Supersport's GREATEST HITS...

It's arguably the most interesting of the sportsbike classes at the moment. But the supersport sector has had some highs and lows down the years. We take a look at where it came from, and how it got here...

- WORDS: SIR ALAN OF DOWDS PICS: FB ARCHIVE

Back in the Victorian era, there was an idea called the 'great man' theory. The notion was that historical events were all down to the actions of 'great men.' People like William Shakespeare, Isaac Newton and Napoleon Bonaparte had the chops to advance the whole of human civilisation on their own, purely because they could create great works of art, were extremely smart, or could lead major nations through massive wars.

The 'great man' theory has been discounted in recent years (though some 21st century leaders seem keen to bring it back). And we're not sure it stands up to much scrutiny: there are plenty of other forces at work in the world and if, say, Leonardo da Vinci or Adolf Hitler hadn't been in the right place at the right time, someone else would probably have done the same sort of thing.

What we do like, though, is the 'great bike' theory of motorcycle design. The idea that every now and then a bike comes along which redefines a class or even creates a new one. You probably know the list in your head for big four-cylinder superbikes already: the Kawasaki Z1 then GPZ900R, Honda CBR900RR FireBlade, Yamaha R1, Suzuki GSX-R1000, BMW S1000RR - the roll call goes on. And in other classes, you have the original BMW R80 G/S adventure bike, Honda's Gold Wing tourer, even the Honda C90 Cub. All of them either invented a category of their own or totally revolutionised an existing one.