Two hundred horsepower is a perfectly decent amount for a small family hatchback or even a mid-sized family sedan. It’s absolutely ludicrous to stuff that amount of horsepower into a motorcycle that weighs less than 400 lbs and has a contact patch across two tires the size of a large business card.
Yet, such machinery exists. Either through phenomenal engineering or, in one case, attaching a whacking great supercharger to the engine, the once unheard of ceiling of 200 HP has been broken by many bikes available in 2021.
In this list, we’ll go through all of them, starting at the low end of 200 HP and going up into the stratosphere of power from there!
2021 Kawasaki Z-H2
The tamest version of one of the most insane bikes to emerge from Japan, the 2020 Kawasaki Z-H2 is the naked streetfighter version of the utterly mental H2/H2R lineup. At a detuned 200 HP, the inline 4 engine still carries the screw-type supercharger that whacks pressurized air into the cylinders. The reason that the engine needed to be detuned from its more powerful brethren is simply because of the amount of weight removed when making it a streetfighter.
527 lbs with 200 HP and 101 lbs-ft of torque will end up going down the road pretty damned quickly, especially since the supercharger guarantees you’ll have all that power pretty much anywhere, at any altitude, in North America. Definitely a bike to be reckoned with.
2021 Kawasaki ZX-10R & ZX-10RR
Boasting a boost in power over its 2020 predecessor, the 2021 Kawasaki ZX-1oR brings the supersport offering from the green team to the over 200 HP club. Through engineering developments learned mostly through World SBK competition, the all-new 998cc inline four now uses race-grade components, a new vavle system, and a new ECU package to develop 201 HP.
This is one of those supersports that is literally a race bike with mirrors and indicators slapped on in a vain attempt to make it just road legal. Riding this thing in anger will have you going down the track (or road) at insane speeds in a very short amount of time!
Also for 2021, there is a limited edition to celebrate the 2020 World SBK season, with the ZX-10RR model. With direct input from Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki’s champion rider, this is a stripped down, not-road-legal variant of the ZX-10R that is meant to be the purest expression of Kawasaki’s racing technology for the common man to be able to buy. 500 units were produced and all were sold before the first one even hit the showroom floor.
2021 BMW S 1000 RR & M 1000 RR
The 2021 BMW S 1000 RR is BMW’s top-of-the-range supersport. Its 205 HP, 999cc inline 4 engine is packed with the level of technology you would expect from the German company, including variable cams and titanium valves. A very aggressive seating position high and rearwards gives the bike excellent sports handling characteristics, and as BMW themselves say, it’s meant more for the track than the road. This is evidenced by the fact that the wing mirrors come off with about a grand total of 5 minutes’ work, leaving behind a smooth track missile that’s meant to be leaned over to obscene angles in the corners.
You can also option an M Sport package, which replaces some bodywork with carbon fiber, as well as gives the bike a more aggressive suspension setup. The power, however, remains the same.
Also, for 2021, there is a new M1000RR, which includes all the goodies from the M Sport package, but also adds a new, far more aggressive ECU, and weight savings in the range of about 20 lbs over the already lightweight S1000RR by use of titanium components and a much lighter exhaust system.
2021 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R ABS
The 2021 Kawasaki ZX-14R is the top of the line of the ZX series of motorcycles. Powered by a 1,441 cc inline 4, the engine, which produces 208 crank HP, has the distinction of being so large for a supersport that the aluminum frame of the bike is directly bolted to the casing and uses the engine as a stress-bearing member of the entire chassis. Befitting a top of the line model, the ZX-14R has pretty much every bell and whistle you could want on a supersport, including race-derived brakes, all forms of stability control, ABS, and even selectable power modes so that in stop and go traffic, it uses less fuel and is easier to pull away from a stop. While not really a pure supersport, the ZX-14R creates its own category of “supersport touring.”
2021 Ducati Streetfighter V4/V4S
The 2021 Ducati Streetfighter V4 and V4S models are unapologetic about what they are. Based on the supersport Panigale V4 models, they are stripped down, lightened, and powerful sledgehammers designed to rule the streets. The look of the front end was influenced by The Joker from DC Comics, with a grinning LED daytime running light over the pair of full headlights. The biplane wings on the sides of the radiator cover are there to provide stability at high speed but also add to the shoulders of the bike, giving it a fighting stance that promises to smack other bikes around the head with its growling exhaust and powerful looks. Ducati themselves call this the “Ego Booster” design concept, without any comedic irony at all. They mean it, and the motorcycle shows it.
