Are Supersports Over? | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Are Supersports Over?

I can see the ninja 400 fitting into the segment if the rest discontinue the 600SS
affordable to buy and insure, but decent enough performance and doesn't look like a toy
I can see the other manus getting into this, the R3 becoming a 4 etc......
 
Premium models are alive and well. There can be enough profit margin that they can continue to sell in small numbers.

Entry level are burgeoning but these are really standard bikes dressed up. I have ridden an R3 on the street and I own a cbr125. Standard riding position.

The 600 class has been on the decline for years. Can't charge a high MSRP. They don't make good street bikes. Also, they have all been optimized to the point that if someone has a 2006 R6, there is little reason to buy a new one.

It's not insurance. Roads in europe are filled with scooters, ADV, naked bikes. Very few supersport bikes, but also very few cruisers or large touring bikes.
 
strapping young lad
reviewing a great bike

[video=youtube;K7HGXUy5Dc8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7HGXUy5Dc8[/video]
 
Why do I own an ss? Part of the reason is that I appreciate the engineering of the machine. I also like anything to do with racing. Oh yah, I like riding it.
 
I would say the market for them has certainly shrunk down. The amount of different options compared to 10 or 15 years ago is vast. Supersports are really only good for spirited street riding, or taking to the track. The majority of the rest of the world doesn't ride them. High insurance has certainly limited their application in our own market. Lots of riders are going to smaller displacement, or sport touring, or adventure to save on the insurance. If you are gonna pay the crazy amount then might as well go full blown superbike, which are still being developed with new models every 2-3 years pushing the limits of technology.

Unlike superbikes, supersports have had very little development in the last 10 years. You look at how 600s changed from the mid 90s to the mid 2000s and it was leaps and bounds. Since then? Almost nothing. The R6, CBR, and Gixxer are pretty much unchanged other than cosmetics. Kawi is really the only one actively developing their 600 with new engines and an electronics package.

So it's a hard sell on a brand new one when you can pickup a 10 year old one used with low miles for 1/3 the price and get the same performance.

Also, the whole race replica scene is dead. Nobody cares much about racing anymore, and as such the fervor to get the supersport replica of your favourite racers bike or brand just isn't there anymore.
 
Also, the whole race replica scene is dead. Nobody (In N.America) cares much about racing anymore, and as such the fervor to get the supersport replica of your favourite racers bike or brand just isn't there anymore.


Let's move overseas, they have a much better scene.

Out of curiosity though, what do you attribute this too? A general cultural shift? I don't think the cost of insurance is the primary motive.
 
For road use its not near as fun to ride a fast bike slow. Today's modern SS in the hands of good riders is a slow pace at 50 over the limit so with the racing law ...it has totally changed the way riders ride now, vs the 90's
 
SS bikes seemed to disappear from ON roads a few years ago when insurance got tough. I don't ride in town so maybe the L&L/Timmies crew are still hard at it doing their 100km's a year but out on the fun roads I rarely see SS bikes.
Actually come to think of it last summer I did a 10-state, 5000km ride over 9 days and saw very few SS bikes along the way (even at the Dragon).
 
Ever tried selling a used ss in the last 2 years ? Good luck . You practically have to give it away
 
Ever tried selling a used ss in the last 2 years ? Good luck . You practically have to give it away

Thats good for people like me who are looking for another liter SS bike, I will ride SS till my body wont allow it anymore.
 
My friends are doing more distance these days and I just dont want to go Oakville to Midland on a SS anymore, and i dont want to pay insurance while it sits in the garage.
When I'm going shorter distance, i'll treat myself to a newish Ducati for .20cents on the dollar.

But as a segment in Ontario the SS market is dead IMO.
 
The insurance screws it for the younger crowd, and around the GTA there is nothing but lame riding roads anyway. So what happens is that the younger crowd that want it, can't get it and the old crowd who can get good rates are just no longer physically fit for em especially when they have to drive hours out to find some twisties. Hence SS on the decline in ON... In other places they are very much alive though despite what people here say. A car does all the boring regular commuter stuff, I'd prefer to have an SS for the few months we get here.
 
For road use its not near as fun to ride a fast bike slow. Today's modern SS in the hands of good riders is a slow pace at 50 over the limit so with the racing law ...it has totally changed the way riders ride now, vs the 90's

Your correct, back in the early 90's you rode the hell out of the machines then, I was riding my 88 rz350 on the road at that time.. saw lots of rz500's GSXR's fzr's and ninjas, would love doing a fast run up dvp to gardiner then north on 427, would be thrown in jail if I road the same today. remember being pulled over and police commenting on my nice wheelie, then give me a 20 over and tell me to slow down...boy those were the days, then in 08 I went through this stunt driving stuff on my 929rr luckly it was thrown out but cost me $1400 in impound fees and some $$ to then redline legal to deal with it. Things really have changed, mostly for the worst.
 
yup

mid 80's I was riding an FZ600
GF lived in Rexdale, near the 409
I lived in Mississauga, near the 403

so the route was 409~427~401~403
maybe about a minute on each of those to get home
20 km spirited ride in about 6 minutes door to door

could not get away with that nowadays
 
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Your correct, back in the early 90's you rode the hell out of the machines then, I was riding my 88 rz350 on the road at that time.. saw lots of rz500's GSXR's fzr's and ninjas, would love doing a fast run up dvp to gardiner then north on 427, would be thrown in jail if I road the same today. remember being pulled over and police commenting on my nice wheelie, then give me a 20 over and tell me to slow down...boy those were the days, then in 08 I went through this stunt driving stuff on my 929rr luckly it was thrown out but cost me $1400 in impound fees and some $$ to then redline legal to deal with it. Things really have changed, mostly for the worst.

yep, it used to be pretty civil, you get caught doing a wheelie, get a ticket and go fight it, I remember when the police force was on strike one summer and they were handing out warnings to everyone instead of tickets :), that was a really fun summer
 

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