8 standout things from 2016

Nine MotoGP winners
The 2016 MotoGP season was a cracker. For the first time in the championship’s 67-year history there were nine different winners – four of them celebrating their maiden victory. It was the first time in a decade that rider from an independent team won a premier class race – and that happened twice. It was the first time in 35 years that a British rider stood on the top step of a MotoGP podium and it was the first time Aussie fans cheered home a local hero since Casey Stoner's last win in 2012.

The not-quite-new Fireblade
You can hardly call Honda’s 2017 CBR1000RR Fireblade disappointing, but when the world was expecting an all-new ground-up design to not only replace the decade-old outgoing model, but to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the iconic Japanese Superbike, shoulders slumped slightly when a not-quite-new bike was unveiled. Though when the realisation sunk in that the cleverly executed evolution of old should very well be a competitive and highly capable machine, would-be owners were buoyed. And with a starting price of $22,499 (plus on-road costs), who can blame them?

Winglets
The came, they conquered, and they were confiscated. The 2016 MotoGP season will be remembered for a lot more things than aerodynamic-enhancing winglets, but changes to the regulations means we won't see prototype machinery like we did this year for many years to come. Designed to produce downforce and therefore keep the front wheel on the deck under the fierce acceleration produced by a MotoGP machine, they worked effectively – most noticeably for the hard-accelerating Ducati entrants. But they caused enormous controversy among teams, riders and officials and were subsequently banned because of safety concerns surrounding the protruding plastic pieces.

Inertial Measurement Units
The small electronic smarts which were once reserved for high-end sportsbikes turned up on all sorts of machinery during this year's international show season and signals a step forward (a step in all directions, actually) for the next generation of electronic rider aids. The units can measure up to six different axes of forces (acceleration, lean angle, yaw, pitch, etc.) and dial in the perfect amount of any given electronic intrusion in order to keep you and your bike in the best shape.

What it means is even big-bore adventure bikes are now boasting corning ABS and multi-directional quick-shifters and the way we see and indeed accept electronic assistance is and will certainly have to change. And it's only the beginning.

Jorge to Ducati, Maverick to Yamaha
It was two of the biggest signings for the 2017 season and, while many had their doubts of how smooth-as-silk Jorge Lorenzo would adapt to the aggressive handful that is the factory Ducati prototype, the pair both made remarkable and impressive debuts during the post-season tests at Valencia. In fact, Spanish sensation Maverick Viñales topped the time sheets at the end of both days on the very Yamaha YZR-M1 Lorenzo won the season finale race on the day before, while Lorenzo's best lap was less than three-tenths slower than Andrea Iannone's qualifying lap and quicker than both the factory rider's fastest laps of the race the day before.

Imminent Euro4
From January 1, 2017, every motorcycle sold in Europe must comply with strict new noise, emission and type-approval regulations. For us it means bulky exhaust cans on some models that made it through; it means capacity hikes in some cases in a bid to retain similar output levels after the Euro4 strangulation; and, in many cases, it means the axing of models altogether as the most cost efficient way of dealing with the new rules. Yamaha was the Japanese marque willing to keep its 600cc Supersport machine alive moving forward, and while Australia isn't yet bound to the same laws as Europe, the knock-on effect will hit home here. Another new Euro-only rule says every motorcycle over 125cc must be fitted with ABS.

Sportstourer resurgence
Bikes like Honda's Blackbird, Ducati's ST3 and Kawasaki's ZZ-R1100 were the perfect all-day sportsbikes in their day but it was a segment that began disappearing with the growing interest in long-legged and road-biased adventure bikes. But the 2016 international show season ushered in a small but clear resurgence of the original sportstourer genre. Take Ducati's new-for-2017 939 SuperSport, for example. It's fully faired, high-end componentry is all sport, but its high-mounted 'bars, low-mounted 'pegs and relaxed ergonomics are all about all-day riding. Then there's Kawasaki's 2017 Ninja 1000. While an IMU brings both traction control and cornering ABS to the upright bike's table, nothing says sportstourer like the new height-adjustable double-bubble windshield.

The Price legend begins
It was the year Australia was gifted a new hero. Just a fortnight into 2016, Toby Price became the first-ever Australian rider to stand on the top step of the podium at the notoriously difficult Dakar Rally. It was just his second attempt, and he achieved the unthinkable just two years after breaking his neck in a crash that should have finished him. He's a battler, he's a champion and he's a bloody nice bloke. And if you haven't seen Red Bull TV's latest documentary on Toby's journey towards that historic win, Paying the Price, you need to – click here to view it for yourself.