The History Of Superbike Racing In America
From a grassroots production class in 1973 to the world stage — the story of how America built the most exciting motorcycle road racing championship on the planet.
“We use the term ‘Superbike’ almost synonymously with any high-performance sportbike these days. Today, Superbike road racing takes place around the world, but the source of popularity of the name can be traced directly back to 1976 — appropriately enough, the American Bicentennial.”
The Full Timeline
Five decades of American road racing history
In The Beginning
Superbike sprang up organically from the increasingly popular production racing movement at club events in the early-to-mid 1970s. Motorcycles like the Honda CB750, the Kawasaki Z1, the Norton Commando, the Triumph Bonneville, and the BMW R90S were coming out of the factory with better handling and had so much power that you couldn’t tap their potential on the street. More and more Baby Boomers safety-wired their street bikes and took to the track in record numbers.
Critical mass was reached in 1973 when race promoters Gavin Trippe and Bruce Cox invited the growing cadre of production racers to Laguna Seca Raceway in July of 1973. The Heavyweight Production class was won by Yvon DuHamel over Steve McLaughlin — both on Kawasaki Z1s. That race proved so popular that Cycle News ran it on their cover with the headline: “Superbike National.” A class was born.
The AMA Superbike Championship Founded
Appropriately enough, the American Bicentennial was the year the AMA Superbike Championship was founded. Paul Simon’s “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen were playing on the radio while Reg Pridmore raced a Butler & Smith BMW R90S against McLaughlin (BMW), Baldwin (Moto-Guzzi), Code (Kawasaki) and Neilson (Ducati) en route to winning the inaugural AMA Superbike title.
Little did anyone know that what began as a support class would catch the attention of road racing fans everywhere. Within a couple of years it surpassed the popularity of all other road racing classes in America.
Europe vs. Japan
The earliest Japanese big-bore, multi-cylinder production bikes were known for brute power but not for handling. That’s where the less powerful but stable European mounts — the BMW R90S, Ducati SS and Moto Guzzi 850 Le Mans — had an advantage in cornering. European bikes won every race in 1976 and all races in the first half of 1977.
Then Reg Pridmore, on the high banks of Pocono in August of 1977, rode a Pierre des Roches-tuned Racecrafters Kawasaki KZ1000 to victory and the tide began to turn. When Suzuki launched the great-handling GS series with Wes Cooley riding, massive horsepower was finally mated with a stable chassis and the modern Superbike was born.
Big H Enters The Fray
The stakes rose considerably in 1980 when factory Honda entered Superbike featuring a young racing phenom named Freddie Spencer. The presence of Honda and its accompanying media blitz set the stage for Superbikes supplanting Formula One as the premier class in AMA road racing by the mid-1980s.
The mid-1980s marked nearly total domination by Honda, with the company winning five consecutive AMA Superbike titles with Fred Merkel, Wayne Rainey and Bubba Shobert from 1984 to 1988. In 1986, Fred Merkel became the first rider to hit the 20-win mark. Merkel would go on to twice win the Superbike World Championship in 1988 and ’89. So wide-reaching was the sport’s influence that the FIM designated a World Superbike Championship in 1988.
A Series Of Rivalries
AMA Superbike racing has long been marked by red-hot rivalries between riders and manufacturers. In 1987, Rainey beat out archrival Kevin Schwantz after some of the most intense battles fans of the series ever witnessed. Protests and counter-protests flew between Honda and Suzuki. What made the Rainey/Schwantz rivalry even more epic was the fact that they carried it on in Grand Prix racing.
Maybe the most contentious rivalry came in the mid-2000s between Yoshimura Suzuki teammates Mat Mladin and Ben Spies. After nearly a decade of domination, a young Spies ended the Mladin era by winning the title in 2006, setting up an epic battle for seasons to come.
Peak Of Popularity
With the explosion of cable TV and channels like ESPN, TNN, and Speedvision, races were televised more frequently until by the mid-1990s the series was on TV full time. Combined with an explosion of motorcycle sales during the late 1990s, manufacturers had plenty of money to spend. For a 10-year period from the mid-1990s to mid-2000s, AMA Superbike racing reached a peak of popularity. Factory participation, fan turnout and rider salaries all hit all-time highs.
It was also a period of unprecedented parity. Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki all won championships. American maker Harley-Davidson entered the fray for the first time. Key milestones included future MotoGP champ Nicky Hayden becoming the youngest-ever AMA Superbike Champion in 2002.
Eras Of AMA Superbike
For most of the history of AMA Superbike racing the series was sanctioned and managed by the American Motorcyclist Association. In 2007, AMA Pro Racing was sold to the Daytona Motorsports Group (DMG). While the series saw decreased factory participation during the DMG years, the racing remained strong with Yamaha ace Josh Hayes emerging as the dominant rider of the first half of the 2010s.
The 2010s marked a decade of near-total domination for Yamaha. The company won nine of the titles in the decade with Hayes scoring four, Herrin one, and Cameron Beaubier matching Hayes with four titles. The only break came when Toni Elias won on the Yoshimura Suzuki in 2017.
MotoAmerica Takes The Reins
The 2015 season saw a new era dawn when MotoAmerica became the series organizer sanctioned by the AMA and the FIM. MotoAmerica is run by enthusiasts with deep roots in motorcycle racing. Most recognizable among MotoAmerica leadership is three-time Grand Prix World Champion and two-time AMA Superbike Champion Wayne Rainey.
Under MotoAmerica’s guidance, the series recovered from the depths of the Great Recession. MotoAmerica signed national television deals with Fox Sports, NBC Sports Network, and MAVTV, and launched MotoAmerica Live+, a proprietary subscription streaming service.
The Jake Gagne Era
Prior to the 2021 season, Jake Gagne had never won a MotoAmerica Superbike race. That changed at round one in Road Atlanta, when he not only won, but went on to collect a record 17 victories on the season, including a record 16 wins in a row, clinching the 2021 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship.
Much like Cameron Beaubier before him, Gagne went on a tear and reeled off three consecutive Superbike Championships, racking up race victories and lap records along the way. Beaubier’s five total championships had already moved him past his former teammate Josh Hayes into second on the all-time list — behind only Australian Mat Mladin’s seven.
Ducati's 30-Year Drought Ends
In 2024, with MotoAmerica celebrating its tenth season, a former Superbike champion experienced a resurgence. After capturing the 2023 Supersport Championship, 2013 Superbike Champion Josh Herrin moved back up to Superbike and, aboard his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R, won the 2024 Superbike title.
Not only had it been 11 years since Herrin last won a Superbike title, but Ducati ended a 30-year drought going all the way back to 1994 when Australian Troy Corser captured the number-one plate on his Fast By Ferracci Ducati.
Champions Roll of Honor
Selected AMA Superbike / MotoAmerica champions
1976
Reg Pridmore
BMW R90S
1977
Reg Pridmore
BMW R90S
1978
Reg Pridmore
BMW R90S
1976
Cook Neilson
Ducati 750SS
1976
Reg Pridmore
BMW R90S
1976
Reg Pridmore
BMW R90S
1976
Reg Pridmore
BMW R90S
1976
Reg Pridmore
BMW R90S
1976
Reg Pridmore
BMW R90S
1976
Reg Pridmore
BMW R90S
1976
Reg Pridmore
BMW R90S
1976
Reg Pridmore
BMW R90S
1976
Reg Pridmore
BMW R90S
1976
Reg Pridmore
BMW R90S
1976
Reg Pridmore
BMW R90S
1976
Reg Pridmore
BMW R90S
1976
Reg Pridmore
BMW R90S
Be Part of the Next Chapter
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