Forty Years of Ten Best
FORTY YEARS OF TEN BEST
CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES OF MOTORCYCLING’S FINEST, FASTEST, AND MOST FAMOUS
Paul Dean
Excellence deserves recognition. Whether the subject is art, science, medicine, or any other meaningful field of endeavor— motorcycles included, of course—outstanding results merit a resounding tribute to that entity’s exceptional achievements.
That is why, in 1976, the staff of Cycle World huddled in a conference room and for hours on end debated the attributes of every new-model motorcycle sold in the US, virtually all of which they had ridden. They emerged from this marathon give-andtake having conceived the Ten Best Bikes awards, a program designed to pay homage to the finest 1976-model-year motorcycle in each of 10 separate categories.
Right out of the gate, Ten Best was a rousing success, so much so that it was repeated the next year, and the next, and so on, continuing annually right up to the present. But even though the concept has remained the same, the 10 award categories have required frequent and often dramatic change to keep pace with trends in the marketplace, fluctuations in displacement classes, and the ongoing specialization of motorcycles themselves.
For example, the ’70s and ’80s were peak years for dirt bikes, so five categories in 1976 were for off-road models: 125CC, 25OCC, and Open Motocross, plus Trials and Enduro. The predicted trials-bike “boom” was becoming a bust, however, so Trials was replaced with Dual-Purpose the next year.
Those five classifications lived on until reduced to three (Motocross, Dual-Purpose, Enduro) in 1987 to accommodate necessary increases in the number of streetbike categories. In ’04 and ’05, DualPurpose was replaced by Playbike due to a renewed interest in entry-level off-roaders, but it returned in 2006 as Dual-Sport, the industry’s revised nomenclature for that type of motorcycle. It remained until combined with Enduro in 2012 to make room for the burgeoning Adventure category.
As much as the off-road entries called for numerous mid-course adjustments, rapid changes in the marketplace forced street categories to be practically schizophrenic. In ’76, four of the five were titled Roadster (350-400CC, 500-550CC, 75OCC, and just “Roadster” for large-displacement bikes); the fifth was Touring. Superbike replaced Roadster in ’77, and the displacement categories were changed to Lightweight, Middleweight, and Heavyweight. That move was reversed in ’79 when those three were renamed Under 45OCC Street, 451-65OCC Street, and 651-800CC Street.
That category-by-displacement approach continued with occasional variations until abandoned in 2000 in favor of non-cc-specific terminology: OpenClass Streetbike and Middleweight Streetbike.
Plus, new entries—Cruiser, Standard, and SportTouring—had to be squeezed in.
Since then, the street categories have remained status quo with the exception of two recent changes: the aforementioned 2012 inclusion of Adventure; and the 2015 switch from Sport-Touring to Lightweight Streetbike in response to an upsurge in smaller-displacement models. Sport-tourers have become so adept at both back-road and open-road travel that the two were combined into a single Touring category.
1976 CYCLE WORLD 10 BEST: ©TOURING BMW R75/6 Q1,000cc ROADSTER KAWASAKI KZ900 Q750CC ROADSTER YAMAHA XS750 QSOOcc ROADSTER HONDACB550F ©400CC ROADSTER YAMAHA RD400 ©OPEN MX ADOLPH WEIL MAIC0 400 ©250 MX SUZUKI RM250 ©125 MX HONDA CR125 Q ENDURO KTM/PENTON 400 ©TRIALS MONTESACOTA 348
Of the hundreds of winners over those 40 years, a select few are truly memorable. Some were game changers that transformed the motorcycling landscape, others were legends in their own time, and some were just downright magnificent to ride. To acknowledge the superstars of those historic and unforgettable machines, here are our selections for The Ten Best of The Ten Best:
HONDA GOLD WING
The GL not only revolutionized travel on two wheels, but it won 20 Ten Bests, the most by any motorcycle.
HONDA VFR750F/800F
One of the finest all-around motorcycles of all time, it scored 11 awards, 10 in a row from 1990 to 1999.
HONDA CRF450R (0209)
For eight consecutive seasons, it ruled the Open class like no other MXer before or after. Combined, the 450R, the Gold Wing, and the VFR account for 39 of Honda’s 110 Ten Best wins.
KAWASAKI NINJA 900 (84)
Although responsible for only one of Kawasaki’s 61 Ten Bests, it spearheaded the concept of a compact, lightweight Open-class sportbike.
HONDA CBR900RR (92-93 & 95-96) A revolutionary superbike that combined the size and weight of a 600 with big-bike power.
DUCATI 916 (94) Just one of 15 Ten Best Dues, it was one of the most beautiful and potent superbikes ever built.
BMW R1100GS (94) Not BMW’s first GS but the one that gave the adventure phenomenon a full head of steam.
KAWASAKI ZX-11 ( 90 & 92) The 176-mph road rocket that lit the fuse on the top-speed wars.
YAMAHA RD400 (76 & 77) One of the very last-and arguably the very best-of the two-stroke roadsters.
MAICO 400/450 (76,78,79) Ever wonder which bike pioneered long-travel rear suspension? Wonder no more.
From that first program in 1976 to the present, the product planners, engineers, and designers of the winning models have regarded earning a Ten Best award one of the highest honors they could receive. It is widespread, public acknowledgement of their hard work, creativity, and clear understanding of the market. It is the recognition of their excellence.
