Ummm... have any of you guys ridden the latest crotch rockets? If you haven't, you're missing something spectacular that is going on in the motorcycle industry. "Lighter and faster" has become the creedo. Every year, engineers are going to incredible lengths to shave a few pounds here and find a few horsepower there. All for the sake of being the best for one more year. That's something that is truly lacking in the car industry. Competition that's unheralded among any industry that I know of, period.
The aforementioned Ninja is history now. For it's day, it upheld motorcycle glory admirably, but the world has moved on. You're talking about a bike that is around 11 years old. 160-170hp from a turbo is peanuts compared to today. I'll look up the issues, but I remember one guy hitting 220mph that was described as "violent."
I've been around them for awhile now and there is something definitely missing from the showroom cars that bikes have in spades. The fact that for around $10,000 or less, you can have performance attained by cars costing many more times as much, is everyman's dream. I may never be able to afford a $100,000 automobile, but I can get a bike that relays that rush of speed quite comparably.
And yes, there are some people out there that can't ride their bike to it's full capabilites, but either can most drivers. No shocker there. Most of today's cutting-edge bikes are almost completely adjustable. From altering ride height, wheelbase, spring rates, steering head angle, etc... Tool kits are usually supplied also, so there's not much aftermarket expense either. Again, it's to make the bike accesible to everyone and anyone who is willing to unlock every molecule of its' potential and theirs'.
Stoppies, wheelies at 100mph, srcaping knees, scraping elbows into turns, leaned waaaaayyyy over you feel like you're defying physics, etc.... :eek Cars just can't compete with this type of hooliganism. Oh sure, everyone says, "you'll die on that bike, you bast***!!" But what the hell? You only live once. :gap
--Bullitt
p.s. I wear a helmet and the appriopiate gear when I ride. Unfortunately, I haven't ridden in awhile.

Don't lay down the "dangerous" aspect or you'll sound like my granny. :eyerole