Gixxer King
Gixxer King
UP FRONT
David Edwards
OH BOY, IT’S IBOY TIME AGAIN, WHEN the collective wisdom (hah!) of the world’s motorcycle press is brought to bear on one weighty question: What’s the best bike of the year?
Each December, moto-mag editors from around the globe are asked to delineate their top three machines. The rules are pretty simple: Any series-production streetbike offered for sale in the magazine’s home market in the previous 11 months is eligible. A first-place pick earns a bike 3 points, while second-place is worth 2 points and third-place 1. When all 14 publications have voted, the model with the most points is named International Bike of the Year.
Enough preliminaries, then, let’s get to the top three of 2005.
Totaling 10 points for a strong third overall is a reconstituted streetfighter from the U.K. Motorradmagazin agreed with Cycle World in putting this particular Triumph in its number-one spot. “The most perfect Speed Triple ever built,” pronounced the Germans.
In ranking it second, Belgium’s Motorwereld expounded, “It’s a bit of an animal, but for sheer excitement it can’t be beat, with razor-sharp handling and a great torquey engine that we love for the noise alone. The brakes could be better, but who needs those anyway?”
F lag-wavers as ever, the Brits put two Triumphs in their top three, botching the plot by ranking the Sprint ST second, ahead of the Speed Triple. Still, Bike thumbnailed the latter quite rightly: “For more than a decade, the Speed Triple sat patiently, waiting for its chance to shine. Suffering from the sportbike-obsession that blinkered both the bike-buying public and Triumph’s own decision makers, the bug-eyed Trumpet was obscured by the fully faired 955i Daytona. But no longer. In 2005, Triumph gave
some long overdue attention to making outstanding road bikes instead. It’s the opportunity the Speed Triple was waiting for.”
CW didn’t cast a single vote for the bike that finished IBoY in second overall with 12 points. We couldn’t: The KTM SuperDuke wasn’t for sale stateside in ’05. Judging by our compatriots’ comments (and our own earlier riding impression), we can’t wait. “Maybe a trifle too wild for most riders,” said Motorwereld of the 950 V-Twin. “It’s absolutely fabulous, with spot-on handling and incredible brakes, but an engine that can’t be ridden slowly. Every time you get on it you ride like a hooligan-even if you don’t want to!”
We’ll second that, said Holland’s KicXstart, one of three magazines that thought enough of KTM’s first dedicated streetbike to put it at the very top of their ballots: “Riding a motorbike is all about enjoying yourself and having fun. At that, the SuperDuke is already one of the best of all time. It has that very attractive bit of ‘raw edge’ that makes you want to ride the thing for more and more miles, days, weeks and probably even years.”
Greece’s Moto sees the SuperDuke as a harbinger for a whole new type of decidedly unstandard standard-style motorcycle. “It’s not only the best streetfighter, but it gives a boost to the category, ushering in a new era of design, handling and performance, showing the way for the future of naked bikes,” predicted the Greeks. Certainly Ducati, with its production-ready Hypermotard concept bike, seems to agree.
Now the winner, and it wasn’t even close. With 20 points (including four firstplaces and three second-places), the Suzuki GSX-R 1000 is 2005’s International Bike of the Year.
In laying out reasons why, the British were absolutely hyper in their bolic. “If Suzuki’s feverish engineers had done just enough to edge the GSX-R level with, or slightly ahead of, the competition, then it probably wouldn’t be our Bike of the Year. But Suzuki hasn’t done just enough; the 1000 isn’t slightly ahead. The new bike has such a wide margin over the competition we’re utterly gobsmacked, ourflabber well and truly gasted,” noted Bike giddily.
“At every encounter with the device, we find ourselves standing ’round gawping loose-jawed at it, wearing mildly bewildered expressions and struggling to completely comprehend just how the GSXR manages to outclass the rivals. There’s no dazzling new technology, nothing we haven’t seen before, but the refinements and revisions have created arguably the greatest sportbike ever released. It really is that good.”
The stopwatch wasn’t especially kind to the Gixxer in track-based magazine shootouts (including CWs), but as Australian Motor Cycle News couldn’t help pointing out, that didn’t stop Aussies from cleaning house in Superbike racing. “The GSX-R raised the hypersports bar even higher in 2005 by delivering a potent trackday bike without adding compromises for the road,” said AMCN. “In fact, the ’05 GSX-R 1000 is a better roadbike than the 2004 model. Yet it still had the pedigree to dominate both the World Superbike Series in the hands of Troy Corser and the AMA Superbike Championship with Mat Mladin. The best of both worlds. Enough said.”
So, two naked bikes that deliver practically immoral amounts of fun, and a lOOOcc repli-racer that wins on road & track. We’d call that a very good year. □
