This content reviews a selection of new and updated sports bikes for 2026, presented in ascending price order, highlighting their features, performance, and target appeal.
Mind Map
Click to expand
Click to explore the full interactive mind map • Zoom, pan, and navigate
Now, we've got plenty of interesting
looking, new and updated sports bikes on
the market for 2026. And so, here we go
with my pick of the bunch of them in
price order ascending. And of course,
with it being sports bikes, this one
gets pretty expensive. But we'll kick
off with a relatively humble bike,
Honda's CBR500R.
A nice looking bike, well-made as well,
and also makes decent power for the A2
class with 47 horses peak from its
parallel twin. The only thing I will say
though is perhaps it's not the most
exciting bike in this class owing to the
fact that it comes in a little bit heavy
with a curb weight of 194 kg. That makes
it about 15 kilos more than bikes like
Kawasaki's Ninja 500 or the Yamaha R3 or
KTM's RC 390. I guess the whole point of
this class as well is to be light and
agile. So, is there still a reason to
consider this bike in 2026? Well, one
thing is the fact that it's now
available with that e-clutch or
electronic clutch. And so that makes it
one of the very few twist and go style
bikes on the entire sports bike market.
On the one hand, if you are riding more
aggressively, it gives you those
clutchless up and down shifts like a
quick shifter. But on the other, if
you're riding in town traffic, it does
mean you can ride it as a twist and go,
which gives it a little bit of
practicality. So yeah, this might not be
the choice if you want to set, you know,
your best ever lap times, but it could
be a good versatile allrounder with this
little technological trick up its
sleeve. Moving up a class though, we've
got Yamaha's R seven, which has been
refreshed for 2026 with a bit of tech
that opens up quite a lot of features.
You see, recently Yamaha have been
updating their CP2 powered bikes like
the M07 Naked, the Tracer 7 Sports
Tourer, the Tenner 700 Adventure Bike
with electronic ride bywire throttles,
replacing the traditional cable pull
throttles of previous iterations. Now,
that means they can fit it with more
contemporary features like riding modes,
like cruise control as well, and also
even some of the basics like traction
control, which was missing on all of
these bikes up until relatively
recently. So, yeah, the R seven for 2026
is the latest CP2 powered bike to get
this update. And they've also taken the
opportunity to add an IMU for cornering
sensitive rider aids. A TFT dash now
with connectivity which really does look
a lot more upto-date than the LCD dash
that it replaces. And they've also made
a few tweaks to things like the
aerodynamics, the chassis, and also the
ergonomics. That makes it, you know, up
to speed with the competition. But I do
think there are two things that stand
out about it that maybe make it the
sports bike to choose in 2026. One is
purely vain, and it's the fact that it's
now offered with this 70th anniversary
paint job, which they say takes its
inspiration from the Yamaha Super Sport
bikes of the '90s, including the
original R seven, which was their world
superbike homologation special. For me,
I saw it in the Flesher Ike and I
thought it was one of the best looking
bikes of the show. But then also
consider the R seven. If you're looking
for something that's not super powerful,
it comes in at 72 horsepower peak. Not
super expensive either. It still comes
in at under 10 grand, but also hasn't
been watered down too much in terms of
the riding position. A lot of these
middle weights can be sat up to make
them more usable as a road bike, more
approachable for newer riders as well.
But for me, the R seven still feels, you
know, fairly aggressive and focused. And
so definitely one to look at if you're
looking for a middleweight that's still
got that proper sports bike riding
position. Next up though, another 4
grand will get you a pretty serious bit
of kit. And that's the new KTM 9990 RCR.
Now, I say new, this was actually a uh
2025 bike, but that was before KTM ran
into serious financial difficulties uh
which resulted at the beginning of 2025
in them putting themselves into selfadministration.
selfadministration.
