The most bang for your buck?

We all know that performance isn’t just a factor of power or engine capacity, but that many other factors come into it, most notably weight.  The power to weight ratio is often touted as a better real-world guide of performance, albeit in a straight line.  But don’t we all like that arm-wrenching acceleration?  Isn’t that part of what we love about bikes, the blistering performance that allows us to quickly become a spot on the horizon of the car drivers?

With that in mind, it got me wondering.  What bike would give us the best bang for it’s buck, what gives the best combination of performance and price? It might be an oversimplified calculation all I’ve done it look at the manufacturers figures (where available) for the bikes currently in production, and calculated the power to weight ratio then divided that by the price, to give the most power-to-weight per £ pound.

The results are certainly interesting, and in some cases a little surprising.

The top 10 bikes were calculated as:

1. Yamaha MT09
2. Kawasaki ZX6R 636
3. Kawasaki ZX10
4. Triumph Street Triple
5. Suzuki GSXR1000
6. Kawasaki ZX6R
7. Suzuki GSXZ750
8. Triumph Daytona
9. Yamaha FZ1
10. CBR1000RR

The MT09’s budget price and thumping big 847cc engine just gives it so much bang for it’s buck that it’s significantly better ‘value’ than the rest of the bikes available in terms of power to weight per £.

 

The complete dataset is shown below.

