Superbike

If you’re a motorcycle manufacturer and one or more of your models has had a cheeky, colloquial nickname (such as Hog, ‘Busa or Beemer) bestowed upon it, you know you’re doing something right. Suzuki’s GSX-R range, which debuted in 1984 with the GSX-R400, falls into this category, as the various family members that have come and gone over the years have come to be known as “Gixxers,” a mutant phonetic pronunciation of GSX-R as an acronym. It’s even on Urban Dictionary, and you can’t get much more mainstream than that (except for, you know, the Webster’s and Oxford dictionaries).

The current alpha dog of the Gixxer Pack is the GSX-R1000 and, as the name implies, the DOHC inline-four engine displaces just one cc short of one liter (that's 999cc for those of you who aren't up on your metric units of weight and measure). The 2011 model is a rocket ship, but Suzuki has found some room for improvement. And those improvements have been made to the 2012 model.

Few people will dispute that BMW builds motorcycles that are as obsessively engineered and as engaging to ride as its cars are to drive. However, there’s a good chance many folks will dispute the notion that BMW builds legitimate superbikes. And it’s true that, for many years, the Bavarians seemed perfectly content to leave the stupid-fast crotch rocket market to the Italians and the Japanese (as well as the occasional interlopers from Britain, the U.S. and elsewhere).

That changed in the spring of 2008, which was when the BMW S 1000 RR entered production for homologation in the World Superbike series. Sales to the public began about a year later, and critical acclaim and brisk sales followed soon thereafter. But rather than resting on its laurels, BMW has decided to update the S 1000 RR for 2012, and the result is a bike that’s even more capable and sophisticated.

Six-cylinder pony cars have, for better or worse, been derided by many as being “secretary specials” for, well, ever. And, in fairness, many youthful, independent career girls – and not just in the appointment-scheduling and dictation-taking fields, but also the likes of hairdressing, retail and teaching (Hi Mom!) – have signed on the dotted lines for such cars, usually because they were deemed by their purchasers to be sporty, cute, economical, a good value, and/or not too powerful for non-hoon feminine tastes.

But as the Bard of Hibbing says, the times, they are a’ changin’. The current V6 variants of the Camaro and Mustang both feature sophisticated four-cam, 24-valve mills producing in excess of 300hp, with exact figures that meet (in the case of the Mustang) or beat (in the case of the Camaro) the outputs of their immediate predecessors’ base V8s. How’s that for progress? It also begs the question: What other vehicles could benefit from these compact, rev-happy mills? For at least one industrial designer, the answer is motorcycles.

There’s a good chance your first ride was a tricycle. And there should be no mystery as to why they’re so popular: They combine the simplicity and maneuverability of a two-wheeled vehicle with the stability of a four-wheeled vehicle. Trikes are pretty much the optimum mobility solution for tykes on the go.

But what about the transportation needs of adults? Sadly, three-wheelers get pushed to the periphery for us mature audiences. However, trikes seem to be experiencing a bit of a renaissance among designers and manufacturers. This group of three-wheeler true believers includes the Australian firm Design+Industry, which has unveiled the racy looking Strike Trike seen here.