2020 bikesales Bike of the Year: How the awards process works

In a year like no other, the 2020 bikesales Bike of the Year has finally been announced, following a comprehensive testing and voting process in Victoria’s stunning High Country.

As the COVID-19 pandemic caused havoc around the world, it looked likely that the 2020 Bike of the Year Awards would join a long list of cancelled events. But with some determined rescheduling, and the lifting of travel restrictions, the team was able to proceed – albeit with COVID-19 protocols in place.

Eight expert judges rode eight of the 11 Bike of the Year category winners through twisting mountain roads across five days and over 1500km. Our Scooter, Motocross and Enduro category winners did not take part, given the nature of this long-distance, road-oriented review.

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2020 Bikesales Bike of the Year: Royal Enfield Interceptor 650
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2020 Bikesales Bike of the Year: How the awards process works
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2020 Bikesales Bike of the Year: In summary
2020 Bikesales Bike of the Year winner: KTM 1290 Super Duke R

Judging for the overall Bike of the Year winner is based on five main criteria: engine and drivetrain; brakes and handling; build quality; value for money; and the degree to which the bike is fit for purpose. Most fields (bar 'fit for purpose') were broken down into multiple sub-fields, with each bike ultimately achieving a score out of 100.

The winner is the bike with the best combined overall score from the eight judges. The winner generally will have a high score in each of the five categories, and represents what we think is the pinnacle of motorcycle production for any given year.

If you’re wondering about our motley crew of judges, click here. But in short, our judging panel this year comprises bikesales Editor, Dylan Ruddy; bikesales Senior Journalist, Rod Chapman; former bikesales Editor, Mark Fattore, along with a cast of experienced contributors who together represent the everyday motorcyclist.

For 2020, we were also lucky enough to secure the services of two-time Isle of Man TT winner, Cameron Donald, who brought with him years of experience on the road and track, and in the media. With the addition of Cam, we believe our judging panel represents a diverse and super-experienced spread of riders and backgrounds.

The 11 category winners were chosen by the bikesales team from a long list of motorcycles available to the public between September 2, 2019 and September 1, 2020. Eligible bikes must be series-production models, and be available via dealers or a wholesale distribution chain during the aforementioned date range.

So, if you’re wondering why some of your newly released favourites didn’t get a mention, it's because those bikes were not available at the time of category winner selection – but they could well be in the running for the 2021 bikesales Bike of the Year.

Unlike other shootouts, awards and multi-vehicle tests, these awards consider pre-existing models should they trump newly released or significantly updated models. The Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 (released in 2018) was the sole example in 2020.

As the Retro LAMS winner in 2019, the team decided the Interceptor 650’s blend of affordability, rideability and retro appeal was unmatched in 2020. While the Suzuki Katana was a deserving Retro winner last year, the addition of a new editor in 2020 resulted in the team looking at the Interceptor 650 in a different light.

Each bike is chosen based on what the bikesales team thinks is the best model in each specific category. Of course, some might disagree with our choices, or even with what category we think each contender belongs in, but opinions are by nature subjective and in many cases there are no hard, concrete definitions.

What cannot be denied, however, is that the competition in the class of 2020 was incredibly tight, and that each of our 11 category winners was well-deserving of its place in the bikesales Bike of the Year awards.