One of the best YouTube genres to emerge from the last few years is [X overpowered vehicle] against a Tesla Model S. So much time is spent talking about the Tesla’s self-driving system or the giant touchpad that you kinda forget that the P100D can do 0-60 in 2.28 seconds, faster than any other production car.
So on paper, it’s no surprise that a Tesla would humiliate any sportbike. But still, it’s quite something to see a 1000cc 2010 Kawasaki Ninja ZX10R — a 155 horsepower beast that has an on-paper 2.8-second 0-60 — get left standing still.
The video comes from BreakingMoto, the YouTube channel for a biker who has a penchant for illegal street races on his bike. This isn’t the first time he’s been left red-faced by an Elon Musk product: last year, on a smaller version of the same bike, he lost a couple other races to a different (slower) Tesla.
Illegal street races aren’t a great idea, and they’re also not scientifically representative. It’s a lot harder to get a clean start on a motorbike than on a Tesla, which has launch control and no clutch.
But perhaps that’s the point: on a drag strip with professional operators, the Tesla can hold its own; in the real world, where apparently GoPro-clad bikers like re-enacting Fast and Furious movies, it’s even easier for a Tesla to win.
