Ever wonder what it’s like to ride the latest World Superbike machines? With his decades-long history of testing bikes all over the world, Sport Rider’s European correspondent Alan Cathcart is often given unrivaled access to bikes (and the men behind them) that allows the racing fan to get a glimpse of what these machines are all about. These three World Superbike racebikes—Leon Haslam’s BMW S 1000 RR, Jonathan Rea’s Castrol Honda CBR1000RR, and Carlos Checa’s championship-winning Ducati 1098R RS11—are the first part of our 2011 WSBK racebike test series. Cathcart was able to ride both the BMW Italia satellite machine of now-retired James Toseland and the factory bike of Leon Haslam at the historic Monza circuit. He then traveled to the equally-historic Assen circuit in the Netherlands to ride the Castrol Honda superbike prepped by Ten Kate Racing for Jonathan Rea. Finally, he was given the opportunity to ride Carlos Checa’s title-winning Althea Racing Ducati at the Misano circuit in Italy. And not only are the riding impressions presented, but also inside technical info on the bikes as well. Check them out in our Features section.