2017 Pirelli SA Bike of the Year – and the winner is…

By Lawrence Minnie

It was that time of the year again when 16 motorcycle journalists put on their best riding gear, and headed out to the open road to put this year’s finalists through their paces.  Major decision-making would be happening over two days of multi-surface riding, in order to choose this year’s top bike. The judges would then have 48 hours to mull over which bikes they thought were exceptional, before casting their final vote.

The Pirelli SA Bike of the Year is now in its fifth year, and the competition is designed to do one thing: get people talking, and head to their nearest bike showroom to go and see what all the excitement is about.

This year, the judges were faced with a decent spread of bikes, ranging from adventure- to retro bikes and everything in-between. The finalists were all selected as new models for the production year, that had to meet certain criteria to be eligible. The criteria ranged from new introductory models, departure from manufacturer norms, or introduction of exceptional new technology to a model.

Each bike would then be measured up against others in its class, with regards to ride quality, build quality, appearance, pricing and that certain “je n’ais se quoi” or X-factor.

This year’s finalists were definitely a mixed bag, and the judges had their work cut out to pick a clear winner from this list:

• BMW G 310 R
• BMW 1200 GS Rallye
• Ducati Supersport
• Ducati Multistrada 950
• Honda CBR 1000RR Fireblade SP
• Indian Scout Sixty
• Kawasaki Z900
• Kawasaki Z1000SX
• Kawasaki Versys 300
• KTM 1090 R
• KTM 1290 Super Adventure R
• Suzuki SV650
• Suzuki GSX-R1000
• Triumph Street Scrambler
• Yamaha R6

Representatives of the manufacturers milled around restlessly on the evening of the big announcement, sizing up the competition, and joking around lightheartedly about each other’s offerings.

Matt and Harry from The Bike Show presided over the announcement, moving from each machine to the next, discussing their good and bad aspects in their typical Matt-and-Harry fashion, and soon six finalists had been wheeled forward from the rest.

The BMW G 310 R, Ducati Supersport, Honda CBR 1000RR Fireblade SP, Indian Scout Sixty, KTM 1290 Super Adventure R and Suzuki SV650 had made the final six and now everyone waited in anticipation for the final announcement.

The BMW G 310 R, Suzuki SV650, and Indian Scout Sixty were then wheeled back, leaving just three contenders for the title: The KTM 1290 Super Adventure R, the Honda Fireblade and Ducati Supersport.

The KTM 1290 Super Adventure R was announced as the overall winner by taking the highest score across the board. The Honda Fireblade came in second, and the Ducati Supersport was in third position.

As is almost always the case in competitions of this nature, the decision immediately began heated discussions about the industry, manufacturers and dealers, as well as the competition and the eligibility of the bikes in question. In doing so, they did exactly what the Pirelli SA Bike of the Year set out to do since its inception: to generate dialogue and to get people talking about bikes.

To learn more about the finalists, visit the ZA Bikers website: http://www.zabikers.co.za/2017/09/11/pirelli-bike-year-south-africa-2017/