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Mark Hinchliffe·
NewsMotorbike news
··3 Comments·4 min read

Power is king for 2019 motorcycles

2019 Ducati range Panigale V4 R fourth recall
Panigale V4 R

The latest model releases from the two recent motorcycle shows in Milan and Cologne prove that power is still king in the two-wheel world.

A new road leader has emerged and some older models have been pushed down the order.

The list of the most powerful is still dominated by the track-only Kawasaki H2R at 240kW.

New road king

However, the new king of the road-registered bikes is the 2019 Ducati Panigale V4R pictured at the top of the page.

With 162kW of power it leapfrogs Honda’s RC213V-S which rates 158kW with a track kit, equal to the MV Agusta F4RC.

The V4R has been homologated so Ducati can go World Superbike racing again, so it is 998cc, not 1103cc.

Despite having fewer cubes, it has more poke.

Two bikes joining the top 10 are the updated BMW S 1000 RR with ShiftCam technology and 152kW, plus the 2019 Suzuki GSX-R1000 R1 in 10th place with 150kW.

BMW S 1000 RR slims down
2019 BMW S 1000 RR

Anyone who says power isn’t everything hasn’t twisted the throttle on a powerful sports bike.

Unfortunately, the only places left to experience these bikes is on unlimited-speed roads, at track days and in that all-important 100m traffic light drag.

There may not be many places left to experience the full power of some of the world’s most powerful bikes, but it’s always good to know the power is there.

So we’ve complied three lists of currently available new sports bikes with the most power, the most torque and with the highest power-to-weight ratio.

We have used factory supplied power and wet weight figures for Australia. The figures may vary slightly for some other countries.

For interest’s sake, we have also included at what revs they achieve peak power and torque to give you an indication of where they get most of their thrust.

Talk the torque

Yamaha V-Max
Gruntmeister Yamaha V-Max

While the kings of power are important, torque is that thrust in the chest at the starting line that we all love.

The king of grunt is still the brawny Yamaha V-Max. Kawasaki isn’t far behind with its forced-induction models and the normally aspirated Kawasaki ZX-14R.

If you were to include cruisers, Triumph’s 2.3-litre triple would be the undisputed king with 203Nm of stump-pullling grunt and several other cruisers would also rate high, including Harley’s Milwaukee Eight 114-cube FXDR which makes 162Nm.

Power and torque are meaningless if your bike is a porker like the 310kg V-Max. So we’ve also compiled a list of the best power-to-weight ratio sports bikes.

Again the winner is the Kawasaki H2R track-only weapon which has more kilowatts than kilograms for a power-to-weight ratio of 1.11. That compares with the V-Max at 47ptw.

So if you want a lithe sports bike with a good mix of heady power and gut-crunching grunt, Kawasaki should be your first port of call, or go to your local performance shop for a supercharger or turbocharger.

