Ten Best Bikes 2010
Kawasaki Z1000
If at first you don’t succeed, try and try yet again. The third time’s been a charm for Kawasaki’s venerable Z1000. It nabbed an honorable mention when it debuted back in 2003 but got edged out by the glamorous Aprilia Tuono. Updates to the Z1000 in ’07 kept one of our favorite versatile sporting motorcycles in the conversation, but it was the Triumph Tiger 1050 that had us by the tail that year.
Now Kawasaki has delivered an all-new machine that shares little more with its predecessors than a name and its broad-focus, real-world sporting intent. And we have been torqued into submission by its all-new sublimely smooth, instant-power 1043cc inline-Four. This, along with a sporty chassis and fully adjustable suspension upped the Z’s sporting prowess and sealed the deal.
Kawasaki Concours 14
Speed. Power. Handling. Agility. Stability. Comfort. Payload. It’s hard enough to pack all those endearing qualities into a motorcycle, and it’s even more rare to find them in great quantities in any one machine. But that’s what Kawasaki has accomplished with the Concours 14. It dances through the twists and turns of backroads as though that was its sole purpose in life, yet it glides down the open road with the greatest of ease, chewing up the miles smoothly, easily, comfortably. And the ZX-14-derived engine delivers what might be the most deceptive flow of eyeball-flattening acceleration offered by any motorcycle ever built. The big Conc won this award in the first two years of its existence, 2008 and ’09, then rolled into 2010 boasting numerous improvements and upgrades that further cemented its status as the finest sport-tourer on the planet.
BMW S1000RR
Let’s see. It makes 176.4 horsepower—21 more, on the official CW dyno, than the next closest bike in its class. At Spain’s MotoGP-hosting Motorland Aragon racetrack for MasterBike (CW, June), it destroyed all liter-bike comers. On the road in our own little fiesta of speed, we found it almost as refined and comfortable as the established superbike players. And just to rub it in, the base-model BMW is actually a bit cheaper than some of its Japanese equivalents. Or jack the price up a few grand with the addition of Dynamic Traction Control, ABS and even an honest-to-goodness quick-shifter. As both an introductory effort and a portent of what it’s likely unleashed in the marketplace, this BMW’s the most beautiful thing to blow out of Bavaria since Beethoven. Cue superbike WWIII.
Ducati Multistrada 1200 Sport
Corner carving in many regions has degenerated into an endurance contest, wherein hardened enthusiasts suffer through hours of low bars, high pegs and thin seats in a quest for sportbikedom’s Holy Grail, the apex.
This is why the 2010 Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Sport is a revelation. With its broad, high-leverage handlebar and bolt-upright ergonomics, a punchy, superbike-sourced 135-horsepower liquid-cooled V-Twin and 17-inch wheels, the newest Multi is comfortable and fun and fast everywhere—a true horizon-expander.
Icing on the desmo, so to speak, is the Sport’s electronically adjustable Öhlins suspension, traction control and anti-lock brakes. Cool thing is, all those electronic add-ons actually work to your advantage on or off the beaten path. For big-bore, go-anywhere, do-anything versatility, nothing beats the Multistrada 1200 S Sport.
Kawasaki ZX-6R
It's as though time has stood still in what's historically been the most hotly contested street category of all. The fact remains there has never been a more performance-capable selection of middleweight offerings as witnessed the past two model years, and the ZX-6R remains the cream of the crop, winning for the second year running.
Track-day patron? Backroad warrior? Mild-mannered motorcyclist with sporting aspiration? There’s no better way to ride out the current pause of perpetual performance gains and innovation that keep an enthusiast’s wheels turning. The Kawasaki ZX-6R is not merely a sportbike, it’s a well-balanced machine that ranks among the very best mid-displacement streetbikes ever conceived.
Ten BEST BIKES 2010
IS GOOD THE NEW BAD? SURE SEEMS LIKE IT. EVEN AS THE WORLD appears to be turning upside down, we have once again been treated to an amazing selection of motorcycles in 2010. There is a bike for every purpose and for every enthusiast.