Make	Model	Style	Capacity	Power (bhp)	Power (KW)	Torque (nm)	Weight (kg)	bhp/tonne	SRP	bpt/£ (*100 for readability)
Ducati	1199 Paginale S	Sport	1198	195		132	188	1,037	19995	5.19
Ducati	899 Paginale	Sport	898	148		99	193	767	12495	6.14
Ducati	Diavel	Cruiser	1198	162		127	245	661	13795	4.79
Ducati	Hypermotard	SuperMoto	821	110		89	198	556	9550	5.82
Ducati	Monster 1100	Street	1078	100		103	188	532	9295	5.72
Ducati	Monster 696	Street	696	80		69	185	432	6495	6.66
Ducati	Monster 796	Street	803	87		78	187	465	7295	6.38
Ducati	Multistrada	Sport Touring	1198	150		124	224	670	12750	5.25
Ducati	Streetfighter	Street	849	132		93.5	199	663	10850	6.11
Ducati	Streetfighter S	Street	1099	155		115	197	787	15050	5.23
Suzuki	DR125SM	SuperMoto	124	11		9.5	130	85	2965	2.85
Suzuki	GSR750	Street	749	105		80	211	498	6999	7.11
Suzuki	GSX1250F	Sport Touring	1255	97		108	257	377	7865	4.80
Suzuki	GSXR1000	Sport	999	182		116	203	897	10999	8.15
Suzuki	GSXR600	Sport	599	124		69	187	663	8799	7.54
Suzuki	GSXR750	Sport	750	148		86	190	779	9899	7.87
Suzuki	Hayabusa	Sport Touring	1340	194		155	265	732	11299	6.48
Suzuki	Inazuma250	Street	248	24		22	183	131	3408	3.85
Suzuki	SV650	Street	645	71		64	196	362	4975	7.28
Suzuki	V-Strom 1000	Adventure	1037	100			228	439	9999	4.39
Suzuki	V-Strom 650	Adventure	645	68		60	214	318	7898	4.02
Suzuki	VanVan	Street	125	11.4		9.8	128	89	3149	2.83
Triumph	Bonneville	Retro	865	67		68	225	298	6549	4.55
Triumph	Bonneville T100	Retro	865	67		68	225	298	7349	4.05
Triumph	Daytona	Sport	675	126		74	184	685	8899	7.70
Triumph	Rocket III	Cruiser	2294	146		221	367	398	12899	3.08
Triumph	Scrambler	Retro	865	58		68	230	252	7349	3.43
Triumph	Speed Triple	Street	1050	133		111	214	621	8999	6.91
Triumph	Sprint	Touring	1050	128		108	268	478	8499	5.62
Triumph	Street Triple	Street	675	105		68	182	577	6999	8.24
Triumph	Thunderbird	Cruiser	1597	85		146	339	251	11149	2.25
Triumph	Tiger 1050	Adventure	1050	123		104	235	523	9599	5.45
Triumph	Tiger 800	Adventure	800	94		79	210	448	7499	5.97
Triumph	Tiger Explorer	Adventure	1215	135		121	259	521	11199	4.65
Triumph	Tiger Explorer XC	Adventure	1215	135		121	259	521	12139	4.29
Triumph	Tiger XC	Adventure	800	94		79	210	448	8699	5.15
Triumph	Trophy	Touring	1215	132		120	301	439	12949	3.39
Yamaha	FJR1300	Sport Touring	1298	146		138	289	505	13499	3.74
Yamaha	FZ1	Street	998	150		106	214	701	9199	7.62
Yamaha	FZ8	Street	779	106		82	211	502	6999	7.18
Yamaha	MT03	Street	660	48		56.2	192.4	249	7399	3.37
Yamaha	MT09	Street	847	115		87.5	188	612	6799	9.00
Yamaha	R1	Sport	998	182		115	206	883	11999	7.36
Yamaha	R125	Sport	124.7	15		12	138	109	4349	2.50
Yamaha	R6	Sport	599	123		65	189	651	8999	7.23
Yamaha	Super Tenere	Adventure	1199	110		114	261	421	11999	3.51
Yamaha	V-Max	Cruiser	1679	200		166	310	645	21499	3.00
Yamaha	WorldCrosser	Adventure	1199	110		114	261	421	12999	3.24
Yamaha	WR125	Enduro	124.7	15		12.2	133	113	4099	2.75
Yamaha	WR125X	SuperMoto	124.7	15		12.2	137	109	4199	2.61
Yamaha	WR250	Enduro	250	30.8			117	263	7299	3.61
Yamaha	WR450	Enduro	449	42			129	326	7899	4.12
Yamaha	XJ6	Street	600	77		59	205	376	5999	6.26
Yamaha	XJR1300	Street	1251	98		108	245	400	7999	5.00
Yamaha	XT660 Tenere	Adventure	660	48		58	208.5	230	6999	3.29
Yamaha	XT660R	Big Enduro	660	48		60	181	265	4889	5.42
Yamaha	YBR125	Street	124	10		9.6	125	80	2499	3.20
Kawasaki	Z1000SX	Sport	1043	142		111	230	617	9199	6.71
Kawasaki	ZZR1400	Sport	1441	210		162	268	784	11699	6.70
Kawasaki	Ninja 300	Sport	296	39		27	172	227	4799	4.72
Kawasaki	ZX-6R 636	Sport	636	137		71	182	753	8999	8.36
Kawasaki	Z800	Street	806	113		83	229	493	7499	6.58
kawasaki	ZX-10	Sport	998	200		112	198	1,010	12199	8.28
Kawasaki	ZX-6R	Sport	599	134		66	191	702	8899	7.88
Kawasaki	Z-1000	Street	1043	138		110	218	633	9099	6.96
Kawasaki	W800	Street	773	48		60	217	221	6899	3.21
Kawasaki	ER6-F	Sport	649	72		64	209	344	6099	5.65
Kawasaki	ER6-N	Street	649	72		64	204	353	5899	5.98
Kawasaki	GTR-1400	Touring	1352	160		136	312	513	13699	3.74
Kawasaki	Versys 1000	Touring	1043	118		102	239	494	9599	5.14
Kawasaki	Versys	Touring	649	64		61	206	311	6649	4.67
Kawasaki	KLX250	Enduro	249	22		20	138	159	4799	3.32
Kawasaki	KLX125	Enduro	125	10		10	113	88	2949	3.00
Kawasaki	D-Tracker 125	SuperMoto	125	10		10	114	88	3099	2.83
Honda	CB500X	Touring	471	46		43	196	235	5099	4.60
Honda	CRF250	Enduro	250	23		22	144	160	3999	3.99
Honda	NC700X	Touring	670	47		60	218	216	5999	3.59
Honda	XL700V Transalp	Adventure	680	59		60	218	271	6850	3.95
Honda	CrossRunner	Touring	782	100		72	240	417	9200	4.53
Honda	XL100 Varadero	Adventure	996	92.5		98	244	379	9125	4.15
Honda	CrossTourer	Touring	1237	127		126	275	462	11499	4.02
Honda	CRF250M	SuperMoto	250	23		22	145	159	4099	3.87
Honda	CBF125	Street	124.7		8.3	11.2	128	87	2600	3.34
Honda	CB500F	Street	471		35	43	192	244	4799	5.09
Honda	CB500 Hornet	Street	599		75	63	198	508	6999	7.26
Honda	NC700S	Street	670		35	60	211	222	5499	4.05
Honda	CB1000R	Street	998		92	100	222	556	9999	5.56
Honda	CBF1000	Street	998		79	96	250	424	7925	5.35
Honda	CB1100	Street	1140		66	93	248	357	8999	3.97
Honda	CB1300	Street	1284	114		117	236	483	11000	4.39
Honda	CRF450X	Enduro	449		33.2	43	122	365	6199	5.89
Honda	CRF250X	Enduro	249.4		22	24.2	106	278	5899	4.72
Honda	CBR600F	Sport	599		75	64	194	518	7349	7.05
Honda	VFR800	Touring	782	107		80	218	491	10599	4.63
Honda	VFR1200F	Touring	1237		127	129	267	638	12399	5.14
Honda	CBR125R	Sport	124.7		9.8	10	137	96	3499	2.74
Honda	CBR250R	Sport	249.4		19.42	23	162	161	3950	4.07
Honda	CBR500R	Sport	471		35	43	194	242	5099	4.74
Honda	CBR600RR	Sport	599		88.1	66	196	603	8900	6.77
Honda	CBR1000RR	Sport	999.8		131	112	200	878	11600	7.57
BMW	G650S	Adventure	652	48		60	192	250	6195	4.04
BMW	F700GS	Adventure	798	75		77	209	359	7680	4.67
BMW	F800GS	Adventure	798	85		83	214	397	8685	4.57
BMW	1200GS	Adventure	1170	125		125	238	525	11650	4.51
BMW	K1300	Sport	1293	175		140	254	689	12375	5.57
BMW	S1000RR	Sport	999	193		112	202	955	13735	6.96
BMW	F800GT	Touring	798	90		86	213	423	8175	5.17
BMW	1200RT	Touring	1170	110		120	259	425	12695	3.35
BMW	K1600GT	Touring	1649	160		175	319	502	15900	3.15
BMW	F800R	Street	798	87		86	199	437	7595	5.76
BMW	R1200R	Street	1170	110		119	223	493	10075	4.90
BMW	K1300R	Street	1293	173		140	243	712	12125	5.87
BMW	HP4	Sport	999	193		112	199	970	16700	5.81
Aprilia	RSV4-R	Sport	999.6		135.3	117	186	975	14132	6.90
Aprilia	Tuono V4 R	Street	999.6	170		111.5	185	919	12432	7.39
Aprilia	Caponord 1200	Touring	1197		92	117	214	577	10723	5.38
Aprilia	Dorsoduro	SuperMoto	749.9		67.3	82	186	485	7732	6.28
Aprilia	Shiver 750	Street	749.9	95		82	188	505	7132	7.09