Best Sport-Tourer: Kawasaki Concours 14

No type of motorcycling demands a greater range of on-the-road versatility than sport-touring, and no sport-touring motorcycle fills that need better than the do-it-all, do-it-wonderfully Concours 14. With a monocoque chassis built around a tuned-for-torque version of the engine borrowed from Kawasaki’s ZX-14 rocketship, the Concours combines smooth, effortless, wickedly fast acceleration with backroad handling that could shock a lot of pure-sport motorcycles yet offers long-range comfort almost as pleasurable as that provided by some specialized luxury-touring bikes. As a bonus, the Concours does all of that for just $13,499 (add $800 for the ABS version). With so much performance at so little a price, the Concours 14 is practically a steal.