Beyond the Ten Best

Beyond the Ten Best

ROUNDUP

CAMRON E. BUSSARD

HAD WE WORLD ENOUGH AND TIME, we probably could find some way to give every motorcycle in existence an award of some kind. But every fall, when we present our annual Ten Best awards, we have to limit the number of winners to, well, 10, obviously. Consequently, each year, some very good motorcycles don’t get an award either because we don't have enough different categories, or because these bikes don’t quite fit into the categories we do have.

So to deal with that problem, we have devised a few special categories that allow us to acknowledge the motorcycles that are worthy of recognition but that have not, for one legitimate reason or another, earned a spot in the Ten Best. These are not substitutes for or additions to the Ten Best awards, but simply our one-time-only way of acknowledging some noteworthy motorcycles of 1986.

A big inline-Four coming up on the cam, or a large-bore, four-stroke Single dirt bike churning up a loamy trail, makes noises that resonate deep in the soul of most motorcyclists. But by far the most soulstirring symphonies of all emanate from big V-Twins that sound like the monstrous V-Eights that used to be the mainstays of Detroit-built performance cars. And no V-Twin has the Motown sound down any better than the Cagiva-Ducati Montjuich 750, the bike that snarls and snaps like a pack of mad dogs from hell. That’s why the barely muffled, highly street-illegal Montjuich wins our Best Imitation of a 500-Horsepower V-Eight award.

A companion category would be for Most Outrageous Styling. Because this award will always be controversial, as style always is, so should the bike that wins it. And this year, the most controversial appearance belonged to Yamaha’s Fazer 700, the deceptively fast, superb-handling motorcycle that looks as if it fell to earth from outer space. No one argues much about how the bike works, but some of our most-heated office debates in the last year were about how the Fazer looks.

Then there is the Best Bike Never to Win a Ten Best Award award. Beyond a doubt, this honor belongs to Yamaha’s FJ 1200, formerly the FJ 1 100, everyone’s second choice for the Superbike award since 1984. As it turns out, the reasons why the FJ 1200 hasn’t won the Superbike award are the same reasons why it wins this award: It’s a civilized, unassuming sportbike that’s remarkably well-rounded and competent. It hasn’t the brutish muscle of a VMax nor the sharply focused sporting intentions of a Suzuki GSXR 1 100, but you would be hardpressed to come up with a better allaround large-displacement motorcycle.

But as far as narrow-focus motorcycles are concerned, no bike of 1986 was the equal of Yamaha’s FZ600, the recipient of our Bike Most Able to Make Curves Disappear award. The FZ is kind of small, kind of hard, kind of buzzy and kind of unpleasant for general road work, but nothing—repeat, nothing—can straighten out a twisty road as willingly and effortlessly as this hardcore sport machine.

Small-displacement bikes should not go unheralded, either, so we present the Neophyte Bike award. Several entry-level motorcycles are competent, easy-to-ride machines, but most are styled rather conservatively. There is one, however, that looks faster sitting still than most other bikes do going wide-open in top gear. It’s the Ninja 250, and it steals the award by virtue of its warp-speed design and superior handling.

There's another motorcycle that provoked more curiosity this year than any ofher, yet it's not even going to be built. Thus, our Best Motorcycle Never to See the Light of Day award goes to Suzuki’s FaícoRustyco. It could also win an award for having the most confusing name. But at least many of the features on Suzuki's futuristic dream-machine seem destined to find their way onto production motorcycles over the next few years. The FaícoRustyco is a fascinating concept, even if it is primarily just a thrilling design exercise.

So you see, when it comes to awards, we’ve got ’em covered. Beyond the motorcycles that won our traditional awards, these are the bikes that we just had to mention. Granted, we could go on and talk about the Biggest Disappointment award or the Best Bike That Only Eleven People Will Buy trophy, but as it is, we don't have world enough, or time. Maybe next year.