[cloud9]

But better technology should mean that it is stronger & *lighter* so that more horsepower is not wasted in trying to accelerate a heavier bike. Else you might as well just drive a truck with a steel cage frame and a 1500HP motor.

You can have a feather weight literbike........it's just going to cost you an arm and a leg. Carbon fiber ain't cheap and using the lightest metals means that your 12k literbike just grew into a 40,000 dollar literbike. Just look at the MV Agusta F4CC, ducati desmosedici rr etc all that weight savings comes at a significant cost.

And you seem to be stuck on them posting lap times when you stated yourself that various factors contribute to lap times. Any logical sportbike rider knows the latest bikes aren't leaps and bounds above the yesteryear's models, but incrementally better in small ways here and there that all add up in the end. A slipper clutch, Big piston fork etc give the rider more confidence in what the machine is doing while also contributing to slightly faster times. Seems like you want the journalist to justify something you already knew.

Today's machines in general are miles away from machines of only 20 years ago. Just enjoy them for what they are. Affordable race ready bikes that anybody can own. Whether that's good or bad is a whole other beast.

 

[cloud9]

...just as an aside, what I see most happening with these bikes? Either they are being raced or ridden quite recklessly. If the public were to look at the overall market share of these bikes, the average age of the riders, and the history of each bike sold? I'd bet that you'd hear a substantial hue and cry for banning their sale.

but is a literbike really the best way to spend $10k?

So the literbike is the sole excuse for bikes being raced and ridden recklessly? How about the owners. The riders themselves should be taking responsibility for creating the image you speak of. Unfortunately we don't have a way of banning idiots from buying motorcycles. We should be a bit more worried about idiots buying cars in my opinion. Most of the riders are responsible , just the select few screw it up for everyone else. You can put a gun in every home on this planet and it would never hurt anybody if a human did'nt touch it.

To answer your second question............Yes. Ok maybe not the best but a damn good excuse.