Here it is. The big one. El Capitano. The don. The mother of all grouptests. Sure, 1000cc sportsbikes aren’t currently busting the sales charts, but there’s nothing sexier than gathering seven of the latest superbikes together and creating gold. And to make things sexier, we took them to the Isle of Man – one of the only places on this planet where we can legally exploit 200bhp. Ladies and gents, welcome to the 2021 Isle of Man Superbike Shootout.

Nothing beats a dynamic test of a litre bike like a test on the Mountain Section. It truly scrutinises a bike’s agility, stability, steering, throttle connection, fuelling and powerplant; in fact, it tests every trait possible and undeniably highlights weaknesses. So we setup base camp in Ramsey and smashed out the mountain miles. The Aprilia RSV4 1100 Factory and Kawasaki’s ZX-10R were the only ‘new’ bikes this season, although Ducati’s refinement of the Panigale V4 means it’s nearly new. After the abuse we faced last year for neglecting the GSX-R1000, we had to include it this year – even if the current model is about to enter its fifth year without an update.
A massive thank you to Bridgestone for sponsoring the event (and making the bikes handle better!) and a shout to BeMoto for assisting in some insurance niggles. Grab a cuppa/beer and some food, because this one is a beast. And you might be surprised by the winner. We were…

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