(Nominations) Greatest Motorcycle Ever Contest

  • Thread starter C-ZETA
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C-ZETA

C-ZETA

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England
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V16T91
E0nLeader
All,

I inspired myself to do this, a tournament to decide the best/favorite/most popular motorcycle because I thought it would be a fun idea.

First, 64 of the greatest bikes will be nominated.
Then the matchups will be voted on until we have a winner.

This is now the full list of nominees, nominations have been CLOSED.
I will release a set of matchups next, preferably by Feb 23.

NOMINATIONS

Aprilia RSV1000R

Ariel Square Four

Benelli Tornado

Bimota SB2

Bimota Tesi

BMW R90S

BMW K1200S

BMW R1200GS Adventure

Brough Superior

BSA Gold Star DBD34 Clubman

Buell Firebolt

Ducati Desmosedici RR

Ducati Hailwood Replica

Ducati 916

Ducati Monster S4Rs

Ducati 999R

Harley-Davidson Electra Glide

Harley-Davidson FL Touring '46

Harley-Davidson FLH '60

Harley-Davidson V-Rod

Honda CB750

Honda CBR600F

Honda CBR1100XX

Honda CBX1000

Honda CG125

Honda CT110

Honda Cub '63

Honda NC30 (VFR400)

Honda NR750

Honda RC30

Honda VFR750

Honda GL1800 Gold Wing

Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade

Indian Chief '45

Kawazaki Z1

Kawasaki ZX-7R

Kawasaki ZX-10R '06

Kawasaki ZZR1400

KTM 990 Adventure

Laverda Jota

Moto Guzzi Le Mans 850

MV Agusta 750 Sport

MV Agusta Brutale 910

MV Agusta F41000 Tamburini

Norton Commando

Royal Enfield Bullet 500

Suzuki GT750

Suzuki GS1000

Suzuki GSX-1100S Katana

Suzuki GSX-R750

Suzuki Hayabusa

Suzuki GSX-R1000

Suzuki T1000S

Triumph 675 Daytona

Triumph Bonneville

Triumph T595 Daytona

Triumph Speed Triple

Triumph Rocket III

Vincent Black Shadow

Vincent Rapide

Yamaha GTS1000

Yamaha V-Max

Yamaha YZF-R6

Yamaha YZF-R1 '09

P.P.S Could this be stickied by any chance?
 
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You need to specify which year ZX10R you've nominated - The 04 would be my choice !.

And I nominate the ZXR / ZX7R series.
 
Yamaha GTS and Bimota Tesi, for bringing hub-center steering front ends to mass market. (Well, the Yamaha was closer to mass, the Bimota is very limited in numbers. Nevertheless, available to anyone with the cash.) Others may point out the Vyrus bikes, but as I understand it, Vyrus is a group that split from Bimota during Tesi development, and the bikes are near enough the same to not be mentioned separately, IMHO.
 
Flerbizky
You need to specify which year ZX10R you've nominated - The 04 would be my choice !.

And I nominate the ZXR / ZX7R series.
Click to expand...

The model I've specified is the 06. And I've put the ZX7R in.

Yamaha GTS and Bimota Tesi have been added too.
 
C-ZETA
The model I've specified is the 06. And I've put the ZX7R in.

Yamaha GTS and Bimota Tesi have been added too.
Click to expand...

I'd take the 04 over the 06 8 days a week ;-)

The reason for me nominating the 7s (besides me riding 1) is that they're widely regarded for having the best front end in the business + they are, IMHO, the prettiest bike (series) ever made..

You should probably put the Vincent Black Shadow on the list as well.
 
Maybe the 09 R1 for being the first roadbike with a cross plane crank - Just a thought though...
 
The Indian Chief your refering to : which one ? standard , deluxe , roadmaster , vintage , or are you just doing a generalization of all Chiefs ?

Royal Enfields ?

Harley's ? - panheads , knuckleheads , shovelheads , the old 45 , new evo's ?

Is this for old bikes or just new gen. bikes ?
 
Nicksfix
The Indian Chief your refering to : which one ? standard , deluxe , roadmaster , vintage , or are you just doing a generalization of all Chiefs ?

Royal Enfields ?

Harley's ? - panheads , knuckleheads , shovelheads , the old 45 , new evo's ?

Is this for old bikes or just new gen. bikes ?
Click to expand...

The Indian Chief I'm referring to is the 1945 bike.

Which Royal Enfield do you want?

And this is for both old and new.
 
I will nominate:

Honda CBX1000

Just because it was one of the first motorcycle produced with a six cylinder engine, one revolution on the 70' and 80'.
 
