki and Kawasaki would not speak on record about this issue. The agreement between them and the other brands has never been officially acknowledged by the manufacturers, though media sources report it via unnamed informants, and by testing the top speed of motorcycles known to be capable of exceeding the arbitrary maximum. So for 2000 models and later motorcycles, the question of which brand's bike was fastest could only be answered by tampering with the speed limiting system, meaning that it was no longer a contest between stock, production motorcycles, absolving the manufacturer of blame and letting those not quite as fast avoid losing face. But the speed war continued underground, out of the spotlight, with fierce competition among enthusiasts of the "200 mph club", albeit with the slight technical modification necessary to bypass the speed limiter, separating that war from the ostensibly at-peace world of stock motorcycles.
MV Agusta advertised their 2007 F4 R 312 as capable of 312km/h, hence the "312" in the name, "because MV sees no reason to abide by the manufacturers' agreement ... Politics be damned: MV is Italian and the Italians have a national imperative to make their bikes as fast as possible," in the opinion of motoring journalist Roland Brown. Italian magazine Motociclismo claimed to have achieved 193.24mph testing the F4 R 312, more or less confirming the claimed speed and tying, if not exceeding, the 1999 Suzuki Hayabusa's tested speeds of 188mph194mph, whereas Sport Rider were only able to achieve a 185.4mph top speed, stating that "it would take a major horsepower boost in order to make up the 8 mph deficit".[25]
Cycle World reported that "the same BMW who instigated the 'agreement' in the first place" had broken it with the 188mph BMW S1000RR, whose top speed was reported in July, 2010.
The 2013 Ducati 1199 Panigale R was delivered with an electronic speedometer that blanked when the motorcycle exceeded 186 mph (300 km/h), leading commentators to question if Ducati was signaling their withdrawal from the gentlemen's agreement.
In 2014, Kawasaki announced that the upcoming Ninja H2R will have a non-street legal "track-only" version making 296hp that will not have a speed limiter, reaching 210mph in testing, but Kawasaki did not specify whether they planned to speed limit the street-legal version, which has about 200hp, to conform to the gentlemen's agreement.