"I don't think you've seen everything yet, not even close. People say they've seen it all whenever things start to get crazy, but there's always another direction to head off in. There's always something even wilder out there waiting to be done."
Sitting at my desk transcribing my interview with bike builder Roland Sands for this issue's cover story, these words really struck me because they perfectly described my recent experiences editing this magazine. Every time I think I've seen it all, something new comes my way that just makes me stop and say wow...
It's easy to become jaded in a position like this. Working at the magazine keeps us in close contact with the most influential people in the sportbike universe, and we're almost always the first in the nation to know about the newest sportbikes, the freshest aftermarket parts and accessories, and the hottest custom and modified rides. Every day, our email inbox is filled with shockingly overpowered race bikes, crazy high-dollar customs with insanely imaginative mods, or stunters continuing to defy the laws of physics. It's so easy to think that you've seen it all. Even still, if I had to describe the things that I've seen since we put out our last issue to bed, the only appropriate words would be "mind-blowing."
It started the day after we finished shipping our September 2006 issue to the printer, and I picked up our new Kawasaki ZX-14 Ninja test bike from Sportland 2 in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. I've been lucky enough to ride almost every sportbike made in the last five years, and certain bikes still stand out in my memory. The first-generation R1, for example-with 135 hp at the wheel. I didn't think it could get any crazier than that-until I rode the '03 GSX-R1000 with over 150 hp! This had to be the pinnacle, I thought, until '04, when we rode the new Kawasaki ZX-10R, the first liter bike to make more than 160 hp. And of course, there was always the 'Busa, which, though massively powerful, I never put on the same level as the liter bikes because it was such a heavy Bus...
Every time that I stepped off of one of those bikes, I thought this had to be as good as it could get-and every time I've been wrong. The new ZX-14 was only more proof. It's obscenely fast-more than 175 rear-wheel hp-and even though it's almost as big as the 'Busa, it handles better, at least as well as that first R1 or GSX-R1000. And you can buy it all day long in any Kawasaki dealership for just $11,499! I want to say that production bikes can't possibly get better than this, but I'm sure I'd just be eating those words this time next year when the "rumored" all-new '07 Hayabusa splits my wig.
My first ride on the ZX-14 was just the first day of a mind-blowing month. A few days later the ink dried on an exciting contract that we signed with Metric Revolution TV (www.metrictv.com), a production company at work filming a bike build-off-type television program featuring the hottest custom sportbike builders in the nation, including Custom Sportbike Concepts, McCoy Motorsports, LBF, Carlos Custom Cycles, Pit Stop Motorsports, Tricked Out Custom Cycles and many more builders familiar to regular readers of this magazine.
I'm probably the most jaded guy in the world when it comes to custom sportbikes-I've seen virtually every possible combination of chrome, custom paint and stretched swingarms imaginable-so I didn't have especially high expectations for the bikes built for this show. Really, what could these guys do with a 'Busa or an R1 that hasn't been done a hundred times before? Well, never underestimate the creative talents of these custom builders when challenged. To say that the bikes built for this show dropped my jaw is a huge understatement. Confidentiality waivers keep me from saying too much at this time, but every one of the nine bikes features something we've never seen before: 800-hp twin-turbo, intercooled motors, custom-molded clear bodywork, see-through Lexan wheels, perimeter brakes and sprockets, 20-inch wheels, on-board computer systems, air-ride front ends, single-sided front ends, and the list goes on and on. These nine bikes are finally going to put custom sportbike builders on-par with the world-famous chopper builders, and I can't wait to share them with you on the pages of the magazine-and you'll only see them here, since Super Streetbike has the exclusive rights to feature all nine of these bikes.
I'm out of words already, and I haven't even hit on the amazing progression of the stunt scene in the last few months, where once-impossible tricks like switchback wheelies and stoppies are now the norm. Just a day before this issue went to press, Kane Freisen called us and told us that he had just shattered the "World's Fastest Stoppie" record in front of the cameras for the Discovery Channel TV program Stunt Junkies (airing in September). Again, confidentiality agreements prevent us from giving the actual number away at this time (and spoiling the TV show), but know that "shatter" is absolutely the right word for what Kane did. Just when you think it's all been done and it can't get any crazier than it is now, someone out there in the Super Streetbike universe steps up and proves us wrong. I love it.
All I can say it that I can't wait to see what the next month brings!