Best Touring 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 Touring category: BMW's K 1600 B Grand America.

Luxury touring holds a special place in BMW's history, and its latest model – the K 1600 B Grand America – currently represents the pinnacle of the breed. A full-dress version of the K 1600 B bagger, the Grand America is powered by the stonking six-cylinder engine that has enthralled fans of the platform since its arrival in 2011.

Quite simply, the Grand America is a technological tour de force – an example of exquisite engineering that integrates dozens of complementary systems into a dynamically brilliant whole.

On the road the bike's 364kg wet weight simply melts away, the ultra-smooth engine's 160hp/175Nm making light work of the mass and the exemplary chassis/suspension package affording a level of poise and control you might not have thought possible in a bike of this bulk.

However, while the Grand America displays impeccable road manners, it also comes dripping with high-tech goodies to make life comfy on the longest of long-haul tours. Everything from adaptive headlights, hill start control, tyre pressure monitoring, keyless starting, central locking and LED fog lights are on offer, plus a whole lot more.

The Grand America gets a topbox in addition to the standard bagger's hard panniers, the 'box sporting an integrated pillion backrest, plus a taller (electric) screen, heated seats, electronic cruise control and a reverse gear.

The clutch is light and precise and features a bi-directional quickshifter – a neat feature that fits well with this bike's sporting potential, also underlined by its first-rate brakes.

Gone are the days of full-dress tourers being staid, slow and ponderous. The Grand America is a rolling showcase of BMW's engineering, design and technological prowess – life on the long haul never looked so good…

BMW's K 1600 B Grand America is priced from $39,690 plus on-roads.

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Honda's Goldwing has been a giant on the luxury touring scene for decades, and now the legacy continues with Honda's latest flagship tourer, the Goldwing Tour Premium. This latest generation boasts a raft of engine, chassis and technology updates, which all add up to a major progression for a platform that first saw the light of day, in GL1000 form, some 43 years ago. The latest update spans double wishbone front suspension, a revised horizontally opposed six-cylinder Unicam engine with ride-by-wire throttle and a choice of riding modes, tyre pressure monitoring, traction control, electronic suspension adjustment, and Apple CarPlay, while the top-spec Tour Premium also scores an airbag, armrests, central locking and hill start control. There's masses of storage across the integrated topbox and panniers and with that massive full fairing, wind and weather protection is beyond reproach. But it's the engine and drivetrain that really impresses. The six-cylinder now punches out 125hp and 170Nm compared to 116hp/167Nm for the previous model, and it's virtually devoid of vibration. The Goldwing Tour Premium also gets the third generation of Honda's Dual Clutch Transmission, offering seamless pushbutton gear changes or full auto shifts, while techo niceties run to heated seats and handlebar grips, sat-nav, an electric screen, a large colour TFT multimedia screen and Bluetooth connectivity, among others. Honda's GL1800 Goldwing Tour Premium is priced from $42,999 plus on-roads.

Harley-Davidson's Street Glide Special won our Bikesales Bike of the Year Touring category last year and, while edged out in 2018 by the BMW K 1600 B Grand America, it's still a superb machine on which you can lap up the miles in comfort and style. Powered by the Motor Co's Milwaukee-Eight 107 V-twin (1746cc), the Street Glide Special delivers effortless torque across a wide rev range, while the suspension is tailor made to handle the bike's significant bulk (362kg dry) and payload with ease. It's truly surprising just how hard this behemoth of the open road can be pushed, too – the suspension soaks up most challenges thrown up by typical Aussie roads, and there's reasonable ground clearance before things start scraping. The batwing front fairing and screen deliver decent weather protection and we like the factory panniers, which these day can be mounted or removed easily and without tools. Of course, 'style' will be high up on most prospective buyers' lists here and the Street Glide Special delivers in spades, with a blacked-out V-twin and numerous other black components, which set off the wide array of colour choices a treat. The 2019 Street Glide Special adopts the high-output Milwaukee-Eight 114 engine, taking the bike's performance to another level, and is priced from $38,750 ride away.