The V4S is an even more stripped-down and unapologetic pugilist. Weighing 5 lbs less than the V4, it also comes with electronically adjustable suspension to handle any fight it needs to.
2021 MV Agusta Brutale 1000 RR
The 2021 MV Agusta Brutale 1000 RR is, much like the Ducati Streetfighters above, very unapologetic about being an in-your-face, snarling, nasty, loud bike that will happily tear your face off. Of course, befitting a bike from an Italian boutique manufacturer, the Brutale’s 998cc triple is made of titanium con-rods, Asso piston rings, high durability low friction cylinder wall linings, and carbon fiber throughout the body of the bike. The result is a stylish brute that is ready to fight any and all takers.
And when you have a name like Brutale, it had better live up to it in both looks and power, and for the Brutale 1000 RR, it does!
2021 Kawasaki Ninja H2 SX SE/SE+
The 2020 Kawasaki Ninja H2 SX SE (Canada) and SX SE+ (USA) are the main supercharged motorcycles from the Japanese company, placed at a great price point for experienced riders to swing a leg over and enjoy the power and range that these bikes produce.
Sharing the same 998cc inline 4 with screw-type supercharger as the rest of the H2 line, the SE and SE+ get a boost over the Z-H2 to 210 HP. The division between the two models is the inclusion of one technology pack that the USA and Global markets get over the Canadian SE, namely the inclusion of electronically controlled suspension. Otherwise, both the SE and SE+ get full multifunction LCD’s, quick shifters, cruise control, launch mode (for the times when you just have to prove you have one of the most powerful bikes in production), cornering management, and a slew of electronic aids to make sure you stay in the seat and not sliding across the pavement.
Oddly, while the H2 SX SE and SE+ are definitely supersport models, Kawasaki markets them more as supersport tourers. As one of our own staff writers, who owns an H2 SX SE, can attest to, they do make excellent long-distance touring motorcycles, with the power and range to get through pretty much any situation.
2021 Ducati Panigale V4/V4S
The 2020 Ducati V4 and V4S are the primary models of the Ducati supersport line. With the trademarked Desmosedici V4 engine, both the V4 and V4S extract 214 HP from the 1,103 cc mill. Ducati worked closely with their in-house racing team, Ducati Corse, to tune, tweak, and fiddle with the bike until it met every target they had. The result is a motorcycle that not so much carves corners as much as slices them, powers down straights with a howling exhaust note, and can stop mightily with race-derived brakes.
The Panigale V4 also comes with a slew of electronic aids, the least of which being ABS, traction control, cornering stability control, slide control, selectable riding modes, engine brake assist adjustment, launch control, and bi-directional quick-shifting. The V4S model adds to the package with some lighter fairings and electronically adjustable suspension courtesy of Öhlins, as well as a more track-oriented ECU program.
2021 Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade/Fireblade SP
The 2021 CBR1000RR-R Fireblade and Fireblade SP has the distinction of carrying within its frame the single most powerful inline 4 motorcycle engine that Honda has ever made, at 215 HP from 999cc’s. The technology that allows the engine to be so powerful is derived from the V4 powered Honda RC213V MotoGP bike, such as titanium valves, advanced ECU settings, and is also super light in and of itself. The entire bike tips the scales at 443 lbs wet.
The major difference between the regular Fireblade and the Fireblade SP is that the SP gets semi-active Öhlins electronic suspension, allowing for the race-oriented stability control to adjust stiffness while cornering, accelerating, and braking, to keep the bike as stable as possible. Both models get active torque control, six-axis stability control, wheelie control, 3 stage electronic steering damping, bi-directional quick shifter, and full race-grade Brembo Stylema brakes with two-stage ABS.
2021 Aprilia RSV4 RR
Now we are getting into the pure supersport bikes. The 2021 Aprilia RSV4 RR is 100% racing bike, diluted slightly to be street legal. With a 217 HP V4 engine shared between the RR and the 1100 Factory for the 2021 model year, you can expect to be wagging the front wheel in the air on hard acceleration, as the bike itself is a featherweight 450 lbs soaking wet holding a brick.
