10 Fastest 80s Motorcycles That Still Pack A Punch

By the 1980s, the Japanese influence on sports motorcycles that had started in 1969 with the Honda CB750 was in full swing and the definition of the sports bike had developed out of all recognition of anything that had been before. While the market was dominated by the big four Japanese manufacturers, the Germans, and Italians were keeping up in their own individual ways, although the likes of KTM and Triumph had yet to exert any influence on the modern road bike scene.

The two-stroke motorcycle engine was still making waves, but the writing was on the wall, even though motorcycle Grand Prix racing would be exclusively two-stroke until the turn of the millennium. Power and, therefore, speed, became ever more important in this decade, even if chassis technology of the day still lagged a way behind.

The information in this article has been sourced from the manufacturers’ websites and brochures, and other online sources such as www.motorcyclespecs.co.za in order to bring you the most accurate information. Used selling prices were sourced from www.jdpower.com and are for reference only.

10 Yamaha V-Max – 1985

Top Speed: 150 MPH

Used Selling Price: $5,299

Proper 1980’s excess, the V-Max was aimed directly at the American market, with its love for straight-line drag racing. To that end, the Yamaha V-Max had a 1,197cc V4 engine, pushing out a healthy 145 horsepower, but it was cradled in a long, low chassis and running gear, making it arguably the first muscle bike or performance cruiser. Or perhaps a road-going drag bike?

One thing was for certain: it handled just like a cruiser and not at all like a sports bike, and you approached corners at speed with a certain amount of trepidation, steeling yourself to use all your strength and skill to negotiate them safely. Luckily, the brakes were up to the job of hauling this beast to a stop but, for tarmac-ripping performance, there was very little to touch the V-Max.

Yamaha VMAX Specifications

9 Kawasaki GPz900 – 1984

Top Speed: 155 MPH

Used Selling Price: $4,399

For too long, the Japanese had concentrated on power as a means of making a motorcycle fast and largely ignoring the science of chassis design; rather important as acceleration times reduced and top speeds increased. The design brief was for a bike with 1,000cc power and 750cc handling response. The 908cc, DOHC engine produced 115 horsepower, which might have been less than its rivals, but a speed of 155mph made it the quickest production bike available at that time.

The engine was very compact thanks to its liquid cooling system and was used as a stressed member, so it could be mounted lower on the chassis to improve handling. Forks were three-way adjustable anti-dive items and a good rising rate rear suspension unit further helped the handling. Proof of this is filling the podium at the Production TT on the Isle of Man in 1984.

Kawasaki GPz900 Specifications

8 Ducati 851 – 1987

Top Speed: 149 MPH

Used Selling Price: $4,999

The Japanese were so dominant by the 1980s, that any motorcycle that wasn’t Japanese was a rarity. Luckily, Ducati was entering the beginning of its upward trajectory, thanks to being bought by Cagiva, with the attendant injection of development cash. This enabled the famed V-Twin engine to be developed to incorporate four-valve cylinder heads and liquid cooling, the engine now producing 93 horsepower, while the chassis was only the second iteration of the iconic steel tube trellis frame.

Not as legendary as the later 916 model, the 851 nevertheless started the incredible run of World Superbike success the factory would enjoy in the 1990s when Raymond Roche won the title on board his 851, followed by two further titles for Doug Polen, riding the 888, a development of the 851. Ducati would never look back.

Ducati 851 Specifications

7 Honda VFR750R RC30 – 1987

Top Speed: 149 MPH

Used Selling Price: $40,000 – 60,000

Possibly the ultimate homologation special of its time – or any time for that matter – the VFR750R, or RC30 to give it its internal designation, was built for one reason only: to allow Honda to go World Superbike and Isle of Man Production TT racing, so Honda first designed a race bike and then equipped it with the bare minimum road-going parts and sold it to the public!

Each RC30 was hand-assembled and used exotic materials such as titanium alloy for the connecting rods, while every other component on the bike was as light as possible. 112 horsepower from the V4 engine, with gear-driven camshafts, had only 407 pounds to propel, the swing arm was single-sided, the wheelbase short and the riding position uncompromising. American Fred Merkel won the first two World Superbike championships on an RC30.

Honda VFR750 RC30 Specifications

6 Yamaha FZR600 Genesis – 1988

Top Speed: 142 MPH

Used Selling Price: $4,900

Sometimes, bikes are notable not necessarily for what they achieved at the time, but for what they led to later on. The FZR600 Genesis appeared in 1988 and was Yamaha’s first venture into the middleweight sports bike category.

