Best Retro/Cafe bike: 2018 Bikesales Bike of the Year Awards

The 2018 Bikesales Bike of the Year (BOTY) Awards recognise excellence across 11 separate motorcycle categories. After a three-day mega-test in Tasmania in October, we'll whittle our shortlist down to three finalists – with the outright winner then announced at the Melbourne Moto Expo on Friday, November 23.

Let's continue the 2018 BOTY category announcements by unveiling our winner of the Retro/Cafe category: Kawasaki's Z900RS Cafe.

The Z900RS Café differentiates itself from Kawasaki’s other retro stunner, the Z900RS, with the adoption of a bikini fairing, black low-rise handlebars, a striking green and white colour scheme and a hump in the rear of the seat for a more racer-inspired look.

The Z900RS Cafe is powered by a 948cc inline-four cylinder engine capable of 111hp (82kW) and 98.5Nm, and it boasts anti-lock braking, multi-mode traction control and a slipper clutch.

It really is a torque monster, but the fact that maximum torque is almost there from 2000rpm means it is an incredibly punchy engine. And all that goodness comes without the effects on inertia a big in-line four can have.

The engine is a surprise packet, but there’s also plenty of poise in the chassis: nimble, yet stable, and with such a beautiful balance to the whole plot.

Elsewhere, the Z900RS Café, priced at $16,799 plus ORC, evokes memories galore with the aesthetic touches such as the traditional clocks, headers, Z1-inspired tail cowl and old-school 170mm headlight – albeit a LED design...

It's motorcycling in its purest form, and it's a heap of fun. This bike certainly lives up to the hype.

Congratulations Kawasaki.

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As the winner in the Retro/Café category for the last two years, the MT-09-based XSR900 already has the runs on the board – and like the Z900RS Café it’s a styling exercise as much as performance for the $12,999 (plus ORC) machine. Yamaha has also added an extra edge to the XSR’s retro roots with faux livery, and in last year’s Bike of the Year ride through the Snowy Mountains that meant paying homage to the company’s legendary range of RD two-stroke motorcycles. The heart of the XSR900 is the 847cc triple, which is versatile to the max and has three separate riding modes. The sharpest hair-trigger A mode it throws open those butterflies like a hyperactive kid after a jug of red cordial – and it’s exhilarating in a very unique sporting middleweight kind of way. It’s a value-packed machine of the highest order.

Now available at a special rideaway price of $17,990, the Triumph Street Scrambler is as funky as ever, even though the latest model is way more refined across almost every conceivable index than the predecessor. And there are also techy features like the excellent torque-assist clutch which makes it’s a much better proposition in the city. The wide handlebar adds to the enjoyment factor, and the new suspension has all but eradicated the tendency of the old bike to wallow excessively, especially under heavy braking. The bike takes in dirt roads and smoother fire trails with ease – and the fact that it's 24kg lighter than the original Triumph Scrambler only adds to the enjoyment.

A motorcycle that shares the same architecture as the full-powered model, and hugely accessible to, well, nearly all riders. Its low 770mm seat and low centre of gravity makes for very intuitive and unintimidating handling. The off-set single-face instruments are straight off the bigger siblings and are really informative while still being minimalist in their execution. There’s peak power of 41hp and 35Nm of torque. Priced at $11,990 plus ORC, the Sixty2 is at the pointy end of the LAMS price scale but you really are receiving a premium European-built product that just also happens to tick a whole lot of hipster boxes, too. The Sixty2 was Ducati’s sole LAMS bike for a couple of years until the Monster 659 returned.