Xtra Pics: MasterBike 2007: Sportbike Shootout - First Look

Spending a week in Spain track testing the latest crop of sportbikes is never dull. While I may have been a bit busy seat-hopping among the 13 testbikes to have noticed much of anything taking place outside my personal field of view, there were more than a few photogs around snapping digital frames with all the feverish zeal of celebrity paparazzi.

You might imagine a 20-page spread as that given the MasterBike test in our August, 2007 issue would eat up all the best pics; well, perhaps it did, but here’s a few more for your amusement.

For a glimpse of what the Jerez circuit looks like from the saddle of a Ducati 1098S, be sure to check out the onboard video I captured during one of my sessions. I have to tell you, cutting across the painted corner apexes and running wide onto the blue/white-coated road edge at the exit was plenty exciting. Sorry about the wind noise drowning out the Duc’s sweet-sounding exhaust note; I’m still getting a handle on our new recording gear.

The real work began once I’d returned to the States. With assistance from several CW staffers, we proceeded to test all 13 of the same models I had ridden at Jerez. With street riding impressions, weight, measurements, dyno data, dragstrip times and top-speed performance to be gathered on each bike, it was a very busy few weeks before I even had a chance to stop and write.