Back in the spring of 2003, when we first launched this crazy thing called Super Streetbike, production sportbikes were all I knew. At that time I was senior editor for our sister title Motorcyclist, and my primary responsibility there was road testing new motorcycles. Stock bikes were the ends, and it was my job to assess the performance of those bikes (the means) as they came straight from the factory and judge how closely the engineers had come to achieving perfection. In my mind, at that time, there was no more perfect expression of sportbike competence than the 2003 crop of liter bikes.
And then came Super Streetbike. I was green as hell when we fired this thing off. I came out of a white bread, road-racing-oriented moto background, and I have to admit that I was almost completely ignorant about the underground sportbike world. I got all worked up about a 155 hp GSX-R1000-while you guys were building 500 hp turbo Hayabusas. I used to think it was a big deal to hit 180 mph-while you guys were hitting upwards 250 mph on streetbikes at Maxton, or hustling them down the quarter mile in under seven seconds. I thought my pow-pow-power wheelies were hot spit until I saw you guys ripping off coasters and slow-speed combos and circles. Suddenly, stock bikes were not the ends in and of themselves, but the means to an even greater, faster, quicker, wilder end point. My eyes had been opened, and I'd never look at a stock sportbike the same way again.
Now it's 2007, and the production sportbikes are sicker than ever before. I had a chance to reflect on this recently at the press launch for the 2007 Yamaha R1 at Laguna Seca-the first new-bike launch I attended since early in 2004. The latest-version R1 is ripped with techno-trickery that we could only dream about three years ago. Not only does it make about 20 more hp than the R1 of '04, but the '07 model has super-trick, servo-actuated YCC-I (Yamaha Chip Controlled Intake) intake stacks that vary in length from 65mm to 140 mm according to engine rpm and throttle position data, making it feel like the strongest liter bike you've ever ridden at anywhere in the rev-range. Couple this with the YCC-T (Yamaha Chip Controlled Throttle) fly-by-wire technology that makes all that power easier than ever to put down to the pavement (and a kick-ass slipper-type clutch too), and, well, let's just say that the 2007 crop of sportbikes is going to be badder than ever, and it's going to be harder for me to dismiss them outright as I've done before. Yikes! Maybe stock doesn't suck that much...
It's appropriate that these thoughts coalesce right now, as I'm getting ready to make some big changes myself. After almost four years at the top of the masthead acting as editor in chief of Super Streetbike, creating this magazine from nothing, editing 23 issues and growing it from an easily dismissed oddity to one of the most exciting (and successful) streetbike titles on the newsstand, I'm handing the reigns over to David Sonsky and returning to Motorcyclist as editor at large. There are exciting changes on the near horizon for Motorcyclist, including a complete redesign of the title, and I'm looking forward to playing an essential part in that project.
I feel like I'm better prepared for that task now than ever before, thanks directly to my experiences at Super Streetbike, and all the people I've met, the projects I've been a part of, and the crazy sportbike performance, lifestyle and culture that I've been exposed in this corner of the streetbike game. I'm going away, but I'm not going far-and believe me, I'll still be paying attention to what's going on in the Super Streetbike world, and working as much of it as possible into the Motorcyclist mix to keep blowing this scene up even bigger than it is now. I'm not going to forget you guys. See you out there on the road-or the track!