I'd like to suggest the addition of:

Honda NR750 - the ultimate 'engineered beyond practicality' oval-pistoned beauty

Triumph 675 Daytona - the middleweight to beat all others

The original 1987 CBR 600F - the bike that made the sports bike a reality for normal road users

and finally

Honda VFR 750/800s - generally recognised as the ultimate allrounder
 
The Hondas up there are severely lacking some very important ones:

Honda Cub (Any engine size) - the most prolific motorised vehicle ever, with more than 60 million units sold, and still being produced today after more than 50 years. Probably in the running for greatest vehicle ever, never mind motorcycle.
c50zp.jpg


Honda CG125 - Been in continuous production since 1976 with very few changes. Why? Because it's almost the perfect small bike. Cheap to run, cheap to build, cheap to fix, reliable like virtually no other vehicle on the planet, and small enough that virtually anybody can ride it. Capable of well over 100mpg in careful riding. Fantastic riding school bike.
22_DCP00518.jpg


Honda NC30 (VFR400) - One of the best "beginner sports bikes" ever. Glorious V4 engine, cheaper to run than a 600, beautiful handling, fantastic looks, single-sided swing arm which as far as I'm aware was one of the reasons Tamburini wanted one on the Ducati 916, and ridden to perfection in this video by Carl Fogarty in 1991.
vfr400.jpg
 
All recent bikes nominated have been added.

Nominations left: 6

And now there are more Honda's nominated by you than I originally nominated :embarrassed:
 
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Nice one 👍 You don't necessarily have to include the "CA100 SuperCub '63" bit in the nomination - apart from anything, that wasn't the very first Honda Cub model - it was just the first decent picture that came up on google images!
 
homeforsummer
Nice one 👍 You don't necessarily have to include the "CA100 SuperCub '63" bit in the nomination - apart from anything, that wasn't the very first Honda Cub model - it was just the first decent picture that came up on google images!
Click to expand...

Fine, I will edit that out, I thought the model you had specified on the picture was the one you had nominated.

Nominations left: 6
 
Homeforsummer has nominated my bike! Awesome. Although I have to contest the 'beginnner's sports bike' description.

It might be what beginners first get on because of a lack of top end, but in terms of performance, it's simply incredible. I've left brand new litre bikes in my wake on a fair number of occasions. OK, it needs good twisty roads rather than 'A' roads or motorways to really shine, but given a nice tight track or a wiggly 'B' road and the corner speed you can maintain on them is breathtaking.

I've had mine a number of years now, and unless someone puts a gun to my head I'm not likely to ever get rid of it. I enthusiastically second that nomination 👍 :sly:
 
The "beginners sports bike" tag was more appropriate when the model was first launched, when 600s were all heavy floaty things and the NC30 was flyweight and revvy. It's unfortunate there's no 400 class now. Apart from anything, it's a concern that many people seem to hop from a four-stroke 125 with less than 15bhp right up to some of the modern 600cc inline fours which make over 100bhp. It's the equivalent of someone spending two years driving a 1.0 Mini Mayfair and then hopping straight into a Radical SR8...

Having some good "stepping stone" 250s and 400s would probably be safer, cheaper and develop better riders who learn to find the limits of smaller bikes before they explore the limits of large ones.
 
In total agreement with you there - I've been riding the NC30 for a fair few years now and am still finding more. California SuperBike School FTW!

Anyway, topic diversion, sorry.

Love the Cub nomination, by the way. If the greatest bike is the one that's given freedom to the most people, then the Cub is undoubtedly the hands-down winner!
 
I've come in and out of this thread trying to come up with something but I just seem to have issues with nominating something that I've never ridden. How can I say its the greatest if I don't know. My R1 is the greatest bike that I've ever ridden but I doubt it's the best motorcycle ever.
 
homeforsummer
Honda CG125 - Been in continuous production since 1976 with very few changes. Why? Because it's almost the perfect small bike. Cheap to run, cheap to build, cheap to fix, reliable like virtually no other vehicle on the planet, and small enough that virtually anybody can ride it. Capable of well over 100mpg in careful riding. Fantastic riding school bike.
22_DCP00518.jpg
Click to expand...

Agree with this one, thats the bike I learnt on and it was really a nice bike, it's one of those bikes that is no thrills, simple, effective, old boot style of bike. It does what it it's supposed to do all day every day and although I wouldn't swap my current bike for one (because I'm more of a thrill seeker), I recognise what a great machine it is. I love my Yamaha DT125 SM much much more, but I wouldn't vote it as the greatest motorcycle ever, it's just my favourite and I was lucky enough to get hold of one.
 
Honda CBR1100XX has been added. (Sigh, haven't there been enough Honda's already?! :()

Nominations left: 5
 
Harley knucklehead - lets say a 1946 FL touring
Harley panhead - 1960 FLH
Royal Enfield - the new Bullet 500
 
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