Motorcycle.com Best Of 2020
2020 was a year to remember
Motorcycle.com’s Best Of (MOBO) award season is finally here! In a typical year, this would have happened a while ago, just before the motorcycle show season began, and now, we’d be in the thick of the new model introduction season, delivering you our first impressions of the new motorcycles scheduled for release in 2021. However, we don’t have to tell you that 2020 is an unusual year. In response to the unique nature of this model year, we decided to push back our MOBO celebration to fill part of the gap left by the lack of new model introductions. Now, just in time for the end of the calendar year, we’re going to wrap up the 2020 riding season in the best way possible – before diving headlong into the 2021 season.
So, while the 2021 season is just a twinkle in a rider’s eye, we will pause to reflect on what has occurred in the motorcycling world in 2020. As is tradition, we gathered the MO staff – this year in a socially-distanced video conference (oh wait, we do that every year!) – to hash out what our choices were for ten categories of motorcycles. You may notice a couple of categories are missing this year, cutting the festivities down to an even 10 days. This is because, in classes like Best Touring Motorcycle, there were essentially no changes. However, we will bring them back when something changes. What you can expect over those days is that we’ll reveal our MOBOs and the runner-ups, culminating with the Motorcycle.com Motorcycle of the Year. Some of these choices you are sure to love and agree with. Others, not so much. That’s the way of award selections.
This year we had big fun on both large- and small-displacement motorcycles, and you’ll see them well represented here. Adventure touring is still going strong, particularly in the middleweight segment, but the lightweight segment also received some love. Big dollar bikes and penny pinchers were considered. Our requirements for eligibility are pretty straightforward: MO must have tested the bike during the model year, and the bike must be available to the public at the time of publication.
We’ll begin Monday with the MOBO for Best Technology and follow on Tuesday with the Best Lightweight. Every weekday thereafter, we’ll unveil a new winner plus the runner-up. The celebration will come to a conclusion on December 18th with the announcement of the 2020 Motorcycle of the Year. Just in time for the Holidays!
Grab your riding gear. Let the festivities begin.
Motorcycle.com Best of 2020 Categories
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Like most of the best happenings in his life, Evans stumbled into his motojournalism career. While on his way to a planned life in academia, he applied for a job at a motorcycle magazine, thinking he’d get the opportunity to write some freelance articles. Instead, he was offered a full-time job in which he discovered he could actually get paid to ride other people’s motorcycles – and he’s never looked back. Over the 25 years he’s been in the motorcycle industry, Evans has written two books, 101 Sportbike Performance Projects and How to Modify Your Metric Cruiser, and has ridden just about every production motorcycle manufactured. Evans has a deep love of motorcycles and believes they are a force for good in the world.
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How about the Zero SR/S with the 12kWh charging option? That would shock some people!
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