Ducati carries the 2018 Pirelli SA Bike of The Year crown

 

By Réhann Coetzee

 

Ducati has won the eighth Pirelli SA Bike of The Year with the incredible Panigale V4.

This is the first time that Ducati has won the title, but not the first time that a Ducati finished in the top three.

Triumph’s Street Triple 765 RS took second place and the big surprise, Kawasaki’s Ninja 400, came third.

In fourth position was the Triumph Tiger 1200 and the Honda Gold Wing and KTM 790 Duke shared fifth position.

The competition is the brainchild of Mat Durrans and Harry Fisher of The Bike Show. The judges were 13 motorcycle journalists and two guests. The 12 finalists were put through their paces at the Gerotek Test Facility close to Hartbeespoort Dam.

“The rules of Pirelli SA Bike of the Year work in such a way that each contender is not judged against the other bikes in the final, but rather against its rivals in its class,” explains Mat Durrans.

“In other words, the judges do not say ‘which of these 12 bikes would I most like to win’. They rather imagine that each bike was among its rivals in its own class, and then judge according to that, with the bikes moving the goalposts in their respective classes scoring higher than those that don’t.

“This is why the Kawasaki Ninja 400 finished ahead of the likes of its bigger sibling, the Kawasaki H2 SX, because the 400 created a clearer new benchmark in its class, outdoing the likes of the KTM RC390, the Yamaha R3 and the CBR300RR.

“That is why we choose motorcycle journalists as judges, as they know the market, the classes and have experience with each of the finalist’s rivals. In total, the judges had 419 years of (licensed) motorcycling experience between them, so it is fair to say that they know what they were talking about.”

This year’s finalists were:

1. BMW G310 GS
2. BMW K1600 B
3. Ducati Multistrada 1260
4. Ducati Panigale V4
5. Honda Goldwing
6. Husqvarna Vitpilen 701
7. Kawasaki Ninja 400
8. Kawasaki H2 SX
9. Kawasaki Z900RS
10. KTM 790 Duke
11. Triumph 765 Street Triple
12. Triumph Tiger 1200

Photos by Donovan Fourie.