RiDE readers give their verdicts on the best new bikes of 2023
Some outstanding motorcycles have been launched in 2023, brimming with great tech, mouth ‐watering showroom appeal and superb running gear. After a decade of the Japanese manufacturers being usurped by the Europeans, this year saw Honda and Suzuki hit back with new middleweight engine concepts, and Yamaha launch perhaps the most techno ‐packed bike of all time.
But the Euro marques are still coming up with the goods. Moto Guzzi reinvented itself, KTM refined its leadership of the middleweight adventure bike class and Triumph brought out what may be one of the all-time best-value naked bikes.
The march of technology and the refinement of traditional engineering has combined to make the machines of 2023 the best we’ve ever ridden. But which is the best? To find out, we selected six RiDE readers to help us choose a winner. While other bike of the year awards are chosen by industry types or by the whims of individual journos, our winner is chosen by the bike-buying public. As ever, we tell it like it is.
How we did it
Our six favourite bikes were picked as they impressed us in some way - be that by introducing new technology, offering tremendous value for money, looking to the future or being brilliant to ride. We then selected six readers who represent a cross-section of the motorcycling community to assess them.
Each bike was ridden a predetermined route that included a selection of A and B ‐roads and dual carriageway with both tight and twisty and fast and flowing corners, bumps, smooth sections and more. Our testers then rated the bikes out of 10 on engine, handling, ergonomics, gadgets and value for money before giving them an overall score. The scores were added up and the bike with the highest average declared the winner.
What is RiDE’s People’s Bike of the Year? Read on.
MEET YOUR TESTERS
1 KTM 890 Adventure
» £11,999 » 103bhp » 220kg Updated this year with new WP suspension, revised bodywork and enhanced tech, the more road ‐focused version of KTM’s parallel-twin middleweight adventure range
