Hyper Nakeds

Hyper nakeds are litre-class supersport engines wedged into bare chassis with upright bars. 150-200bhp, no fairing, electronics doing most of the keeping-you-alive work. The Tuono V4, Super Duke 1390, S 1000 R, Streetfighter V4, and MT-10 are the current state of the art.

Honest assessment: the road case for these bikes is thin. They're too fast for almost any US road on which you'd keep your licence, and the value they offer over a normal modern naked is largely "I can do bigger numbers". On a track, they're spectacular. On a backroad, they're a Tuono V4 going 35% of its capability while a Street Triple 765 RS goes 80% of its capability and gets there about as quickly.

None of which means people shouldn't buy them. They sell because they're aspirational and ridiculous. That is a perfectly good reason to own a motorcycle.