Bike of 2015

South Africa's 2015 BOTY -- the H2, and an awesome bike by all accounts.

JUDGES in the third annual Pirelli SA Bike of the Year (Boty) have voted the Kawasaki Ninja H2 as South Africa’s top bike.

This year’s winner was announced last night at Red Star Raceway in Mpumalanga.

Co-organiser of the event, Harry Fisher, told Wheels the young Boty has gained official recognition as well as the respect of the motorcycling public.

As with previous events, the judges were all riding scribes, selected on the strength of their
experience not only as journalists but also as motorcyclists.

Their mandate was to rate each bike in each of the categories on its own merits and vote for the bike that showed the greatest advantage/improvement against its direct rivals. The 16 finalist motorcycles broadly fell in four categories: naked, sport, long haul cruiser and full electric.

The bikes were ridden to and rated over the Long Tom Pass in Mpumalanga.

South Africa Boty judges on the Long Tom Pass.

Fisher stressed that the 16 finalist bikes were not judged against each other.

“It would be impossible to compare a superbike with a cruiser, for example,” he said.

Instead, the judges considered areas such as aesthetics, innovation/technology, value for money, build quality, rideability, handling/performance and suitability for intended use.

“However, emotion cannot be taken completely out of the equation and a percentage of the vote will be ‘would I actually spend my own money on this bike?’” said Fisher.

Pirelli is the title sponsor of the Bike of the Year, with TomTom and Total SA as associate sponsors. The latest sponsors to have joined Boty, Liqui Moly look forward to many more Botys.

“We are very much involved in the Motorcycle industry in South Africa and internationally with our massive range of two-wheel products,” said Melicia Labuschagne, director Liqui Moly SA.

“So we are delighted to be on-board as a co-sponsor for this great event and we look forward to the successful association going forward,” Labuschagne said.

Votes for each finalist

76 — Kawasaki Ninja H2

66 — Triumph Tiger 800 XCX

54 — Yamaha R1

42 — Aprilia RSV 4RR

26 — KTM 1290 Super Adventure

20 — Yamaha Tracer MT-09

13 — Ducati Scrambler/Ducati 1299 Pannigale S

10 — BMW S1000RR

08 — Indian Scout

05 — Ducati Multistrada 1200

02 — Aprilia Caponord 1200 Rally/ BMW RnineT

01 — Zero S

00 — Suzuki GSX-S1000/
Harley-Davidson 750