Rod Chapman•18 Dec 2020

NEWS

2020 bikesales Bike of the Year: The full story

The biggest fixture on the bikesales calendar takes months of planning and a cast of many; here's how our latest Bike of the Year mega-test rolled out…

Given the chaos wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 bikesales Bike of the Year nearly didn't even get off the ground, and especially after Melbourne – and the bikesales HQ – was plunged into a second lockdown in July.

We stayed home, we socially distanced, and we waited. And waited. The second wave dragged on and it became clear our usual October timing for Bike of the Year was untenable. A flurry of calls to participants and bike brands saw the dates pushed back to late November and, just two weeks prior to our departure, the major restrictions lifted and we were good to go. And, after four months of lockdown, a bikesales Bike of the Year was just what the doctor ordered…

Another year, another smorgasbord of superb motorcycles...

Months in the making

Our biggest test of the year might have taken place in November, but the planning began back in February. That's how long this jigsaw puzzle of an event takes to nut out, pandemic or not.

But the world rolls on, virus or no virus. New model launches were delayed, production lines temporarily ground to a halt, and new bikes broke cover online. It wasn't the world as we knew it, but we acclimatised soon enough.

After months of lockdown, Bike of the Year couldn't come soon enough

Fortunately, through all the uncertainty, bikesales still managed to publish 50 more motorcycle reviews since the previous year's Bike of the Year. That gave us plenty of food for thought when it came to selecting our 2020 category winners, which comprised a mix of mainly new and updated talent.

Reviewing the previous year's launch reports and road tests was overlayed with lively discussion over what models would get a guernsey, spanning 11 individual categories: Adventure Touring, Adventure Sport, Cruiser, Enduro, Motocross, Naked, Retro, Scooter, Sportstourer, Supersport, and Touring.

And from that glowing cast, we put eight of them to the test (excluding our Enduro, Motocross and Scooter contenders) over a five-day road ride.

Our eight contenders (and one Honda Africa Twin, our paramedic's bike)

Five years and counting

This is the fifth running of our bikesales Bike of the Year, and while the first instalment in 2016 was based purely on our previous testing, subsequent years have seen bikesales take contenders on multi-day road rides though the Victorian High Country, the Snowy Mountains and Tasmania.

This year we kept things simple and returned to the Victorian township of Bright, using it as a base from which we conducted daily rides over the surrounding peaks and valleys, including Mount Hotham, Tawonga Gap, and Mount Bogong.

Bright is a great little base from which you can explore some of Australia's best roads

Day one is essentially a transport leg, with the bikesales crew converging on the central Victorian hamlet of Eildon for a rider briefing (and the obligatory COVID-19 temperature check!). From there, our bike rotation scheme officially kicked in, with all riders swapping mounts at roughly 30km intervals based on the alphabetic order of the models on test.

This means everyone gets roughly an equal amount of time on each bike, and over a variety of roads. It's a simple way to ensure everyone gets a fair crack at every machine, hampered just a little by anyone who forgets to pass on a keyless fob for the bike they've just hopped off (cue some time for 'reflection' for the stranded rider, until the issue is discovered!).

Eight bikes, one pump: fuelling up was conducted with military precision!

The back road from Eildon to Jamieson was a testing route on which to blow out the cobwebs, the hilly 60km leg offering all its usual challenges of tight bends, the odd drift of gravel, and plenty of leaf litter following recent storms. But we were back in the swing of things, and the bikesales Bike of the Year was officially off and running.

After a quick stop in Mansfield it was up and over the hill to Whitfield (another superb run), followed by a more sedate amble through the King Valley to Oxley, then east to Myrtleford and our final destination of Bright.

Heading from Bright to Mount Beauty, via Tawonga Gap

From there the week settled into a steady rhythm, with long days of riding, photography and video, followed by the return to Bright, the refuelling and cleaning of bikes, and plenty of bench racing at the local pub.

Much of day two passed on the top of Mount Hotham while our photo and video team worked their magic, while day three saw us head from Bright over Tawonga Gap to Mount Beauty, and then up to Falls Creek.

That left day four as our major ride day, the team looping 'around the block' from Bright over Mount Hotham to Omeo, then back to Bright via Angler's Rest, Falls Creek and Tawonga Gap.

Much of day one was devoted to capturing video footage on Mount Hotham

They're some of the best roads in the state and they were pretty much free of traffic. And yes, after 24 years of this bike journo caper, I still regularly have to pinch myself to remember that this is 'work'…

Clean, COVID-free air and spectacular views at Danny's Lookout, elevation 1705m

The golden ticket

We put significant effort into picking our participating Bike of the Year judges and while the cast varies a little bit depending on how many bikes we take away, we've got a pretty stable core of willing participants. These are guys who first and foremost are nuts about bikes, but they've amassed years of riding experience, they're team players and they're safe hands too.

