fastest motorcycles in the world
Suzuki Hayabusa
Back in 1997, Suzuki banged the door shut on the question of “who makes the fastest stock motorcycle” with the 1300cc Hayabusa, an oddly-shaped missile that ripped through the timing lights at 194mph, a good 20mph or so faster than the nearest competitor. Shortly thereafter, nannies in the EU got out their rulers and threatened to slap the hands (tax-wise) of anyone that made a bike go faster than 186mph (300kph). And that was the end of that, for the most part.
While Suzuki’s lithe GSX-R1000 certainly competes well against all the other hyper-hardware on this list, I’m picking the long-running and nicely updated Hayabusa because it’s still a monster in monster’s clothing. While other bikes here can out-handle it, few can match its Millennium Falcon speed and eyeball-flattening acceleration. Plus, it looks like nothing else. If it works for you, embrace the ‘Busa and know that for your $14,599, you’re getting a bike that will flat crush 99.9 percent of the street-legal wheeled conveyances on the planet while also being well-suited for distance riding and commuting. No joke.