There may be, as many like to say, “no bad bikes” these days, but that just means we get to raise our standards!
Because as good as things are, excellence still has a lot going for it. So while it may be true that good is the new bad, there still are machines that set themselves apart for delivering just the right combination of performance, quality and style to suit the times and be better than the competition. Well, not just better, but the Ten Best Bikes of 2010.
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KTM 450 XC-W Six Days
Last year, Husaberg’s FE450e literally turned the enduro class upside-down, with innovative engine packaging aimed at better handling. We praised the small manufacturer for taking it to the big boys and coming out on top. But this year, we have to give a nod to KTM’s 450 XC-W Six Days, which comes with a long list of standard items normally reserved for purchase from an accessory catalog. A headlight, taillight, quick-release skidplate, Stealth rear sprocket, handguards and more mean you won’t have to dump more money into your bike post-purchase.
More importantly, the XC-W’s chassis excels in its intended environment: cross-country racing. Factor in a powerful and proven engine, and the Six Days rises to the top of the enduro category.
Yamaha YZ450F
Eight was great, but Honda’s near-decade-long run at the top with the CRF450R has finally come to an end. Creative thinking resulted in the “backward”-top-end Yamaha YZ450F, the machine that toppled the Red Regime. But it wasn’t just the mass-centralizing engine architecture (with the intake at the front and exhaust at the rear) that helped improve handling. Excellent KYB suspension glides over braking bumps and eats sharp impacts, while the YZ’s fuel-injected engine—regardless of its layout—provides excellent low-end to midrange output, resulting in more usable power for a wider variety of riders. Add it all up and you get an incredible bike that gives us a fresh face at the top of the MX podium. □
Honda GL1800 Go1d Wing
Forgive us if you think we're repeating ourselves, but we can't help it: The 1800 Gold Wing has won the Best Touring award five years in a row and eight times in the bike’s 10-year existence. Not only that, in the 34-year history of Ten Best, Gold Wings of all sizes have topped this category 20 times. Yes, these bikes are that good. The 1800's ethereally smooth flat-Six delivers a bottomless well of stump-pulling torque that would do a Peterbilt proud, and the chassis offers a ride as plush as that provided by some cars. Toss in a great sound system, cruise control, heated grips and seat, adjustable windscreen, cockpit-adjustable headlights and rear-suspension preload—plus more than 75 accessories that include a navigation system, anti-lock brakes and even an airbag—and you get an over-the-road experience that nothing else on two wheels can match.
KTM 990 Adventure R
Something is going on here. For the third year in a row, our choice for Best Dual-Sport offers greater displacement than the bike that preceded it. In 2007, it was KTM’s 525 EXC, then the 690 Enduro in 2008. In 2009, it was BMW’s F800GS, and now we have KTM’s 990 Adventure R taking the prize. What makes the R such a worthy recipient is how much it feels like a “real” enduro, despite its 490-pound dry weight. Key is the suspension—which offers 10.5 inches of travel at both ends—and a chassis that somehow allows this machine to turn and handle like a real dirtbike should. But it’s equally adept on the road, with its controllable 96.2-hp V-Twin ripping up the asphalt as well as it does a rocky trail.
Triumph Thunderbired 1600
For Triumph, building a great parallel-Twin was no big deal, even though this counterbalanced 1596cc unit is the biggest one it’s ever built. The T-Bird’s pair of 4-inch pistons make more torque at 2630 rpm—95.1 ft.-lb.—than most cruiser motors make all day. But this bike’s more than a pair of big jugs. It rumbles along smoothly, soulfully, while providing comfortably kicked-back ergonomics and suspension that actually suspends. Triumph being Triumph, it couldn’t even keep from building a big cruiser that handles okay, too, and then wrapped it up in crisp styling, with a shapely no-seams gas tank, maximum chrome and minimal plastic. The result is a repeat winner as CW's Best Cruiser.