That meant production shut down for a
few months while they sorted all that
out. But for 2026, we're starting to see
some of those bikes roll into dealers
and be available to the public. This one
looks particularly good to me with that
990 parallel twin with 126 horsepower
peak and a healthy 103 Newton meters of
peak torque. Then you've got a pretty
slick chassis spec as well with their
signature trellis frame. You've got
Brembo's top of the range highpure
calipers and also fully adjustable
suspension courtesy of their in-house
brand WP. The looks are aggressive, the
riding positions relatively aggressive
as well. And there's a comprehensive
suite of tech as you'd expect from a
modern-day KTM. All managed through this
really quite snazzy looking TFT dash
which is super wide. This is definitely
a bike that's high on the list to review
for 2026. I'm really looking forward to
having a go on one. And I think the only
thing that you could potentially mark it
down for in advance is the fact that a
lot of the tech like the quick shifter
and the cruise control and some of the
extra riding modes is still paytoplay. A
lot of the hardware like the quick
shifter, like the cruise control buttons
are already fitted to every bike, but
it's just that some of these software
features shut off after the initial 1500
km demo. And I know from the comments on
our videos that a lot of people still
find this a bit gling uh even a couple
of years since KTM introduced this sort
of way of working. Otherwise though,
I've got to say it does look good and it
looks like it can easily go toe-to-toe
with the immediate competition that
you've got to say is like the Yamaha R9
or maybe even the Jucati Panagali V2.
Now, before we get on to the next bike
though, I just want to show this clip
that I spotted on Instagram of somebody
getting their Jucati nicked after
leaving it outside a shop. It got caught
on CCTV and I don't want to victim blame
at all. It would be great if you could
leave your bike parked outside unlocked,
but at the same time, I've got to say
there are some absolute basics that you
can do to lessen the chances of this
happening. And so, it's a great point at
which to give a massive shout out to
Light Lock for supporting the channel
and also sponsoring this video. Steering
locks are just not enough. And so,
you're definitely better off carrying
some sort of angle grinder resistant
lock with you. And that's exactly what
Lightlocks specialize in with their own
angle grinder resistant coating called
Bonium. In fact, we actually went to
their factory here in the UK a couple of
months back to do a bit of a cutting
test and it blew my mind how easy it was
to cut through a regular nonarmored
lock. Less than 10 seconds if my memory
serves me correctly. Uh, but with the
X3, we actually shredded two discs on a
battery powered angle grinder before we
kind of gave up. Seriously impressive.
I'm sure you'll agree and worth every
penny if you want to keep your bike
safe. So, do check out the link down in
the description below if you fancy
picking one up. And also, you'll find
down there a £15 discount code
specifically for my viewers. Next up
though, one of the pillars of the sports
bike market, the Kawasaki ZX10R, and
also its racier sibling, the 10R. Now, I
will say for 2026, this is largely the
same bike as the previous iteration,
although they have redesigned the front
end, including some new Aero winglets,
which are all the rage on sports bikes
nowadays, and they say it improves
downforce by 25%. They've also changed
the exhaust system a little bit to meet
the latest emissions regulations.
They've tweaked the geometry and also
the suspension settings for better
handling as well. And then also in the
cockpit, there's a larger 5-in TFT dash.
Then the base model now gets an OIN
steering damper fitted as standard,
which was previously only the case on
the RR. And so I think you've got to say
for that regular ZX10R at £15,999,
it really does look like a heck of a lot
of bike for your money in 2026. Quite
frequently now with liter sports bikes
from some of the competition, you know,
they're often passing the 20 g mark.
It's not unusual to see bikes at 30
grand and above as well, but this
Kawasaki looks to deliver a huge amount
of performance per pound spent. That
said, one of his closest rivals in that
regard is probably the Jix,000 at about
1,600 quid more. A bike that was
recently killed off in Europe at the end
of 2022 owing to stricter emissions
regulations. Uh but for 2026, they've
updated it and brought it back. And
partly that's to celebrate its 40th
anniversary. In fact, like the Kawasaki,
it's not massively evolved. A lot of the
spec is the same as last time out, but
they have added the seemingly mandatory
winglets now. And also that second O2
sensor in the exhaust system for Euro 5
Plus. I guess the only downside for, you
know, Jixa fans is that power is now
down versus the 2022 model by uh 6
horsepower and also weight is up by a
kilo. Uh, but all the same, I'd probably
say it's still more than enough bike for
a lot of riders. But we are getting into
the proper exotic stuff now. We're
nudging almost 20 grand with a couple of
special editions of Ducati's excellent
Panagali V2. Now, I've got to say, this
is one of my favorite bikes that I've
ridden over the past few years. I got to
review the S version in uh 2025. It's
lightweight. It's agile. It's a a
brilliant new engine, the V2 as well.
And also, it looks phenomenal, but also
relatively comfortable for a sports
bike. And so, I thought it was an
absolute hoot even for just, you know,
some quick road riding. On top of that
though, for 2026, we've got these two
new versions, these special editions,
with one being the Mark Marquez inspired
MM93 and the other being the PCO Baya
inspired FB63.
