2018 Bikesales Bike of the Year: Top three

Nine category winners but only three Bikesales Bike of the Year finalists. It hasn’t been easy but we’ve got there…

For the second year in a row we’ve ‘pounded the pavement’ to determine the top three in the Bikesales Bike of the Year (BOTY) Awards ahead of the overall winner being announced at the 2018 Melbourne Moto Expo on Friday, November 23.

In 2017 a four-day jaunt across the roof of Australia was the inspiration to shortlist the finalists, and this year it was the spectacular roads of northern Tasmania. Both superb locations to help us crystallise our thought processes, but in 2018 the biggest difference is that we’ve also introduced official rankings into the mix.

The rankings are spread across five categories – engine and drivetrain; brakes and handling; build quality; value for money; and fit for purpose. Each category is scored out of 20 for a final mark out of 100.

It's a ranking system that we'll be using on all the Bikesales reviews going forward.

Tassie steeds

We took nine powered two-wheelers to Tasmania:

• Adventure Sport: BMW S 1000 XR HP
• Touring: BMW K 1600 Grand America
• Supersport: Ducati Panigale V4 S
• Cruiser: Harley-Davidson FXD Fat Bob 114
• Adventure: Honda Africa Twin Sport DCT
• Retro/Café: Kawasaki Z900RS Cafe
• Sports touring: KTM Super Duke GT
• Scooter: Kymco AK550
• Naked: Yamaha MT-09SP

For obvious reasons, the motocross (Kawasaki KX450) and enduro (Gas Gas EC300) BOTY category winners couldn’t join us in the Apple Isle.

After the three-day ride in Tasmania, not one bike left us feeling short-changed – they all lived up to expectations, and some even added a halo or two along the way.

Let's take a quick look at them again – in alphabetical order – before we announce the top three. For more detailed reviews, including video, scroll to the links at the bottom of this story.

BMW K 1600 Grand America
In Tasmania we pressed the Grand America into the role for which it was designed: multi-day, open-road touring. It’s an imposing motorcycle – but as soon as it’s hauled off its sidestand, clicked into first gear and eased out via the (decidedly light) clutch, it's no harder to control than any other big bike, possessing a sense of poise and balance that belies its dimensions and weight. The majority of that weight is held low in the frame. Performance? There's plenty of it – this wonderfully smooth six pumps out a claimed 160hp and 175Nm. There's even a bi-directional quickshifter. Given several of our riders on this year's Bike of the Year had little or no experience of heavyweight luxury tourers, the Grand America consistently surprised with its heady mix of competence, capability and creature comforts. Price is $39,690 plus on-road costs.

BMW S 1000 XR
The good times continuing to roll with the S 1000 XR courtesy of superb in-line four-cylinder performance, clever electronics and a more relaxed chassis than its more narrow-focussed siblings – the S 1000 RR sportsbike and S 1000 R naked. The new $23,215 plus on-road costs HP (as in High Performance) variant includes Race ABS (cornering ABS), heated grips, Automatic Stability Control and an HP seat as standard features. Our test bike also included the optional Dynamic package (which includes a bi-directional quickshifter, Dynamic traction control and Riding Mode Pro), Dynamic ESA (electronic suspension adjustment) as well as a number of accessories. The platform is just so captivating: the wherewithal to carve up a mountain pass with the best of them, but in absolute comfort with that upright riding position. And in the blink of an eye can export a rider from civility to a thrill fest.

Ducati Panigale V4 S
The terms aural and physical assault came to mind when you’re riding the 1103cc V4 S, which has an electronics suite with everything you’d expect from a 37K top-shelf sportsbike, while claimed wet weight for the Panigale V4 S is just 195kg in an engine producing 211hp and 124Nm. And it looks gorgeous – which is why the bike was voted ‘most beautiful’ at the 2017 EICMA motorcycle show in Milan. A number of our BOTY testers hadn’t ridden a sportsbike for a while, so the Panigale V4 S presented quite the baptism of fire as they nudged that tacho towards five figures for the first time with unbelievably crisp throttle response. If there was ever a quickshifter tailor-made for a motorcycle, this is it – the crackle on the upshift is bliss, and there’s also the auto-blip function when you’re dropping back through the cogs in the six-speed gearbox. The Stylema Brembo brakes are the best in the business and, with the electronic Ohlins fork also factored into the equation, it provides a masterful front-end equation. It’s powerful, smart and intuitive.

Harley-Davidson FXD Fat Bob 114
The Fat Bob is such a tactile and dynamic package, as we first found out at the all-new Softail range launch in Tasmania last year. The enthusiasm wasn’t just based on its sporty nature, but its ability to get the job done as an all-day machine with comfort and a fabulous blend of style and performance. That same recipe confronted us in Tasmania, using the 114ci (1868cc) version of the machine – 155Nm of smooth grunt. It really is an exceptionally comfortable machine, but that’s not to say the Fat Bob is ‘soft’, as the bump-stop seat wedges the rider firmly into place, and with the narrow 16-inch Dunlop tyres, 28-degree steering angle and those twin discs working overtime, you’ll enjoy more freewheeling action on the Fat Bob than any other Softail. It’s also not easy to keep a wet weight of 306kg out of the spotlight, but that’s what Harley-Davidson has achieved with the $30,290 plus on-roads Fat Bob 114. The standard 107ci Fat Bob retails for $27,750 plus on-roads. The chassis, engine and suspension package in the Fat Bob hits all the right tunes.