The 599cc ever more rare inline four-cylinder engine pushed out 90 horsepower, but the bike weighed a featherweight 458 pounds which, combined with the sweet-handling chassis, made the FZR600 a formidable sports bike on either road or, more appropriately, on track. You needed skill to get the best out of it but, boy, did it deliver if you had! It led directly to the YZF-R6 which, along with rivals from Honda, Suzuki, and Kawasaki, gave buyers a great choice of pin-sharp middleweight sports bikes which have never really been surpassed.

Yamaha FZR600 Genesis Specifications

5 Suzuki GSX-R750 – 1985

Top Speed: 171 MPH

Used Selling Price: $3,000

Up to the arrival of the GSX-R750 in 1985, sports bikes were large, heavy, and had dubious chassis dynamics, a long way from the racing motorbikes of the time, which were all featherweight two-strokes. Even though the GSX-R750 had an inline four-cylinder four-stroke engine, it was closer to a Grand Prix bike for the road than anything had been before. Today, the GSX-R750 moniker carries on the legacy and is considered an outstanding sports bike.

The engine pushed out 100 horsepower – a lot for the day and matching the Kawasaki GPz900 – but the big story was the chassis: a cradle-type aluminum frame with square-section tubes and track-spec suspension, wheels, and brakes. Not only that, but it was light, at 388 pounds (the GPz900 weighed in at 502 pounds), which makes the GSX-R750 the granddaddy of the modern sports bike.

Suzuki GSX-R750 Specifications

4 Suzuki RG500 Gamma – 1985

Top Speed: 147 MPH

Used Selling Price: $25,000

Believe it or not, there was a time when anyone could buy a Grand Prix bike from the factory and go racing with the stars of the day: can you imagine doing that today? The Suzuki RG500 was also available as a road-legal bike, complete with a 95 horsepower, four-cylinder, twin crank square four two-stroke engine.

The bike was light and fast, as long as you kept the engine on the boil above 5000rpm, below which there was little power. Above it, however, and you needed to hang on: not many bikes of the time, irrespective of engine size, could match the RG500 for acceleration. At a time of stodgy and heavy sports bikes, this really was a Grand Prix bike for the road.

Suzuki RG500 Gamma Specifications

3 Suzuki GSX-R1100 – 1986

Top Speed: 169 MPH

Used Selling Price: $6,900

Japanese sports bikes might have been getting steadily more powerful throughout the 1970s and early ‘80s, but they were also getting heavier and heavier. The GSX1100 models were powerful, but the handling left something to be desired and so, when the GSX-R1100 arrived, weighing a huge 90 pounds less, not to mention having more horsepower, it was a revelation in terms of both speed and handling.

If it was still air-cooled, it used an excess of oil sprayed around inside the engine to keep temperatures down. The riding position was extreme, the suspension technology of the day getting better but still relatively rudimentary by today’s standards, but one twist of the right wrist made you forget all of that.

Suzuki GSX-R1100 Specifications

2 Yamaha RD500LC – 1984

Top Speed: 138 MPH

Used Selling Price: $40 – 50,000

More delicious 500cc Grand Prix technology for the road. It’s not often that manufacturers build road-going versions of their 500cc GP racers, but that’s exactly what Yamaha did with the RD500. The engine was the key to the RD’s appeal: a 500cc, V4 two-stroke producing 88 horsepower, pushing along 436 pounds of all-in weight.

All of a sudden, you were Kenny Roberts, Eddie Lawson, or Wayne Rainey taking part in the High Street Grand Prix: it was the ultimate motorcycle for race fans. The success of the Yamaha prompted Suzuki to produce the RG500 Gamma and Honda the NSR400 in 1985, but the RD500 was the original and, many would say, the best.

Yamaha RD500LC Specifications

1 BMW K1 – 1988

Top Speed: 150 MPH

Used Selling Price: $15,900

The model where the aerodynamic fairing and four-cylinder engine came together in a bid to create a model that would be fast with relatively little power – at the time. There were fears that European legislation would limit power outputs, so the key to maintaining a good top speed was through efficient air penetration.

The result was a 150 MPH top speed from ‘only’ 100 horsepower. It looked like nothing else on the road and, even if it wasn’t terribly effective as a sports bike, having too long a wheelbase and being too heavy, as a sports touring bike it excelled, being long-legged, stable, comfortable, and safe: it was the first production bike to be fitted with ABS. In one fell swoop, BMW shed its reputation for building staid and boring bikes.

BMW K1 Specifications