tell me about...
 

ok.. probably one for skids..

tell me about the different models and power/handling/issues

looking at anything from 916 - 998

I have ridden a few but don't know the technical specifics (I am a girl after all!!)

They all have a wheel at each end, come in red, yellow and other colours and have different size engines.

Technical enough to start?

xxx

Four and a half thousand posts, you must know more than most!

haven't the time this evening to go into it in much depth
But here is some basics off the top of my head

All use the same size wheels (Though they changed from 3 spokes to 5 spokes sometime around 2000 /2001), frame geometry and suspension systems, so all can be made to handle as well as each other. As you know some bikes start with a handling advantage in the way of Ohlins shocks and even ohlins forks such as SPS, S, R and FE Models. What will fit one will usually fit the other unless you start playing with Corse parts such as larger rear hubs. Main improvement for the race bikes was changing the weight bias, by fitting a longer swingarm and moving weight forward

916 came in 3 forms Strada, Bip and SP, my 916 made 104bhp at the rear wheel, the SP3 version was designed with the fitting of a 955 kit in mind and 200 were sold in the USA in 955 form to homologate them for the AMA championship

996 came in Bip, S, and two SPS versions (3 if you count the Foggy rep), SPS versions used the P8 ECU along with 50mm Exhaust systems and made around 136bhp and the Bip version with its 1.6M ECU and 45mm Exhaust rated at 116bhp

The 998 testastretta models all used Shower Injectors and the 5.9M ECU (Non Coded type) and started with the 996R in 2001, followed in 2002 with the 998Bip (No deep sump) 998S engine very similar to the 996R and also came in Bostrom and Baylis versions, The 2002 998R is a short stroke 999cc engine. The lowest spec was the 998Bip with its 45mm Exhaust was rated at 123bhp.

perfect Skids, exactly what I was after, mucho thanks :D

But then of course there is the S4r, S4rs and ST4s which used different versions of the 996, 998 and 999 (998) engine