The dawn of aerodynamics is upon the motorcycle industry, because aftermarket winglets for superbikes are now a thing.
If we are surprised about anything, it is that it has taken this long for someone to come up with a winglet for modern superbikes.
Ever since the first MotoGP bike rolled out of the pit lane garage sporting aerodynamic aids, the clock has been ticking until someone made them for the general public. That time is today. That someone is the good folks at Puig.
Technically called “side spoilers” by the Spanish company. the concept is very simple. Take that superbike in your garage, and slap these babies onto the side fairings. Boom! Instant downforce.
Available for the current generation of BMW, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha superbike models, each pair of wings creates a different amount of downforce on each superbike model, just over 5 lbf at 100 mph (more as the speed increases) on the front of the Honda CBR1000RR, for example.
In theory, this will help keep the front wheel on the ground, allowing less interference from wheelie control systems that would cut power to bring the front wheel out of the air. This should mean quicker acceleration rates and faster lap times on the race track.
The design attaches to the fairings of the motorcycle, and looks like a pretty quick install (Puig quotes 40 minutes).
We expect to see OEMs adding winglets to their race homologation bikes in the coming models years, with Aprilia already sporting a set, and Ducati expected to debut its own in a few weeks’ time. In other words, this genie is very much out of the bottle, and we suspect Puig will have other model years available soon for older bikes.
We can’t wait to see the YouTube skippies with these at our next track day. In fact, we need some for ourselves…for science, of course.
Source: Puig
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