WE’VE seen more new or updated motorcycle models in 2017 than just about any other year we can remember.
From sports bikes to cruisers to retros, almost every category has been given a major shake-up by loads of new motorcycle launches, which has made picking the best in Visordown's annual awards tougher than ever.
As usual, we haven't made all the decisions ourselves, though. We've given readers a say too, and thousands of you have voted for your favourite motorcycles in 11 different categories.
In each category there is an overall winner, chosen by Visordown, and a 'Readers' Choice', determined by your votes. Do we agree on the best motorcycles of the year? Find out over the following 11 pages.
Visordown awards 2017: the winners - Best 125
WINNER: KTM 125 DUKE
The smallest member of the Duke family got comprehensively updated for 2017, adding touches like a colour dash and 1290 Super Duke R-inspired styling to an already class-leading package, with superb Bosch ABS. It’s our favourite – and yours too.
READERS' CHOICE: KTM 125 DUKE
Visordown awards 2017: the winners - Best A2 bike
WINNER: KAWASAKI VERSYS-X 300
This year saw a whole new class of A2 licence-friendly adventure bikes emerge and one stood out as a brilliant little all-rounder, fit for trails, touring, commuting and life in general. Kawasaki’s Versys-X 300 proves that a 296cc twin can be all the bike you ever need.
READERS' CHOICE: KTM 390 DUKE
Visordown awards 2017: the winners - Best adventure bike
WINNER: KTM 1290 SUPER ADVENTURE S/R
KTM’S biggest adventure bike is like a rolling showcase of what’s possible. Its predecessor, the 1190, was the first to bring us incredible cornering ABS, a rider aid that seems to defy physics. It’s still leading the way, with lean-angle-sensitive traction control, semi-active suspension and an up/down quick-shifter.
READERS' CHOICE: HONDA AFRICA TWIN
Visordown awards 2017: the winners - Best cruiser
WINNER: TRIUMPH BOBBER
With 77hp, Triumph’s Bobber doesn’t have anywhere near the outright power of your winner, the 156hp Ducati XDiavel. But what it has in abundance is character, with a deliciously torquey engine and handling that defies expectations of a cruiser.
READERS' CHOICE: DUCATI XDIAVEL
Visordown awards 2017: the winners - Best first big bike
WINNER: DUCATI MONSTER 797
Ducati returned to the stripped-back ethos of the original Monster 600 with the new 797, using the air-cooled V-twin from the Scrambler in a steel trellis frame to make a superbly accessible motorcycle. It’s unintimidating without compromising on fun, with high-spec components including an upside-down Kayaba fork and Brembo M3.32 brake calipers
READERS' CHOICE: YAMAHA MT-07
Visordown awards 2017: the winners - Best naked bike
WINNER: KAWASAKI Z900
It’s not by any means the most extreme machine in the naked bike category but Kawasaki’s Z900 stunned us with its level of all-round competence at a hard-to-beat price of £8,399. Where spending a bit less can so often mean compromising on components such as suspension, Kawasaki has managed to do everything right, at an affordable price.
READERS' CHOICE: TRIUMPH 765 STREET TRIPLE RS
Visordown awards 2017: the winners - Best retro bike
WINNER: TRIUMPH THRUXTON R
So good that it’s won for a second year in a row, fending off tough new competition from BMW’s new R nineT Racer.
It’s your winner too. It is the stunning Triumph Thruxton R.
READERS' CHOICE: TRIUMPH THRUXTON R
Visordown awards 2017: the winners - Best scooter
WINNER: YAMAHA TMAX
Honda should be commended for making something bold and new in the X-ADV adventure scooter thingy, which you chose as your winner.
In the end though, we decided the thoroughly revised new version of the original sporty maxi scooter was still the one to beat. The Yamaha TMAX offers a level of convenience and practicality the X-ADV can’t quite rival, with more luggage space and better weather protection.
READERS' CHOICE: HONDA X-ADV
Visordown awards 2017: the winners - Best sports bike
WINNER: SUZUKI GSX-R1000R
The litre sports bike class has been totally refreshed during the last couple of years, with the latest iterations of the Kawasaki ZX-10R, Yamaha YZF-R1 and BMW S1000RR finally followed by a new Honda Fireblade.
But it was none of the above which totally blew us away in a superbike group test this summer. Instead it was the new GSX-R1000R, proving beyond a shred of doubt that Suzuki’s still go it.
With masses of mid-range and sublime rider aids including an impossibly smooth up/down quick-shifter, it makes going fast easier than perhaps anything else we've ever ridden.
READERS' CHOICE: APRILIA RSV4 RF
Visordown awards 2017: the winners - Best sports-tourer
WINNER: KAWASAKI Z1000SX
Not for nothing was the Z1000SX the third best-selling bike over 125cc by June this year, beaten only by the unassailable BMW R1200GS and GS Adventure.
Updates for 2017, including a new inertial measurement unit, refined what was already a bike capable of carrying you to the south of France in comfort and delivering thrills on twisty roads when you get there.
READERS' CHOICE: KTM 1290 SUPER DUKE GT
Visordown awards 2017: the winners - Best tourer
WINNER: BMW K1600 B
The K1600 B effectively takes your winner – the brilliant six-cylinder K1600 GT – and makes it cooler, with bagger styling.
It’s still every bit the full-dress, full-on, continent-traversing luxury tourer, now given a massive injection of style.
READERS' CHOICE: BMW K1600 GT
