#Awards

Motorcycle.com’s Best Of (MOBO) award season has finally rolled around again! While we typically roll out each year’s MOBOs before EICMA, this year we were so busy with the Heavyweight Naked Shootout that we decided to delay the MOBOs. Although the bulk of the 2022 motorcycle models have been announced, the 2021 model year isn’t officially over until all the accolades have been handed out. So, let’s get started!

If there’s one thing that motorcyclists look forward to almost as much as the beginning of riding season, it has to be new model season – when all of next year’s updates are announced. It’s a bench-racer’s heaven. However, in a longstanding MO tradition, we like to pause before the rush of the new to look back at what the previous year offered the world of motorcycling.

Well, it’s that time, again. As the motorcycle industry heads with its collective throttle pinned into the 2019 model year, we here at Motorcycle.com have taken a moment to look back at the previous year. What a year it has been! In case you don’t remember, it began with an amazing 38 bikes announced during EICMA 2017. Since it is our goal to review each and every motorcycle we can throw our legs over, our butt dynos are well calibrated and our typing fingers limber from all the bike tests and shootouts we cranked out for the 2018 model year.

Have you ever had something unexpected happen in front of you while you glanced down at your speedometer or GPS? If you have, you understand that the fraction of a second you look away from the road can have dramatic negative consequences, and as a direct result, you also understand that shortening the time away from looking ahead at the road would be a good thing. This is the beauty of head-up displays (HUD) which are, in their most basic sense, a translucent display which allows the rider to view information without needing to look away from the road. The NUVIZ head-up display (HUD), the first HUD built specifically for motorcycling and is our choice for Best Motorcycle Product of 2017.

Historically, our choice of Best Product is a consumer-based item such as 2015’s Winner: Sena 10C camera, and Honorable Mention: Healtech Quick Shifter. For 2016 we’ve chosen a commercial product that has remarkable potential for expanding the reach of motorcycling. Based on Cedergrens’ Skidcar concept, Skidbike removes the trepidation during the initial stage of a new rider learning to balance a motorcycle while concurrently coordinating controls by eliminating the chance of crashing. The device also allows experienced riders to venture beyond their normal comfort levels to better understand the functionality of modern electronics, or explore the amount of brake pressure that can be applied before the front tire washes out (which is much more than you think).

The staff here at MO has much in common with you. As motorcycle enthusiasts of the first order, we’re endlessly intrigued by all the new developments in the two-wheeled world. And now it’s time again for our annual rollout of what we believe is the best in motorcycling.

What’s that they say about great minds? Well, it’s certainly true of both the staff and the readers when it comes to the Best Cruiser. For the 2015 Reader’s Choice Awards, our readers and staff were in complete agreement as to which 2014 model year cruiser deserved the honors: the Indian Chief. For rescuing the fabled Indian marque out of the quagmire of litigation and poorly implemented attempts at cashing in on the Indian name, Polaris deserves the thanks of all motorcycle enthusiasts. For compounding that success by launching such a well-conceived reintroduction of the Indian Chief, Indian Motorcycles deserves both the MO staff and MO readers’ Best Cruiser awards.

Which new motorcycle deserves to be called Motorcycle of the Year? The decision is up to you!

The evolution of motorcycles continues its relentless pace in 2014, with new offerings in every segment that advance the state of the art. The list of nominations for our prestigious Motorcycle of the Year award stretched across many categories and a diverse range of prices. After much debate among our editors, we’ve whittled down the best of the best to determine which two motorcycles are most deserving of our honors. And the winners are…

by Tom Roderick

There’s only one reigning Miss Universe. She’s a beauty, but make no mistake, during the competition any woman on that stage will get a man’s mojo working. And so it is with our annual selection of Motorcycle.com’s Best Of 2014 awards (MOBOs). A winner and honorable mention in 12 categories leaves only 24 spots to fill. Occasionally, a particular motorcycle is so good it might win or be honorably mentioned more than once, leaving even fewer spots available.

By Evans Brasfield

By Troy Siahaan

Introduced on the new 2014 R1200RT and K1600GTL Exclusive is BMW’s latest electronic rider aid, Hill Start Control. HSC is a technology any touring rider who’s struggled with a weighted motorcycle at a graded stop will immediately recognize as beneficial.

By John Burns