When Credit is Due.

Motorcyclist Magazine's September issue is the long awaited "best of 2006" edition. Every year, the two-wheeled editors and staff at the mag (one of my favourite mags - I might add) pick out the year's 10 best bikes, then they pick one as Motorcycle Of The Year (or MOTY as it has become known). Last year's choice, the BMW K1200R, surprised a many readers and the ensuing letters to the editor were ripe with either applauds or pans. This year, they've gone with what Cycle Canada categorized as an "Odd Duck" just last month: the Triumph Daytona 675.

At first glance and from afar, the 675 looks like your typical sportsbike. Its only when you get closer that you notice that it ain't all that. In lieu of the typical inline-4 is a triple. Yup, a triple! Also, just by looking at it you can tell that the ergos are a little more forgiving than on your run-of-the-mill Japanese sportbike. You see, Triumph learned the hard way that you can't compete on the track with the Big-4; so they set out to build an "Urban Sport" bike, i.e. a bike for the street, not the track. Kudos to them! Let's face it, 98% of the sportbikes sold will never see the likes of a racetrack, yet their riders are still required to bend in positions that would make a Cirque-du-Soleil performer blush. Somehow, I still think that the Daytona will wiggle it's way onto a track sooner or later.

I was also very pleased to see that the Mag has named Harry Hurt as their Motorcyclists Of The Year. The now infamous Hurt Report has been quoted more times than Brad and Angelina, and many of the stats and issues it raised over 25 years ago still hold true. It's been a long time coming for Dr. Hurt, and it is well deserved indeed.

"Adversity is the first path to truth." - George Gordon Byron