Add to that impressive brakes, laser-like handling, and a dual-beam aluminum chassis that doesn’t flex as much as an inch, and you have an aggressive Italian supersport motorcycle ready to devour the closest racetrack. And, joy of joys, you can ride the bike to and from the track as well
2021 Aprilia RSV4 1100 Factory
The 2021 RSV4 1100 Factory takes an already great bike, gives it to Aprilia’s racing department, and gets it back with upgraded Ohlins electronic suspension, a multitude of carbon fiber parts, and a full Akrapovic titanium exhaust from the factory. The new suspension, which was developed on the lower power but still extremely rideable Tuono models, works alongside a completely new electronic steering damper to give the RSV4 1100 Factory the feel of a full motorsports competition bike, but with wing mirrors and a place to put a license plate.
The 1,077 cc V4 at the heart of the bike is the same racing-derived mill that powers all of the RSV4 bikes, but with a more aggressive ECU than the RSV4 RR. Unlike the RSV4 X, it doesn’t have the extra cylinder boring from the Aprilia Racing Team to give it 7 more HP. Apart from that, this is realistically the most powerful supersport you can buy from Aprilia. With selectable riding modes, it is at home on both street and track, but everyone knows that this 390 lbs featherweight begs to be tossed at some corners on some smooth racing tarmac.
2021 Kawasaki Ninja H2/H2 Carbon
The 2021 Kawasaki H2 and H2 Carbon are, in the shortest possible definition, street-legal versions of the monstrous Kawasaki H2R. It shares the same supercharged inline 4 998cc engine, but the ECU is programmed to allow torque and HP to be manageable on regular pavement. Detuned to 228 HP and 98.5 lb-ft of torque, one will still have to squeeze tight to the aerodynamic body and tuck down behind the windshield to prevent being ripped off by the sheer force of air passing over the bike.
In place of the winglets of the H2R, the H2 has wing mirrors and includes universal signal lights front and rear. The H2 Carbon is a more extreme version of the H2 that replaces almost the entire front cowling with a carbon fiber derivative of the one that is on the H2R and provides slightly better airflow. Both the H2 and H2 Carbon are electronically governed with their max speed, unlike the unlimited H2R, due to the fact that the bike could very well lift its front slightly from the sheer amount of air that passes around and under the bike.
2021 Ducati Panigale V4R
- Company website (US)
- Company website (Can)
- wBW specs, photos, & more
- HP: 234 (221 optional)
The 2021 Ducati V4R is about as close as one can really get to riding the Ducati GP20 MotoGP superbike without being a factory works rider. With a MotoGP derived Desmosedici Stradale R 998cc V4 engine, 234 HP is available at a fearsome 15,500 RPM. The base build of the bike is with the Ducati Corse racing kit, which is still street legal… barely. If you opt to not have the racing exhaust and the slight detune of the “street” version of the V4R, the power drops to 221 HP, which is still nothing to sneeze at.
As is obvious, the bike has been extensively designed and worked on by Ducati’s in-house race team, Ducati Corse, to be as close as possible to the MotoGP bike. This is not a bike for long rides on the highway, nor really for commuting. This is a bike that begs, wants, needs to go fast and attack corners hard. One of the purest expressions of Ducati’s racing pedigree available to the common man, the V4R is simply one of the best motorcycles for an experienced rider to extract the maximum from any track they visit.
2021 Kawasaki Ninja H2R (not street legal)
This is it. This is the most insane, most powerful, most amazing motorcycle on sale in 2021. The 2021 Kawasaki H2R is a track-only bike that takes absolutely everything that the Japanese manufacturer knows about bikes, and smashes it together into a cruise missile. The H2 line’s 998 cc inline 4 is cranked up to 11 here, with the supercharger whacking compressed air in at an ungodly rate to produce a nigh unbelievable 310 HP. It is not street legal as the bike uses composite components that do not allow for mirrors to be fitted, uses slick tires only, and has many race-grade components taken from Kawasaki’s World SBK and MotoGP efforts.
To give you an idea of just how ridiculously powerful the H2R is, consider the fact that it currently holds the world record for 0 to 400 KPH (249 MPH) at 26 seconds from a dead stop. That’s faster than even hypercars like the Bugatti Chiron and McLaren F1 can reach the same speed. It’s so fast that the canards on the cowling where the mirrors would be are actually necessary to keep the front of the bike on the road, otherwise it would lift slightly from the sheer amount of air passing around and under the bike.
The H2R is widely regarded as the first true series production “hypersport” bike, creating an entirely new category of motorcycles above the supersport range.
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