Honda Africa Twin Sport DCT
The 2016 Honda Africa Twin took out the inaugural Bikesales Bike of the Year awards and now it's back, with the 2018 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports DCT taking out our adventure bike category for the second time. It comes with ABS as standard, and now benefits from a ride-by-wire throttle with a choice of four ride modes, seven-level traction control, wire-spoked wheels, and various tweaks to produce "stronger mid-range response". In addition, there’s longer-travel suspension and fuel capacity has been increased by 5.4 litres. The DCT swaps cogs as quickly and as smoothly as any manual transmission and, given our road-focussed run, the Africa Twin still gave a great account of itself – it can still be hustled through the bends with surprising pace. It's while standing that you can allow the Africa Twin to do its best work, when the bike's sheer mass and momentum becomes your friend. The non-adjustable screen does a good job of punching its way through the wind and heated grips were much appreciated at several points in Tassie. At $19,999 plus on-roads it's a whole lot of adventure bike for the bucks.

Kawasaki Z900RS Café
Successful retro bikes wrap modern-day performance and manufacturing principles with styling cues that tap into a rich brand heritage, and you'll be hard pressed to find a better example than Kawasaki's Z900RS Café. For many, a large part of the Z900RS Café's appeal is its sheer simplicity; it’s actually refreshing to just jump on this Kwaka and go – turn the key, thumb the starter, snick first and roar off down the road. Get the Z900RS Café into the hills and it casts off its docile demeanor and adopts an altogether more aggressive countenance. There's healthy ground clearance and the chassis and suspension simply instill confidence. It's nimble enough to be a heap of fun yet stable too – no nasty surprises, just completely predictable progress and at a surprisingly rapid rate if the mood takes you. Each aspect of the Kawasaki Z900RS Café comes together in a symphony of two-wheeled enjoyment – it looks superb, it rides beautifully, and in terms of bang for your bucks it's up there with the best. Price is $16,799 plus on-road costs.

KTM 1290 Super Duke GT
There are sports tourers, and then there’s the KTM 1290 Super Duke GT – the most muscular form of the genre. Based on the 1290 Super Duke R hypernaked, the GT is a phenomenally robust machine, in no small part thanks to that booming 1301cc V-twin. KTM does electronics as well as anyone these days, and the $26,995 plus on-road costs GT has both switchable traction control and ABS, and there’s also a supermoto mode on ABS that allows rear wheel lock-up for the really adventurous. There’s a uni-directional (up) quickshifter as well, which delivers a nice ‘pop’ under harder acceleration. Brembo monobloc brakes and a trellis frame complete the chassis offering. In sports mode you do really forget you’re on a sportstourer as the corners are stitched together with such flair and poise – until the tempo goes back to normal and you realise you’re on a bike that provides all-day comfort.

Kymco AK 550
With such a low centre of gravity, the AK 550 is lighter and easier to manage than the specs would suggest, which means it corners with more dexterity and balance than most people would give it credit for. And didn’t that show up on the $11,990 plus on-road costs maxi scooter in Tasmania! Scooters pull together a straightforward recipe, and the AK 550 is no different – although it sports some hi-tech auxiliary features such as Bluetooth connectivity, heated hand grips, tyre pressure monitoring and a complementary smartphone app. The urge from the 53.4hp/55.6Nm twin-cylinder engine is impressive, while it also has radial-mount Brembo brakes and a 41mm upside-down fork. The AK 550 has an ideal blend of stability and agility – even at high speeds. It just handles beautifully, to the extent that a lot of us were trail-braking into turns, exerting maximum force on the chassis and suspension. There is plenty of room for riders of most shapes and sizes on the Kymco, as well as a decent amount of weather protection – which came in handy as the heavens opened on day two.

Yamaha MT-09SP
Yamaha has taken a good thing and made it better, with the 2018 Yamaha MT-09SP adding a fully adjustable Öhlins monoshock, an upgraded fork, a quickshifter and a trick paint job to the already-accomplished base-model MT-09 – all for a modest $1200 premium. That brings the ticket price for the MT-09SP to $13,499 plus on-roads – not a lot of coin for a bike that delivers a stonking dose of fun, in a quality package with a number of high-tech inclusions. It’s just a rollicking good ride, and a big part of its appeal stems from its intoxicating 847cc in-line triple which kicks out a healthy 115hp and 87.5Nm in a package weighing in at a not-too-shabby 193kg wet. That's a power-to-weight ratio sure to please, the MT's spirited performance only accentuated by the relatively upright ride position and lack of bodywork. It's combative yet comfy, placing the rider in a ready-for-action posture that still presents no problem on city commutes or longer country runs. Of course, the big news in this model is the suspension upgrade, and the Öhlins rear shock ups the feel and control to another lever.

And the top three are…

The Ducati Panigale V4 S, Kawasaki Z900RS Cafe and BMW K 1600 Grand America. Congratulations to Ducati, Kawasaki and BMW respectively.

Without taking anything away from all our category winners, this trio truly represents magnificent examples of motorcycling brilliance and ingenuity, and one of them will be crowned outright winner of the 2018 Bikesales Bike of the Year Awards.

2018 Bikesales Bike of the Year: Top three

Tassie steeds

And the top three are…

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