SBK – New rev limits announced

Bruno Gomes

February 19, 2019

Photo credits: Detik Oto

Next Friday at Phillip Island, the World Superbike season will begin with the first free sessions for the Superbike class. But before the real action begins, and with teams already testing their new bikes according to new technical regulations, the FIM have decided to announce the new rev limits for each bike.

The rev limit rule was introduced in 2018, with championship organizers looking for a way to make the competition more evenly matched between riders, by controlling the performance of each bike, using a rev limit.

Using the ECU on each bike, championship governing body can effectively check if each bike is running according to the rev limits set at the beginning of the season, and if someone tries to cheat, they will suffer penalties according to the severity of their actions.

For 2019 we have three new bikes racing in World Superbike: The Ducati Panigale V4 R, the BMW Motorrad S1000RR and the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR, that although looking very similar to the bike used last season, in fact uses a new engine that allows for more revs on the street version.

According to the technical rules, each new bike can set the rev limit 3% higher than the respective street version. Dorna and FIM also get the chance to change this percentage over the course of the season, if they believe a change is necessary to make the bikes more equal between them.

The document with the new rev limits for the 2019 World Superbike season show that all three new bikes are running a rev limit below the maximum 3%. The first column shows the street version maximum revs, the second column (Limiter +3%) is what the technical rules allow for 2019, while the last column (Set limit at) is what each manufacturer decided to use at this point of the season.

Photo credits: Kompas

But every motorcycle used in World Superbike is subject to this rev limit. Here’s a list of each bike and respective rev limits

Aprilia RSV4 RF – 14.700 rpm*
BMW S1000RR – 14.900 rpm (14.950 rpm in 2018)
Ducati Panigale V4 R – 16.350 rpm (12.400 rpm in 2018 with twin-cylinder engine)
Honda Fireblade SP2 – 14.550 rpm*
Kawasaki ZX-10RR – 14.600 rpm (14.100 rpm in 2018)
MV Agusta F4 – 14.950 rpm*
Suzuki GSX-R1000R – 14.900 rpm (14.700 rpm in 2018)
Yamaha YZF-R1 – 14.700 rpm*
(* same rev limit as in 2018)