Honda RC213V-S road-legal MotoGP bike
Honda RC213V-S

POWER KINGS

1 Kawasaki H2R: 240kW

2 Ducati Panigale V4R: 162kW

3 Honda RC213V-S: 158kW

3 MV Agusta F4RC: 158kW

Leon Camier will race the MV Agusta F4 RC
Leon Camier with the F4 RC

5 Ducati Panigale V4: 157.5kW

6 Kawasaki ZX-14R: 154.5kW

7 Kawasaki ZX-10R: 154.4kW

8 BMW S 100-0- RR: 152kW

9 Ducati 1299 Panigale, S: 150.8kW

10 Suzuki GSX-R1000 : 150kW

TORQUE MONSTERS

1 Yamaha V-Max: 166.8Nm

2 Kawasaki H2R: 165Nm

3 Kawasaki ZX-14R: 162Nm

4 Suzuki Hayabusa: 155Nm

2017 Suzuki Hayabusa in new colours
Hayabusa

5 Kawasaki H2: 154Nm

See also

6 Ducati 1299 Panigale, S: 144.6Nm

7 Ducati 1299 Panigale, R: 136.2Nm

8 Ducati Panigale V4: 124Nm

9 Honda RC213V-S: 118Nm

10 Suzuki GSX-R1000: 116.7Nm

LITHE MACHINES

1 Kawasaki H2R: 1.11ptw

2 Honda RC213V-S: 0.91ptw

3 Ducati Panigale V4 S: 0.90ptw

3 MV Agusta F4RC: 0.90ptw

5 Ducati 1299 Panigale, R: 0.82ptw

6 Ducati 1299 Panigale, S: 0.79ptw

7 Aprilia RSV4 RR, RSV4 RF: 0.77ptw.

7 BMW S1000RR: 0.77ptw.

9 Kawasaki ZX-10R: 0.76ptw

10 Suzuki GSX-R1000: 0.74ptw.

10 Yamaha R1 / R1M: 0.74ptw

Aprilia RSV4 1100 Factory slims
2019 Aprilia RSV4 1100

TECH SPECS (alphabetical)

  • Aprilia RSV4 RR, RSV4 RF: 149.8kW (201hp) @ 13,000rpm, 115.4Nm @ 10,500rpm, 193kg, 0.77ptw.
  • BMW S1000RR: 152kW @ 13,500rpm, 113Nm @ 10,500rpm, 197kg, 0.77ptw.
  • Ducati 1299 Panigale, S: 150.8kW (205hp) @ 10,500rpm, 150.8Nm @ 8750rpm, 190kg (R), 0.79ptw.
  • Ducati 1299 Panigale, R: 150.8kW (205hp) @ 11,500rpm, 136.2Nm @ 10,250rpm, 184kg (R), 0.82ptw.
  • Ducati Panigale V4 S: 157.5kW (214hp) @ 13,000rpm, 124Nm @ 10,000rpm, 174kg, 0.90ptw.
  • Honda RC213V-S (track only sports kit): 158kW @ 13,000rpm, 118Nm @ 10,500, 172kg, 0.91ptw.
  • Honda CBR1000-RR: 134kW @ 12,000rpm, 112Nm @ 8500rpm, 195kg, 0.68ptw.
  • Kawasaki H2R (track only): 240kW (326PS) @ 14,000rpm (maximum power with Ram Air), 165Nm @ 12,500rpm, wet weight 216kg, 1.11ptw
  • Kawasaki Ninja H2: 147.2kW (200ps) @ 11,000rpm, 154.5Nm @ 10,500rpm, 238kg, 0.61ptw.
  • Kawasaki ZX-10R: 154.4kW (209.9PS) @ 13,000rpm (Ram air), 112Nm @ 11,500rpm, 201kg, 0.76ptw.
  • Kawasaki ZX-14R: 154.5kW (210PS) @ 10,000rpm (Ram Air), 162Nm @ 7500rpm, 268kg, 0.57ptw.
  • MV Agusta F4RR: 146.6kW (200.8hp) @ 13,600rpm, 111Nm @ 9600rpm, 202kg, 0.72ptw.
  • MV Agusta F4 & F4R: 142.3kW @ 13,400rpm, 110.8Nm @ 9600rpm, 203kg, 0.70ptw.
  • MV Agusta F4RC: 158kW with race kit (205-212hp) @ 13,600rpm, 115Nm @ 9300rpm, 175kg (with kit), 0.90ptw.
  • Suzuki GSX-R1000: 150kW (201bhp) @ 11,500rpm, 116.7Nm @ 10,000rpm, 202kg, 0.74ptw.
  • Suzuki Hayabusa: 145kW (194.4bhp) @ 9500rpm, 155Nm @ 7200rpm, 266kg, 0.54ptw.
  • Yamaha R1 & R1M: 147.1kW (200PS) @ 12,000rpm, 112.4Nm @ 11,500rpm, 199kg, 0.74ptw.
  • Yamaha V-Max: 147.2kW (200PS) @ 9000rpm, 166.8Nm @ 6500rpm, 310kg, 0.47ptw.