BSB machines v road bikes

This week in MCN, out October 22, you can learn exactly how much difference there is between the top British Superbikes and their road-going counterparts.

We take the championship winning Monstermob Ducati 998, the Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000, the Hawk Kawasaki ZX-7RR, the Honda Racing SP-2 and the Virgin Yamaha R1 and put them head-to-head against the road bikes they’re all derived from.

Shane Byrne’s Monstermob Ducati makes 50 per cent more power than the stock machine, the standard Suzuki GSX-R1000 was only 2.4 seconds slower round Snetterton than John Reynolds’ Rizla Suzuki, and Steve Plater’s Honda SP-2 was so different from the original that it could almost be a different model.

We give you back-to-back riding impressions, speed trap times, top mods to bridge the performance gap and give each road bike a percentage rating so you can see just how close they get to the £100,000 racers.

For all this plus all the latest news, reviews and sports check out this week’s MCN, out October 22.