Bike

Bikes are vehicles used mainly in the Mario Kart series, alongside Karts. They are motorcycles of many different colors and have features that differ from Karts. They first appeared in Mario Kart Wii and will return in Mario Kart 8.

During the development of Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Hideki Konno presented the idea of putting bikes in the game. The idea was rejected, because the concept of Mario riding a motorbike was doubtful. However, when Mario Kart Wii came around, they decided to put bikes in and call it Mario Kart X, a name that got changed because Super Smash Bros. Brawl was called Dairantō Smash Brothers X in Japan.

Mario Kart DS
Bikes never appeared in Mario Kart DS, but one of Waluigi's special karts, the Zipper, consists of a three-wheeled bike-like vehicle.

Mario Kart Wii
Bikes make a major appearance in Mario Kart Wii. The game is the first Mario racing game in which the characters could race in a non-kart vehicle.

The basic model of the bike for all characters is the Standard Bike, a motocross motorcycle showing the emblem of the character over the plate of the front and the sides of the rear. The color of a standard bike also changes, matching the character's custom color. These bikes are the only available to use in Battle modes along with the Standard Karts. These bikes appear to be based on the bikes in Excitebike.

Only the large bikes are given design differences. Except for the Standard Bike L, each large bike has three design differences.
 * The default designs are used by Wario, Waluigi, Donkey Kong, King Boo, and Funky Kong.
 * The second designs, which are depicted having lower positioned exhaust pipes and/or repositioned handles, are used by Bowser and Dry Bowser.
 * The third designs, which are depicted having shorter handles, repositioned foot pedestals, and/or a thinner body, are used by Rosalina.

All bikes differ from karts in many ways. While driving a bike, characters are able to perform wheelies, which boost the player's speed temporarily. If a bike is rammed into while doing a wheelie, the player will lose speed and have to accelerate again. Also, bikes only emit blue sparks when drifting and release a small mini-turbo. Unlike karts, bikes cannot emit yellow sparks for powerful mini-turbos.

Some bikes, such as the Mach Bike, can perform Inside Drifting, allowing them drift in instead of drifting out. This allowed players to make sharper and quicker turns.

Mario Kart 8
After their absence in Mario Kart 7, Bikes are confirmed to return in Mario Kart 8 with the ability to go underwater, use gliders, and utilize anti-gravity. Also, in this installment, just like the karts, bikes are able to perform a Super Mini-Turbo and cannot perform wheelies, unlike in Mario Kart Wii. However, they can perform wheelies if they boost via a Mushroom, a boost pad or a rocket start, although it is only for aesthetic purposes. As with karts, the bikes in this game can be customized with different bodies, wheels and gliders. Inside Drifting also returns, though there is a slight delay when compared to Mario Kart Wii.

Gallery
Names in parenthesis are European variants.