Up Front

UP FRONT

Bike of the Year

David Edwards

GOOD A PLACE AS ANY TO BE PROVED right, the road to Wagga Wagga. Beneath me, the R1200GS BMW’s pistons beat out a reassuring thrum. The asphalt ahead curved up and down through rolling green meadows and swept past eucalyptus strands. Surprised flocks of sulfurcrested cockatoos took to wing, their ivory feathers catching the long rays of a setting sun.

“Perfect bike, perfect place,” I thought to myself, congratulating CWon our good judgment in naming the all-new GS one of 2004’s Ten Best Bikes and picking it as co-winner in our World’s Best Streetbike Shootout.

Two weeks after getting back A from Australia, those thoughts ' ^ were still fresh when it came time to vote for the International Bike of the Year, an annual polling of 12 magazines from around the world. Editors nominate their top three choices, first place getting 3 points, second place 2, third place 1; the machine with the most points at the end wins.

My top spot had to be the Beemer.

“This is a motorcycle almost without limits-part standard, part sport-tourer, part backroad bomber, part dual-purpose bike-at home anywhere from the Interstate to the Outback, ready for anything,” was the reasoning. But would my peers agree?

For Ken Wootten, head man at Australian Motorcycle News, it was a nobrainer: “BMW’s R1200GS is not only jack of all trades, but master of all as well. Lighter, leaner, more powerful and more refined than its predecessor, this is a truly amazing motorcycle. Try beating a GS over a typical Aussie bumpy bitumen backroad on a 155-hp, lOOOcc hyperbike and you'll have to work pretty damn hard to keep the big Beemer behind-or in sight!”

Still, ballots were all over the board, with some surprises. Germany’s MO liked the GS, but voted for Suzuki’s 650 V-Strom instead.

“A really astonishing bike,” said Editor Jo Soppa. “Great all-rounder, good performance, reasonable price. On road it’s as quick as the BMW, but does everything with much more ease-especially when you have to look in your wallet.”

Cruisers weren’t overlooked, Honda’s show-worthy Rune and Triumph’s jumbo-motored Rocket III each getting a marker or two. England’s Bike magazine led the cheering for the latter. “Huge, mad, brave and original,” said Assistant Editor Simon Weir. “The best thing about the Rocket is that it works. It handles, stops and goes like no lardy has a right to. The Triumph kicks other fat custom arse into the weeds.”

With 6 points, one standout was reconstituted Benelli’s naked bruiser, the 1130cc TnT, not yet available in the U.S.

From Peter Ryckaert of Belgium's Motowereld: “The Italians just had to prove they still rule when it comes to designing a two-wheeled piece of art. And the beauty of the TnT is more than skin-deep. It feels more powerful than God, while the sound coming from its exhaust can only be described as demonic. It comes pretty close to the ideal bike for the road.”

Second that, said the Germans. “A unique, soulful engine with real boost and fine manners. A great pleasure to ride...our real roadster of the year.”

Still, IBoY has always tilted toward sportbikes, as the top of the 2004 points tally reaffirmed. In fourth place, totaling 7 points, was Suzuki s stellar GSX-R750, a perennial Cycle World favorite.

“Ride the GSX-R and you learn what 20 years of continu* ous evolution does to a concept,” said Holland’s KicXstart.

“It is virtually impossible to criticize anything. Smooth and powerful like no 600, with a sporty lust for revs that no 1000 has. A true cuttingedge supersport classic.”

“Suzuki refuses to kill off the mythical GSX-R750 and that is all too well,” agreed Motonvereld. “It’s the best of both worlds. Full stop.”

Coming in third place overall with 12 points was Kawasaki’s ZX-10R, certainly the most potent repli-racer to date. Or as the Brits put it, “Mad as a pocketful of weasels, but a lot more fun.. .with the largest set of balls this side of a rodeo bull with testicular swelling!”

Despite its outsized ’nads-or maybe because of them-the Kawi lost second place to the Yamaha YZF-R1, which received a total of 14 well-polished points from the world’s editors.

“New sharp styling. Very, very fast. Handling excellent,” summed up Aldo Ballerini of Italy’s Super Wheels. “A perfect compromise between the Honda CBR1000RR (easier to ride but lacking emotion) and the Kawasaki ZX-10R (passionate but nervy), the Yamaha is a genuine superbike that you can buy at an incredible price.”

More of the same from Japan’s AutoBy. “The R1 is much more sophisticated compared to the ZX-10R,” noted Keiichiro Miyazaki.

Which brings us to the big winner, 2004’s International Bike of the Year, for the first time ever a non-sportbike (previous winners have been almost exclusively hardcore Suzukis-GSX-R750, TL1000S, Hayabusa, GSX-R 1000-with a lone Yamaha YZF-R1 thrown in). k Congratulations, then, to BMW’s R1200GS, scoring an 18-point total. “The all-rounder’s all-rounder,” said Bike. “The BMW is incredible. Superb brakes, punchy power, terrific comfort for one or two, great fuel range and high-grade finish are what you'd expect of a GS. But you also get better handling and enhanced agility.”

“It’s a mile-eater and a joy machine,” was how Greece’s Moto saw things.

“What bike can go so far, so fast and in so much comfort?” asked Auto-By.

Exactly none. Proof that as Wagga Wagga goes, so goes the rest of the world. Œ