…down the quarter mile (below). At the drag strip there are multiple times gathered in the quarter-mile. The delay in a rider's response to the green light is dubbed the reaction time. (There always is a built-in fractionally small delay or else the rider is given a red-light.) A 60-foot time is also registered…

…name proud and demolishes the ZX with its stupendous 60-foot time, a massive 32% quicker. By the eighth-mile mark, the big Kaw's greater peak horsepower is pulling back time on the Harley, but it's not enough to beat it through the quarter despite going through the traps 9 mph faster. Kawasaki ZX-14…

…during aggressive stops. While some may like the feel we would like a little less slip. In our quarter mile acceleration test the Ninja managed a 9.878-second time with a trap speed of 144.2 mph. The time was just under 0.2 seconds away from the class-leading BMW, which proves just how fast the Ninja…

…like a full-on sportbike. Use all that Revolution power and the Harley will lay down quarter-mile times in the 11.3-second range at 115 mph. It'll take another second or so later until the Warrior cuts the timing lights in the mid-12s. The Yamaha's advantage in torque can't make up for its 35-hp deficiency…

…flexes some muscle on the '09 V-Rod Muscle. The void between me and the far hill at the end of Infineon's drag strip was black and measureless, the quarter-mile strip sticky with high-grade NHRA rubber left over from the day before. I did my best to channel the spirits of Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines riders…

…their first try with the king of the quarter-mile is nothing short of spectacular. For those with short attention spans and a lack of patience, we'll get the big question out of the way. Yes, the V-Max lives up to its reputation as one of the sickest quarter-mile machines on the market, despite its age…

…-performance components like sportbike brakes and inverted forks. Together with increasingly larger displacements and a subsequent increase in power, quarter-mile times have dropped and top speeds have been raised. In the process, manufacturers have created yet another sub-genre called the performance cruiser…

…-earned 11.90 and 113 mph top speed. The VMAX plain hands it to the Triumph right off the line in the quarter-mile, confirming our on-road acceleration estimations. The VMAX, by the way, fared better this time around than the 10.85 posted in our 2009 comparison by Executive Editor and in-house ringer, Steve…

…enough power and torque to gratify any cruiser enthusiast, short of wiley power-cruiser devotees who expect nothing less than low 11-second quarter-mile times. Dropping the clutch and grabbing a fist-full of throttle is enough to get adrenaline going, and rarely, if ever, were we looking for more power…

…The first time the Rune does this seriously is at the joint between the concrete and Tarmac on the Interstate access ramp. The Rune skips - and my heart stops. A quarter of a ton of bike plowing into the guard rail - and I'm going to die with it! Slowly, over a period of maybe 30 miles, I realize that…