It's all down to the rider.

[sniff6]

Hildo´s Harley vs Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade

Dragrace between Hildo, the owner & builder, of a 25 year old Harley Ratbike Chopper and the owner of a 170hp+ Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade. This man has considerable experience racing circuits but this ain't no circuit!
He was sure this race would be a piece of cake against this rolling piece of Harley crap, then things turned bad... Enjoy!!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXsoAdh5P5g&feature=share]Hildo´s Harley vs Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade - YouTube[/ame]

 

[DownrangeFuture]

Well, the bikes are kind of designed for two different things. The inline 4's are designed to make power up high. I imagine that by the time they reach the end of their "strip" the CBR is just starting to make torque in earnest, and the harley needs to shift. The inline 4 was designed to accelerate quickly off the corner when it's already going 40mph+ and turn exceptionally well. The harley was designed to sound awesome and scream off the line.

So honestly, if I was building a bike for the strip, I'd buy a cheapo harley with the newer EVO engine, rake the forks out, drop all the weight I can, and throw on all the Screamin' Eagle stuff. Then you'd just twist the wrist and hold the **** on. I might even lock the forks down to a few degrees either way. Just enough to take the wide turn onto the strip. But, if I want to go fast and be comfortable in anything but a straight line, I'm going to buy a I4.