Time doesn’t stand still and, when it comes to speed, it goes, well, fast. In short, since we last updated this list at the end of 2022 the world has moved on yet again. There’s a new, updated version of fastest production bike BMW’s phenomenal, homologation-spec version of its S1000RR, the M1000RR. The same can be said about the evolution of the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP with its new twin throttle bodies getting us very excited when we tested it, and then there’s also the radical, fire-breathing rotary Crighton CR700W. All of which means that one of the most often asked, hotly contested and debated motorcycling questions of all – ‘What’s the fastest production bike in the world?’ rises its head yet again. 
But, as before, it’s also the one that’s most politically sensitive and difficult to be conclusive about (after all, few manufacturers now claim top speed figures and fewer independent media outlets measure them).
Again, we must preface this with a proviso: Since 1999’s launch of the Suzuki Hayabusa, the Japanese ‘Big Four’ have adhered to an unwritten ‘Gentlemen’s Agreement’ to restrict their road bikes electronically to 300kph (186mph) while others, particularly MV Agusta, don’t. As a result, claimed top speed figures would be misleading and, for the most part, irrelevant.
Instead, we’re basing our ‘fastest Top 10’ on production road bikes with the highest power-to-weight ratios, which, in simple terms, is the best indicator available to acceleration and, all other things being equal, ultimate speed.
As before, it’s not perfect or completely conclusive, we know. Without comprehensive, independently tested power figures available we have to go with the manufacturers’ claimed figures, which should be taken with a pinch of salt. In addition, as before, we’ve also gone with manufacturers claimed dry weight figures (as uniform wet weight figures don’t exist), which, by their very nature, is somewhat academic, as bikes don’t run without fuel, oil and water. A further complication is the use of race kits, track pipes etc…