Ten Best Bikes 2005

Things are getting tough. Confusing. But only in the most wonderful way. There were nearly 500 different motorcycles from the 36 manufacturers listed this year in the annual Cycle World Buyer’s Guide. And from this great wealth, this embarrassment of riches, we must choose but Ten as Best, the bikes that embody spirit, utility, enthusiasm and excellence in the form of two-wheeled transport. Rarely in the 30 years of Ten Best balloting has there been such manufacturer diversity in this elite list, as eight makers made the grade, from Japan, England, Italy, Germany and the good ol’ USA.

This shows first that manufacturers are trying harder than ever to build the perfect bike; and second that more and more people are out there buying and using their products, which rewards those building the right bikes and feeds the process ever onward.

Things in the motorcycle sport are so good these days that you’ll hear a lot of people say, “There are no bad bikes,” and to a certain degree this may be true. But this doesn’t mean that excellence is dead. In fact, excellence is more excellent than ever–just leaf through the following pages and you’ll find machines that have caused us to reevaluate the meaning of what is “good” and what can be defined as “best.”

That’s because excellence has a lot going for it. As a magazine, we’d like to challenge the manufacturers to make choosing the Ten Best Bikes even harder next year...