). Here’s a look at BMW’s racing hits, plus what’s to come in the next couple of years...Click next as Visordown plots BMW's racing history

of the financial holes into which it has stumbled throughout its history. This time it was the 500 Vdue, powered by Bimota’s revolutionary “clean-burning” direct-injection two-stroke engine. The V-twin refused to run, properly, had to be recalled and bankrupted

They have plenty in common, the latest ZX-10R and the GPZ900R, its inspiration from a quarter-century ago. Potent straight-four engines, top-quality chassis, sharp looks, and an unmistakably aggressive presence. What separates them — even more than the 80bhp and almost 50kg in th...

SUZUKI GSX-R1100The GSX-R1100 didn’t merely outclass all the other open-class superbikes on its launch in 1986; it demolished them. A year after Suzuki had changed motorcycling forever with the first aluminium-framed race-replica four, the GSX-R750’s bully-boy big brother arrived...

If you’re old enough to remember 1977 it might not seem that long ago: Elvis died, Microsoft was founded, and the Space Shuttle flew into action. But the bike world was very different. Laverda’s Jota ruled the roads, Sheene was the world’s best rider, and Suzuki and Yamaha launch...

DUCATI 851The last year of the Eighties was more notable for revamps than for completely new bikes, and nobody did it better than Ducati. The previous year’s 851 had been one of the most eagerly awaited bikes ever: the first Duke with a liquid-cooled, eight-valve V-twin engine. B...

1981Back in ’81 most superbikes were just as they had been for more than a decade: big, naked air-cooled fours with high bars and twin shocks. We loved them that way too, of course, despite the wobbles and the neck ache. Revolution was in the air, with fairings, liquid-cooling an...

1986Things were moving fast in the two-wheeled world in ’86, with Japan Inc churning out new models that were generally faster, flashier and better than last year’s crop. Fairings and monoshock rear ends had taken over; engine cooling methods ranged from water via oil to good old...

BRITAIN BOUNCES BACKRiding the first ever bike from reborn Triumph’s Hinckley factory in 1991 was a mindblowing experience. In the company of Kawasaki’s ZZR1100, Suzuki’s GSX1100 and Yamaha’s FJ1200, the Triumph was far from outclassed.All six new Triumphs, from flagship Trophy t...

1991The Nineties picked up speed with promising developments in two very different areas: reborn Triumph’s bikes reached UK showrooms; and Bimota’s forkless Tesi heralded a new direction for bike design. Which would be a hit, and which a flop? Meanwhile, most bikers carried on bu...