For a time in the motorcycle world, there was a genuine speed war going on. Brands like Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Norton, and Kawasaki were all competing with each other to create road bikes that had the most extreme performance possible. Sometimes, this resulted in pushing conventional mechanical setups to their absolute limits. Other times, it involved doing something out of the box to try and create something that could leapfrog its competitors. There was one particular motorcycle, though, that left everything else that tried to compete with it in the dust. It instantly became legendary, and its name still sparks interest to even the most seasoned riders. But to understand why, you'll have to first learn about what the superbike landscape was like around 30 years ago. The 1990s Are Widely Considered To Be A Golden Age Of Superbikes Iconic Motorcycle Auctions If you ask any motorcycle enthusiast, they'll talk about how the '90s were a real golden age. This was especially true when it came to superbikes. Many of the coolest and most influential superbikes were produced during this decade, all from the premier brands of the motorcycle world. That included some that are still among the fastest superbikes you can own! These bikes were in a class of their own compared to everything else. Their performance was near that of race machinery, and you needed serious skill as a rider to get the most out of them. That's definitely the case for the superbike we're about to talk about... The First-Generation Suzuki GSX-1300R Hayabusa Is The Fastest Production Motorcycle From The '90sMecumIn the world of motorcycles, there aren't many that are more famous (or, perhaps, infamous) than the Suzuki GSX-1300R Hayabusa. Just mentioning Hayabusa's name is enough to make people remember its reputation. This bike quickly became known as a performance monster when it first hit the market back in 1999. Its 1.3-liter inline-4 was (and still is) a huge engine for a motorcycle of any type, and it produced a lot of power for the bike's light weight. This meant it could hit top speeds of up to 194 mph from the factory. It Was Also One Of The Fastest Production Motorbikes Of The '00s MecumIt wasn't just the '90s where the first-generation Suzuki Hayabusa could claim pride of place in the top speed stakes. Thanks to it staying in production until 2007, it also ended up being one of the fastest production motorcycles of the '00s! Other manufacturers did catch up to the first-generation Hayabusa's top speed in the superbike stakes. But its performance was so impressive from the word go that it managed to stay competitive until eight years after it launched. It Was So Fast, It Started A Gentleman's Agreement On Limiting The Top Speed Of Motorcycles MecumThat 194 mph top speed wasn't just terrifying for anyone who dared to ride the Hayabusa. It was also terrifying to the motorcycle industry as a whole. In fact, the manufacturers were given such a fight by the Hayabusa's extreme top speed that all the motorcycle manufacturers in Europe and Japan decided to sign a gentleman's agreement to end the top speed wars. This gentleman's agreement came into effect in 2001, and stated that superbikes couldn't have a higher top speed than 300 km/h (186 mph). As a result, the first-generation Hayabusa's top speed was taken down to the maximum speed set by the gentleman's agreement. Suzuki and Kawasaki Both Claimed They Had The Fastest Production Motorcycle Because Of This Agreement Bring A TrailerAs a consequence of the gentleman's agreement, Suzuki's Japanese rival Kawasaki was able to claim back something it lost because of the Hayabusa. Due to the limit being 186 mph, Suzuki and Kawasaki could both legitimately claim that they had the fastest production motorcycles in the world. Pressured by the Hayabusa's extreme performance, Kawasaki developed the Ninja ZX-12R as a proper rival. This bike was able to hit the gentleman's agreement top speed of 186 mph, making it an equal competitor. While Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-12R could have been faster than that 186 mph limit, the limit being introduced was very much a blessing in disguise for the big motorcyle brand. It no longer had to worry about competing with Suzuki for ultimate speed and finally had a legitimate Hayabusa-beater under its own umbrella. Other Super Fast Motorcycles From The '90s Of course, the Suzuki GSX-1300R Hayabusa wasn't the only incredibly fast motorcycle that was mass-produced in the 1990s. There were a few other ridiculously fast superbikes that could get close to the Hayabusa's top speed. Some of those bikes actually came before the Hayabusa, as well as directly competing with the Hayabusa when it was launched. What they all gave you was performance that's still impressive by today's standards and an iconic motorcycle that'll go well in any collection. Honda CBR1100XX Super Blackbird HondaHonda has been a strong presence in the superbike market for a long time. The CBR1100XX Super Blackbird is one of Honda's best high-performance bikes ever. Sold from 1996–2007, this motorcycle could reach top speeds of between 170–177 mph. This meant it genuinely was one of the fastest production bikes of the '90s, and could come close to competing with the Suzuki Hayabusa. In fact, it was the fastest production motorcycle in the world from 1996 up until the Hayabusa's introduction in 1999. Kawasaki ZX-11 Ninja Bring A TrailerIf you wanted to know what the fastest production motorcycle in the world was before the Suzuki Hayabusa or the Honda CBR1100XX Super Blackbird, this is it. Known to Americans as the ZX-11 Ninja but to the rest of the world as the ZZ-R1100, this motorcycle is quite similar to the Honda mentioned above in many ways. It's got a 1.1-liter inline-4 engine, a 6-speed manual transmission, and a top speed of over 170 mph. The main thing that holds it back compared to the Hayabusa and the Super Blackbird is its power. It only has 145 hp and 80 lb-ft of torque. It's not surprising, then, that it was quickly beaten by both those newer motorcycles in terms of performance.Sources: Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki