In the world of street racing it's run what you brung and hope you've got enough. Unlike official racing with regulations to level the field, life on the street is a high stakes gamble full of tall tales, big upsets and total uncertainty.
In a time-honored tradition, competitors on two and four wheels meet under the veil of darkness in secluded areas to battle for the title of "King of the Street." Some races are for respect and some are for money, but all are serious business.
Modern sportbikes are marvels of technology that can cover the quarter mile in the 9s at 150 mph and almost touch 190 mph right off the showroom floor. As such, when a streetcar is fast enough to be deemed "nasty," the natural question is, "Will it beat a bike?"
Some might consider this an odd sense of flattery as bikes are often considered the ones to beat. In actuality, it only fuels the age-old car versus bike conflict.
A simple online search results in car guys posting clips of their rides "smoking 'Busas" and the bike guys retorting with vids of them destroying any car imaginable. In most cases the bike submissions are believable, but when you see various 12-second cars walking liter bikes it starts to raise doubts.
Having suffered through dozens of laughable vids of flip-flop clad riders losing to slower cars, we noticed one common flaw-rider error. Although any vehicle requires a certain level of operator aptitude, motorcycles require far more skill than cars. Under wide open throttle you're holding on for dear life, trying to keep the front wheel down while making sure you stay off the rev limiter and in front of the competition. Also, consider that motorcycle engines are smaller, thus needing more RPM to make power and you can see why getting caught in the wrong gear can turn a 10-second bike into a 14-second snail.
And then it hit us; Let's take the user-error out of the equation with a competent rider, grab one of the fastest stock bikes available and finally end the debate.
So, after a few calls we gathered nearly 3000 HP worth of the sickest streetcars in the country and decided to put up or shut up with only a Kawasaki ZX-14 on our side.
**Disclaimer**
Street racing is illegal, stupid, and dangerous. In no way, shape or form does SSB condone it. No laws were broken during the making of this article and all acts were completed on a closed course.