Unfortunately though, neither really
helps with the main problem with this
bike, which is the price, as it already
comes in a little bit more expensive
than some of the competition. The base
Panagali V2 starts at over 15 grand. The
S version with the upgraded suspension,
that's over 17. And then with these
special paint jobs, a little bit of a
special finish. Well, yeah, like I say,
you're nudging 20 grand and so it really
does look comparatively expensive versus
the R9 or the KTM90.
I will say though, seeing these at
Motorcycle Live, they did look really
quite good, especially the banya camo
version, but I think you've probably got
to be quite into your Moto GP to be um
to be able to justify the extra cost to
yourself. An alternative if you want a
Panagali V2 that doesn't just look like
the standard red is that for 2026, the S
model is also available in yellow, which
I think looks really good. It's feels
like a bit of a throwback to like a 748
or a 916. If you want to go seriously
quick though, well, you could double
your money and get the new Panagali V4R,
which is the, you know, latest
generation world superbike homologation
special. You know, they've got to make
these and sell them to the public in
order to be able to race them in world
superbikes. And it does look race ready
with uh 218 horsepower peak figure,
although you can push it all the way to
239 horsepower with the racing exhaust
system and also the dedicated Ducatti
shell collaboration oil. Other race
ready features include the cornering
side pods which give you extra downforce
when the bike's over at lean and the
racing pattern gearbox with neutral
below first instead of between first and
second. And you also get a thumb lever
for the neutral lock. So, it won't go
down into neutral unless you press it.
So, you can really, you know, feel like
a proper World Superbike or Moto GP
rider. Pricing on this next one though
is still TBC, but judging by Norton's
previous bikes like the V4SV, well, I'm
expecting their new Mans R sports bike
to come in around the 40 grand mark as
well. That would put it in the same
ballpark as a lot of these superbike
commigation specials, which have a price
cap around here. So, you're looking at
Panagali V4R or maybe um BMW's M000RR,
stuff like that. Although, I do think
Norton will probably argue that the
Mangsar isn't actually necessarily going
head-to-head with some of those bikes.
You see, they've designed it
predominantly to be a road bike. This
isn't necessarily a sports bike for the
track. And you'll see that predominantly
in the visual design, which is much
cleaner and I think more tastefully done
uh than all the winglets and appendages
and graphics and bits of bare carbon
which are all too common on those um you
know super performancebased sports
bikes. On top of that, they also say
they've made this new version of their
V4 engine uh very much focused on torque
with a very impressive peak figure of
130 new m just 9,000 RPM. So yeah, for
context, that's more peak torque than a
Panagali V4 by about 10 new m. It makes
it a couple of thousand RPM lower in the
rev range. And so it does make for
pretty impressive reading. And I'm
really hoping that it does translate to,
you know, a great ride out on the road.
If I can get hold of such an exotic bike
to review. The only downside is a little
bit more weight than some of those
bikes. They come in at like 180, 190
kilos wet. This is over 200 kg. But I
would say if they're truly serious about
it being predominantly a road bike, then
an extra 10 or 15 kilos doesn't really
matter that much. Topping the list
though this year, you can double the
price again with the new Panagali V4 in
its Mark Marquez 2025 world champion
replica form. Just 293 of these will be
made with a replica Moto GP livery.
Marquez's authentic signature on the
tank. carbon wheels, an STM Evo dry
clutch, a homologated Acropovich
silencer, lashings of other carbon and
also some billet aluminium components,
Brembo GP4 calipers, and also to top it
all off, a special branded delivery
crate. It has to be said, an incredible
bike, although with a pretty incredible
price as well. Uh, but it does seem like
a fitting way to round off this list. As
always, I'd love to know which bike
you'd most like in your garage. So, do
let me know down in the comments below.
And also, I'll put my full walk around
of that Norton on the screen now so you
can check it out in more detail in case
you missed it. Do hit subscribe for more
of the latest motorcycle news and
reviews like this right here on MotoBob.
A massive thanks for watching today and
Click on any text or timestamp to jump to that moment in the video
Share:
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
One-Click Copy125+ LanguagesSearch ContentJump to Timestamps
Paste YouTube URL
Enter any YouTube video link to get the full transcript
Transcript Extraction Form
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
Get Our Chrome Extension
Get transcripts instantly without leaving YouTube. Install our Chrome extension for one-click access to any video's transcript directly on the watch page.
