The late 1990s and early 2000s saw a rise in the number of V-twin motorcycles on both the roads and racetracks. Inspired by the enormous success of Ducati in superbike racing, many other manufacturers brought out their own 1000cc V-twin superbikes – some for racing and others as sporting road bikes.

Changes in superbike race rules saw four-cylinder machines regain ground in the early noughties, but today those V-twin superbikes have achieved modern classic status and offer ample performance and a thrilling ride for not too much money. Here are five of our faves…

Aprilia RSV Mille

As the dominant force in the 125cc and 250cc Grand Prix racing at the time, it was no surprise to see Aprilia muscle in on the Superbike World Championship in the late Nineties,  a series which was very much the domain of fellow Italian manufacturer Ducati.

Launched in 1998, the RSV Mille (translated from Italian as Thousand) was powered by a modern 60-degree V-twin engine built by long time collaborators Rotax from Austria.

Numerous different specifications were built, using the Ducati model of marketing an affordable entry model, an upspecced cooking version (called the R) and a limited edition SP (Sports Production) designed to homologate parts for use in racing.

The RSV was well received and the powerplant also found a home in less racy versions too, such as the naked Tuono and the Futura sports tourer. On track, the bike was competitive too. After a learning year in 1999, the factory team hired former champion Troy Corser in 2000. The Australian repaid them with four race wins and third in the championship. He won two more races in 2001, while fan favourite Noriyuki Haga finished fourth the following year.

On track, the Aprilia could never quite beat the dominant Ducatis and Hondas over a season, or rather the team’s Dunlop tyres seemed unable to match the factory Michelins at all but a few tracks. By 2003, Aprilia switched its efforts to MotoGP but the RSV lived on. In 2004, the Mille was redesigned and renamed the RSV1000R – staying in the range until the V4 RSV4 arrived five years later.

These days the Mille is a performance bargain on the second hand market, with prices starting as low as £2000.

Ducati 999

No list of V-twin superbikes would be complete without a Ducati in it, indeed the Bologna manufacturer could fill the feature many times over.

But which one? Early 851 and 888s are thin on the ground and into collectors’ territory these days, and the iconic 916 – although more plentiful – are also commanding serious premiums and are (whisper it) pretty underwhelming to ride on the road.

Instead, we’ve plumped for the 916/998 replacement – the 999. Replacing the 916 was an almost impossible task and the 999 was poorly received due to Pierre Terblanche’s unusual styling.

On track it continued Ducati’s formidable reputation, powering Brits Neil Hodgson and James Toseland to world titles, and on the road it was a better bike than the 998 it replaced. It only lasted three years though. In 2007 the more elegant 1098 was introduced, with a bigger engine now allowed under racing rules.

The once unloved 999 is now finding fans and prices are firming up. Basic ones are unlikely to be found for less than £5k, with high end R versions commanding over four times that. Ducati also made a smaller capacity 749, with the same styling, which gives the same look and handling for a little less cash.

Honda VTR1000 SP1

The Honda VTR1000 SP1 is a significant motorcycle in the manufacturer’s history.

Over the years, Honda tended towards ploughing its own furrow, especially in racing circles. When two-strokes came in and transformed the smaller Grand Prix classes, the Big H found even more innovative ways to keep its high-revving, multi-cylinder four-strokes at the top. Even in the late 1970s, when strokers were the only choice, Honda came along with an oval pistoned four-stroke V4 called the NR500. It was a rare disaster (and replaced by the two-stroke NSR500) but in production racing the V4 remained Honda’s signature configuration.

The RVF750 Formula One bike and the VFR750R (RC30) superbike were hugely successful in the 1980s but by the 1990s the replacement RVF750R (RC45) couldn’t match the dominant Ducatis. Despite a massive budget behind the factory Castrol Honda team, it took until 1997, when the mercurial talent of American racer John Kocinski took the RC45 to the title.

