Ninja ZX-10R (ZXT00 A)

This is Kawasaki's 998 cc inline-four in full superbike trim: 200 hp, 84 lb-ft, a six-speed box, a slipper clutch, and an up-shifter you stop thinking about after ten minutes. What defines this generation is that the rider aids are genuinely useful rather than decorative. Cornering ABS, traction control, wheelie control, launch control and selectable ride modes all come standard, and the chassis underneath earns them, with adjustable suspension at both ends and a steering damper fitted at the factory. It reads as a road-legal race platform that Kawasaki sells with the awkward parts already sorted out.

It rewards commitment. The more deliberately you ride it, the more the whole package makes sense, and lean clearance stops being a topic at any speed a public road allows. It ages like a tool rather than a toy, provided you check the paperwork first: this generation carries recall history on the transmission gears and, on early 2016 bikes, on the steering damper bracket bolts. Buy it if fast roads are the actual reason you own a motorcycle. Leave it alone if you want an easy commuter, because the low-speed ride is firm and the riding position asks something of you every single mile.