Standards & Sportbikes

At the beginning level, standards and sportbikes are very similar. Even beginner bikes with full fairings, like Kawasaki's Ninja 250R, offer relatively upright, comfortable seating positions.

Pictured: 2003 Kawasaki Ninja 250R

As bikes become larger and more powerful, the differences between sportbikes and standards increase.

Pictured: 2003 Suzuki SV650

Sportbikes, designed to corner and accelerate at extreme speeds, tuck the rider into an aggressive posture that is punishing to the back, knees and wrists around town. Large-displacement standards, by contrast, are mindful of the rider's comfort even as their engines reach past the 100-horesepower mark.

Pictured: 2003 Honda CB250

At the beginner level the distinctions blur, though not entirely: a beginning rider testing a Honda CB250 Nighthawk immediately after getting off a Suzuki SV650, for instance, will note the comfort and reassuring ease of the former as opposed to the performance and aggressive stance of the latter. We've sorted them out in the column to the right.