Yes, but I can't be arsed typing it out. It just seems to be a random list of bikes with BMW at the top. I stopped buying this shite a few years ago, but with daytime temperatures still in the mid-40's, it's too fookin' hot to ride so I needed a two wheeled fix somewhere and tried to find it in Bike Magazine. I'd have been better off with MCN.
It's not about what won, that doesn't make sense either. I had an RSV4 that was much better to ride, in a technical sense, than any Ducati I've ever owned. However, It didn't make me "feel" the same way a Ducati did so I sold it. That is a subjective feeling that is difficult be test or quantify. But a random list, whichever bike comes top (it's gonna be a Beemer with Bike Magazine) is also nonsense.
"Get your blinkers off chaps, there are lots of really great bikes out there. And not all of them are red." totally agree. My Multistrada is black!!!
Did one of them not win or come close to winning in 2012 in Bike? I really could not be bothered less what the magazines think, as long as the bike makes me smile that is all that matters. I bought it because I loved the looks and it was a great test ride.
If you do track days you probably are racing in a sense. Come on, admit it - you want to be as fast as you can and faster than other people. So having the best, fastest, most efficient bike makes sense. On the road it really doesn't make any real difference. By the time you've factored in traffic lights, congestion, other traffic, speed limits, fuel stops etc any bike (any largish bike at least) is going to be pretty much as fast as another. Indeed, you'd argue that something like a thirsty D16 with a small tank is going to be a lot slower than a GS BMW. So all bike choice comes down to is fun. It's the way it gets you to where you want to be. Different bikes deliver their fun in different ways and some of that fun is simply owning a beautiful thing. It's all completely personal. Having said that, some bikes deliver more fun to a greater number of people than others. Though you do also perhaps (that's perhaps) take into account the cost per fun. Bikes and cars with cheaper cost per fun often win polls.
Yeah, to a point. I do track days, usually four or five a year and I could certainly lap quicker on an RSV4 than I could on my 1198S or Panigale. Depending on the track and how I was riding (usually like a twat) my 1098R would stomp the RSV4. However, it is more than lap times, biking is about how it makes you feel and nothing gives me a better biking sensation than a Ducati. They feel totally different, they are certainly hard work (not so much the Pani) but more rewarding and involving because of it. On a long trip my VFR, Tiger riding friends will probably get there before me because of less fuel stops and a less fatiguing ride (they probably ride better then me as well) but when we arrive at our destination guess who'll have a bad back but the biggest smile ! "Bikes and cars with cheaper cost per fun often win polls" To a point, I agree. I have a Honda PCX scooter, you wouldn't believe how much fun that is but it could never be my only bike, nor could a Beemer or Trumpet. We're all on this forum for a reason that, in motorcycling terms, unites us.
ive said this before and i'll say it again, "The sole purpose of magazines is to sow the seeds of discontent"..it is a means by which companies can promote their products. the extreme being of course, fashion magazines..hundreds and hundreds of pages of nothing but adverts and advertorials..even a pic of a sleb has arrows pointing to every item on that person..even down to their watch with prices and web addresses in little circles.. Dont waste your money or poison yourself with this shit. it will only make you unhappy.
I couldn't get by without a healthy dose of motorcycling twaddle to read. How on earth would I cope sitting on the loo with nowt to read?
I'm a Ducati owner and ride other bikes when I can. It helps to get a balanced view of the merits of other bikes. OK the BIKE list is wierd BUT for me they're spot on with the 2013 air/water cooled BMW GS as the winner, I couldn't imagine what could have beaten it. The Panigale shouldn't have even made the list! I used the latest GS this year in Europe for around 5000+ miles and it was an absolutely brilliant piece of kit as long as you ride the one with all the electronic semi active suspension etc etc etc. I hooned it through loads of passes at speeds which I had no right to expect and it likely saved my neck numerous times since at times I was confidently riding beyond my previous experiences. There was not a hint of the so called tank slapper at any time even on rough roads or when riding hands off the bars on cruise control. It used no engine oil and I didn't have to mess about with oiling a chain. Range varied from 210 to 276 miles depending on how I rode it. It was most unlike the previous incarnations of GS in terms of both the engine characteristics i.e. loads of accessible torque without having to explore the top end of the rev range to find it and, believe it or not, the steering/handling/suspension. Yes, the steering was excellent and the handling with the semi active suspension was so good it didn't seem to matter what the road surface condition was like. Bike magazine? Sometimes boring sometimes not depending on content. I buy it anyway.
'BiKE magazine' is an anagram of 'completely wank bike mag' Probably.... And are those the fat beardy twats that keep pushing this 'Reclaim our Tracks' shite??? Fuckers, the lot of em....
