2016 Bikesales BOTY recap: BMW S 1000 XR
The Honda Africa Twin was Bikesales' 2016 Bike of the Year winner, but it had some tough competitionIn November last year, the Honda Africa Twin was declared the winner of the inaugural Bikesales Bike of the Year (BOTY) award.
The Bike of the Year award recognised excellence outright across 11 separate motorcycling categories, with the Africa Twin judged to be the best ‘Adventure’ bike as well as taking out the top honours from fellow finalists, the BMW S 1000 XR and Yamaha XSR900. You can read all about the Africa Twin's win here.
The 11 category winners in the 2016 BOTY were:
| Category | Winner |
| Supersport | Ducati 1299 Panigale |
| Cruiser | Victory Octane |
| Scooter | Piaggio Medley 150 |
| Naked | KTM 690 Duke |
| Touring | Indian Roadmaster |
| Sportstouring | Yamaha MT-09 Tracer |
| Adventure
Adventure Sport |
Honda Africa Twin
BMW Motorrad S 1000 XR |
| Enduro | Sherco 300 SE-R |
| Motocross | Yamaha YZ450F |
| Retro | Yamaha XSR900 |
Over the next few months, we'll be taking a closer look at the abovementioned bikes, and then we'll begin the process all over again for the 2017 BOTY!
To kick the 2016 review off, let's take a look at the BMW S 1000 XR, which won the Adventure Sport category ahead of the Ducati Multistrada S and Triumph Tiger Sport.
What are the virtues that got the S 1000 XR cover the line? In a nutshell, it’s where performance meets smart ergos. It has all the good things about the dualsport segment – long travel suspension, plush seating position, room for high-end hard luggage etc – combined with a mad powertrain that has enough grunt to see off just about anything on a twisty bit of tarmac.
BMW has taken its phenomenal 999cc in-line four out of its remarkable S 1000 RR, backed off the power a little and dumped it into a tall perimeter dualsport frame. Brilliantly, torque numbers are similar to those of the RR at 112Nm.
The XR has all the electronic smarts of its sporty brethren, along with a good deal more long-distance rider-focussed features.
The bike’s road-going performance in real-world applications is quite breathtaking. Sit up in that supremely comfortable riding position, twist that right grip and watch the horizon slide toward you at a remarkable rate.
The engine screams like a Formula One car (before they were made to sound like 3.8 litre V6 Holdens), the quickshift slipping through ratios like a thief in the night and the electronics all working for you, makes riding the XR a sublime experience.
Next up we'll take a closer look at the Yamaha XSR900.
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