Despite this, Honda knew it was facing an uphill battle to beat the Italian bikes and, as a result, built its own V-twin for 2000.

Honda had a sporty V-twin in its range at the time, the VTR1000F Firestorm, but the SP1 was an all-new model built by Honda’s racing division, HRC, and given a race model code: RC51.

In what were the halcyon days of world superbikes, the SP1 won the title at its first attempt, with American Colin Edwards winning the first of his two championships. Very much built in limited numbers as a homologation special, the SP2 came in for 2002 running a revised chassis aimed at improving track performance. Edwards won the title again that year, in what would be the final year of the factory Honda team.

As machines designed primarily for racing, the SP1/SP2 were never practical road bikes. Despite their limited numbers and race heritage, prices are far lower than high-spec Ducatis of a similar era, not to mention other HRC creations like the RC30 and RC45, although it’s not hard to see that changing in the not too distant future.

KTM RC8R

KTM broke the mould in 2008 when it introduced the RC8. The concept had been floated some three years earlier and the production bike was notable for its aggressive, angular, lines. It was the Austrian company’s first superbike and had a capacity of 1150cc, within the 1200cc limit for V-twin race bikes at the time and good for 150bhp. 

The bike was relatively well received, but criticised for its snatchy throttle response and crude fuelling. In 2011 an updated RC8R was introduced, addressing these issues and claiming 175bhp from the bigger bore, twin spark 1195cc engine.

Whether it was because of the styling, the limited dealer network or KTM’s lack of heritage in the class, the RC8 never really took off. It could also be argued that it was a decade too late to the market, as inline fours like the Suzuki GSX-R1000 and Yamaha YZF-R1 had become more prevalent again. KTM, a brand famously telling us it was ‘Ready to Race’ also never really raced the RC8 at a high level, which can’t have helped the bike’s image. It raced in superstock classes with moderate success and won the German superbike title in 2011, but there was never an entry in the world class. 

KTM pulled the plug in 2015 and never replaced the RC8R. With loads of power and plenty of character, it’s a motorcycle with a strong fanbase – and they represent good value on the second hand market.

Suzuki TL1000R

Ducati’s success with the V-twin format saw two of the biggest Japanese manufacturers jump in on the act with big boomers of their own

Neither Honda (with the VTR1000F Firestorm) or Suzuki (with the TL1000S) abandoned their fours for twins and instead offered them alongside their traditional CBR and GSX models.

Both were half faired models. The Firestorm was a highly accomplished all-rounder in the great Honda tradition, but the Suzuki had more than a little bit of the devil about it when it arrived in 1997.

The S had a reputation for nasty tankslaps, a side effect of a rotary rear shock design aimed at keeping the wheelbase as short as possible. The bike was recalled to have a steering damper fitted, while power was also neutered on later models. It was a big deal at the time.

The TL1000R arrived amid all this controversy in 1998. With a completely different frame and rear shock, the R offered a two-cylinder alternative to the GSX-R750 in the Suzuki range. It was still lively and with 135bhp on tap it was the bad boy of the class. Every week the pages of MCN seemed to have a TL story, and there was a lot of speculation that the 1000R would replace the GSX-R750 for the factory world superbike.

In the end it didn’t, probably wisely, as the engine seemed unable to cope with the demands of racing. As a footnote to history, the TL1000R engine was used in the Bimota SB8K, which surprisingly won a wet race at Phillip Island but was most usually found broken down at the side of the track.

Not that reliability was a problem for the road bikes. Actually, the R was a thoroughly decent motorbike that couldn’t quite make its mark in a crowded marketplace. Perhaps tainted by the ‘widow maker’ reputation of the S, the lack of race action or perhaps because it was competing against the iconic GSX-R in the Suzuki showroom, they never quite managed to hit the heights of the other bikes here. Its engine went on to be a stalwart of the Suzuki range for years to follow, powering the V-Strom and SV1000, and TL1000Rs remain popular second hand buys at sensible prices.