BEST SUPERBIKE: BMW HP4 Race

In a world of super superbikes, the BMW HP4 Race takes it a step beyond. It is in many ways more exotic than those machines raced at the pinnacle of the sport in World Superbike. The 377-pound HP4 Race weighs, for example, only 7 pounds more than the World Superbike-class minimum weight limit, and that’s with a full tank of fuel. Such is the glory of the bike’s carbon-fiber frame, swingarm, and wheels. But the finest components complete this beautiful track-only machine: an Öhlins FGR 300 fork and TTX 36 GP shock, Brembo GP4 PR Monoblock brake calipers, and Forged Pankl rods in an engine that is claimed to make 215 hp. Some things are too fantastic to be common. The HP4 Race is one of those things.