ROUNDING OFF
As with any visit to a racetrack, there has to be a result. After all it’s why the racetrack was invented – to establish a pecking order. By using the same rider and same tyres on each bike, the result is all down to how well each machine performed on track. It really shouldn’t come as a surprise that the fastest three bikes are the three based on accomplished sportsbikes, while the bottom half of the results table is occupied by the bespoke naked bikes with zero sportsbike DNA.
Given that last month we broke down and rated each bike’s elements in the context of the road, their natural habitat, we’ve made the scoring very simple for the track part of this test and awarded bonus points to each bike depending on what position it finished. Seven points (because there are seven bikes) for the fastest and one point for the slowest, added to their total from the road part of the test to give an overall combined winner. The data around stopping distances and 0-60mph times is really there for a bit of ‘pub ammo’ rather than something that can be rated and scored. There are just too many variables given the one-time-only nature of each attempt for the result to be absolute. I’d need to have a few goes on each bike to be certain I had reached its limit.
Despite being fourth fastest on track, the KTM had enough of a cushion from its scores gained on the road to comfortably hang on to the top spot and claim the title of our best naked bike of the year. It is the fastest of the bespoke naked bikes on track by being easily the most powerful, best equipped, and – electronically, at least – as sophisticated as the sportsbike based naked bikes. So overall, that’s the bike that’s earned our NSBOTY 2022 crown, and in a convincing and fun fashion. If you’ve ridden one, you might not be surprised at our findings, and if you haven’t tried one out for size yet, we’d suggest you give one a go – sharpish. Actually, we’d suggest you give all seven a go because they’re all pretty special. It’s just that some are more special than others…