There are a few areas of bike design that have all sorts of theoretical disadvantages-until you look at the other options. Front forks are perhaps the most obvious, putting your main braking force on the end of a pair of long springs while making it all part of the steering, too. On paper it's a mess, but in practice, there's little to touch it for effective front suspension.

When you pull your brake lever can you hear the cries from the stock rubber hoses as they bulge and expand? They're practically begging to be replaced with something stronger.

Believe it or not, some riders have no idea that pulling that little lever on the left clip-on actually disengages the bike's clutch. Many riders have only one concern when it comes to the inner workings of their machines-that they work. But digging into why it works and how it works opens up the fast paced, better than your buddy, potentially high-priced world of high performance.

Aftermarket Sprockets Installed And RatedWant an inexpensive way to make your bike feel faster? One of the easiest and best dollar value add-ons available is an aftermarket sprocket.

The biggest challenge to going fast on a high-horsepower motorcycle like the Hayabusa is putting power to the ground. Get on the gas hard and most times either the rear wheel spins up or you loft the front, both of which slow you down. Lowering the bike to keep the center of gravity as close to the ground as possible only goes so far to combat this problem. A longer swingarm may be just the ticket for your hard-launch dreams. Aftermarket companies such as Trac Dynamics sell swingarms in varying lengths (from stock to as much as 14 inches over, most adjustable), with prices starting at $995.

Once upon a time, motorcycle manufacturers produced just one type of bike: the Universal Japanese Motorcycle (UJM). Each proud new owner started with what was effectively a generic bike, then set it up with the special parts that defined what type of riding that person preferred. If you wanted a sportbike, you bolted on some low bars and rearset footpegs and voila, you had a sportbike. Then the '80s happened, and superbike racing drove the manufacturers to begin specializing their production bikes. Thus was born the production superbike and the arrival of the amazing GSX-Rs and CBRs that we fawn over today. While a modern sportbike is often awe-inspiring in stock form, a few simple modifications can make these already supremely competent motorcycles even better. The tips and tweaks presented on the following pages range in price from free to thousands of dollars, but each one will provide a notice-able difference in performance and will take you one step closer to sportbike nirvana.

The wheelie--the granddaddy of all street freestyle stunts--can be both the simplest and the most complex trick in a professional stunt rider's routine. While a standard sit-down wheelie is almost elementary in execution, the more incredible variations--skyscraping High Chairs, 12s, creeping No-Handers--leave us mortals tugging our chins and wondering, "How'd they do that?"