When it comes to test days, it doesn’t get much better than a line-up of the best sportsbikes and supernakeds money can buy and a dry day at Britain’s version of Phillip Island – the excellent Anglesey Circuit!
For Performance Bikes’ November 2016 edition, they’ve been running back to back tests on some amazing machinery including the latest RSV4 RF, S1000RR Sport and 1299 Panigale S to find out which gives you the very best bang for your buck.
Each bike is run in it’s standard form, but set-up for the track and fitted with a pair of Michelin’s latest Power Cup EVO tyres, and then handed to the super fast Michael Rutter who sees just what it is capable of fresh out of the showroom.
In a straight line, the latest YZF-R1 from Yamaha bosses every test, apart from outright top speed which goes to the BMW at 184.71mph. On the dyno, the Aprilia gives no indication as to it’s renowned on track performance, but with Rutter on board, it laps faster than every other bike on test with the BMW, Yamaha and ZX-10R close behind.
When it comes to the decision on which bike tops the test, everyone agrees the Aprilia has that little extra something – but there’s not a bad bike among the group on test.
As for the tyres, Performance Bikes say:
“We used Michelin Power Cup Evo on all the bikes, in original sizes. In the case of the Aprilias, where you have an option of sizes, we stuck with the 200/55 ZR17 sizes as they’re fitted from the factory.
They’re sold as a track day tyre able to run with or without warmers (we ran without, and they were fine after two laps), and give strong performance for a long time.
They stood up fantastically on all the bikes – wearing evenly and resisting gouging or tearing.
They helped reign in the ZX-10R’s loose back end, and combined well with the electronics on all the bikes (with the possible exception of the Ducati, which might just be too clever for it’s own good). We didn’t encounter any stability issues, either – they’re the ideal tyre to use on road bikes for lots of long, hard laps.”
Pick up the latest issue of Performance Bikes for the full test in detail.
View the full range of Power Cup EVO sizes here.