Motorcycle reviews in the COVID-19 era; who saw that coming?

New faces this year included the recently installed bikesales Editor, Dylan Ruddy, who has plunged himself head first into the road bike world after years of riding and writing about dirt bikes. Keeping him honest was former ed (now publican!) Mark Fattore, while a last-minute drop-out also saw two-time Isle of Man TT winner Cameron Donald join the team.

Two-time Isle of Man TT winner Cam Donald joined this year's bikesales judging panel

An affable, easy-going bloke with more riding skill than most can dream of, Cam slotted straight into Bike of the Year and gave our judging panel a solid boost with his racer's perspective, which is often quite different from that of road rider's.

Check out The Crew for a bit more background on this year's Bike of the Year judges.

Then there's our dedicated and talented photo and video team, who worked tirelessly by day to get all the shots we needed, and then continued into the evenings to review their work and plan the next day's attack.

Our backup van this year was this smart Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 519 CDi

Social distancing protocols meant each snapper was in their own vehicle this year, forming a fleet of four support vehicles – two passenger cars, a Renault Kangoo LCV and our mighty Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 519 CDi van.

The latter, which looked looked more like a mobile surveillance platform in its sinister black metallic paint, carried all our gear, spares, tools, food, water and fuel, and potentially any bike if required.

The Sprinter carried tools, spares, water and fuel; fortunately it never needed to carry a bike

And let's not forget Muz, the nicest guy you never want to see looming over your helmet. Our resident paramedic was back for another Bike of the Year, his medical kit strapped down on the gleaming new Honda Africa Twin in case anyone's plans went awry. Thankfully, they didn't.

Our paramedic, Muz, had dedicated use of a brand-spanking Honda Africa Twin

Crunch time

Then, after days of riding, reviewing, discussing, and the odd heated debate, it was crunch time – time to decide what model would be crowned the 2020 bikesales Bike of the Year.

These bikes are all what we think are top machines in their respective field, so our Bike of the Year test isn't a direct head-to-head comparison. Instead, to decide on our winner we have each judge score each machine across five different categories, the final points tally then giving us our ultimate winner.

For more information read How the Awards Process Works.

This Bike of the Year was our tightest yet in terms of competition

The 2020 bikesales Bike of the Year was different to previous years in one main aspect: the competition was so tight we had no idea what bike would win, even after roughly 1500km of riding. In previous years, a favourite top two or three emerge after the first couple of days. This year, even by the end of the week, we were struggling to name to a top five or six.

Fact is, every one of our eight contenders it just a stonkingly good motorcycle in its own way. Want a scalpel-sharp sportsbike? Look no further than the Ducati Panigale V2. Total touring comfort? Indian's Challenger Limited will eat the miles in style. A bike that's as handy off-road as it is on? Yamaha's Tenere 700 fits the bill, and at a nice price too.

The Ducati Panigale V2: accessible superbike performance at a more affordable price

But once the score sheets were in, tallied, checked and doubled checked, the truth was before us – as was a result that eerily echoed that of last year's, in terms of manufacturers and podium standings.

Our 2020 bikesales Bike of the Year was KTM's 1290 Super Duke R, with BMW's S 1000 XR and R 1250 RS filling the second and third step of the podium.

And KTM has done it again, this time with its superb 1290 Super Duke R

The Super Duke R finished just one solitary point ahead of the S 1000 XR, which in turn was just a nose ahead of its sibling, the R 1250 RS. The Ducati Panigale V2 wasn't far off the pace, nor was the Yamaha Tenere 700 – in fact all our contenders were more tightly grouped than they've ever been before.

It's great off-road, but the Yamaha Tenere is also very handy indeed on the blacktop

Tight contest

Really, that's how it ought to be, for a collection of what we think are currently the best machines on the market. But it does show the strength and current momentum of KTM and BMW these days, two geographically neighbouring powerhouses of motorcycle engineering and manufacturing that, at present, can seemingly do no wrong.

It also shows the depth of engineering talent at KTM these days. The fact it can win our Bike of the Year one year with an adventure bike, then back it up with a naked bike the next, speaks volumes for the scope and quality of work coming out of Mattighofen (Austria) these days.

The KTM 1290 Super Duke R: so much performance, so much feedback, so much fun...

And while the result is bittersweet for BMW, who has missed out on the trophy by the barest of margins once more, it again underlines the superb all-round appeal of its S 1000 XR, which has featured in our Bike of the Year awards as Best Adventure Sport four times now – the most category wins of any one model.

And just one point adrift was BMW's S 1000 XR, the consummate all-rounder

Yes, 2020 has been an incredibly difficult one for the global motorcycle industry, as it has for the world in general. But the bike industry is resilient, and it's pushing ahead. And this year's bikesales Bike of the Year is proof that not even a pandemic will halt the flow of first-rate models coming our way.

Now, bring on 2021, and the 2021 bikesales Bike of the Year!