2018 Pirelli SA Bike of The Year
2018 Pirelli SA Bike of The Year
By Réhann Coetzee
The first Pirelli SA Bike of The Year was held in 2013 and it has become an annual event that showcases the latest and greatest the bike industry has to offer.
The competition is the brainchild of Mat Durrans and Harry Fisher of The Bike Show and the winner of the sixth event will be announced later this week.
A group of motorcycling journalists form the panel of judges. Manufacturers and importers are invited to nominate bikes that were introduced to the local market after the previous BoTY was held. The judges then vote for a list of 12 finalists.
These bikes are then put through their paces for a day or so. In the past the event was held in the Lowveld, but after two accidents during the 2016 event (one of which was mine), it was decided to change the format a little. the 2017 and 2018 events’ judging was held at the Gerotek Test Facility close to Hartbeespoort Dam.
On Gerotek’s dynamic handling track, we rode the bikes at various speeds to get an impression of ride quality, road-holding and general riding characteristics. Judges then vote for their favourite bikes.
The criteria is quite complicated, because each entrant actually competes with itself and its direct competitors – that aren’t necessarily in the competition. For instance, the Triumph Tiger 1200 competes with its previous version (the Explorer), as well as other big adventure bikes – the BMW 1200 GS, KTM 1290 Super Adventure, etc.
Judges need to decide how big the improvement is over its predecessor, as well as how it stacks up against the competition. And the bike that has improved the most and outshines its competitors should score well.
I have been a judge since 2014 (and missed 2017 after my tumble), and we have never had a group of bikes that made it easy to judge. And this year has been the same. The finalists, in alphabetical order, were:
- BMW G310 GS
- BMW K1600 B
- Ducati Multistrada 1260
- Ducati Panigale V4
- Honda Goldwing
- Husqvarna Vitpilen 701
- Kawasaki Ninja 400
- Kawasaki H2 SX
- Kawasaki Z900RS
- KTM 790 Duke
- Triumph 765 Street Triple
- Triumph Tiger 1200
Stand by for the results, we will publish them the moment the announcement is made.