Aprilia X 250TH
Launched at last month’s Grand Prix of the Americas, just 30 of the €115,000 (plus tax) X250TH will be made by Aprilia’s race department.
It’s a track only iteration of the RSV superbike, tuned to 240bhp and modified with the finest components money can buy. Carbon brakes, racing slicks and MotoGP style aerodynamics set the tone, and the Stars and Stripes paint scheme is certainly distinctive.
That’s because, curiously, it’s being launched to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States’ declaration of independence, with 25 of the bikes being earmarked for American customers. We can’t quite get the link, but we’re sure there’s a reason. The remaining five will go on sale in Europe, so the chances of seeing one on your next track day is pretty small.
Bimota KB998 Rimini
Founded in the 1970s as a custom bike builder making race spec frames for Japanese engines of the time, Italian company Bimota (now stylised as bimota) was once the epitome of the exotic superbike.
Now majority owned by Kawasaki, it’s hard to believe that the latest KB998 Rimini is one of the least exotic of our chosen quintet. Part of that reason is that it has been homologated for world superbike racing, which means that (in addition to committing to building 500 examples) there’s a maximum retail price of €44,000 – so the KB998 can be yours for a mere (in the realms of this lot) £37,777.
At the heart of this hand built bimota is Kawasaki’s venerable ZX-10RR Ninja engine, which is still capable to keeping up with the best on the race tracks. With high end components, beautiful detailing and an interesting active aero system which dynamically changes the angle of the fairing mounted winglets to increase downforce under braking and hard acceleration, while adjusting to optimise speed down straights.
BMW M1000 RR
Another fairly ‘normal’ slice of exotica, BMW’s M 1000 RR is the German company’s WorldSBK contender.
Based on the S 1000 RR, the £33,000 M version features higher end componentry and aerodynamics, brakes, suspension and an engine which has been optimised for racing.
With 218bhp in a package weighing 183kg (without fuel) the M 1000 RR is one of the ultimate track day weapons and one of the best superstock race bikes around. It’s also a bit more practical than most superbikes too – well it wouldn’t be a BMW if it didn’t have heated grips, would it?
Ducati Superleggera V4 Centenario
The Centenario is Ducati’s fourth Superleggera (Italian for super light) and, as before, it showcases what the Bologna company’s engineers can do when there’s no budgets or racing regulations to constrain them.
€150,000 buys you one of 600 Superleggeras (500 in the standard red and 100 in an Italian flag ‘Tricolore’ design) and the ultimate road going superbike. Unlike the similar Aprilia X, the Superleggera comes as a 228bhp/173kg road legal machine – although the included race kit gains 19bhp and drops 6kg.
With carbon and titanium abound and plenty of MotoGP know how at its heart, the Centenario is part motorcycle, part mechanical art. And even if you can afford one, chances are they’ve all been snapped up already by the faithful Ducatisti collectors.
KTM 990 RC R Track
Fancy a track bike but a Superleggera a bit out of range? For £15,599 you can get a track enabled version of KTM’s very fine 990 RC R.
All the road going gear has been taken off already, handily replaced with racing parts like a performance exhaust, lever guards, slick tyres and plain white fairings – which you can paint up in your own design.
KTM are creating a race series especially for enthusiastic amateurs looking to take a step up from track days, and if that sounds like a bit of you (or you just want a fun bike for track days) we think this is a bit of affordable exotica you’d be quite happy to try and push to the limit.
