Ten Best Bikes 2008

Wow, what a year it’s been, huh?! New repli-racers, new standards, new cruisers, new touring bikes, new middleweights, new sport-tourers, new musclebikes, new dirtbikes, new scooters. From expensive exotics to campground runabouts, we have been treated to an amazing array of machinery. And mark 2008 as the year electronics took a big step forward. We now have fuel-injected motocrossers, ride-by-wire throttles, variable-length intake tracts, multiple ignition maps, powerband-smoothing programs and outright traction control. Trust us, the Chip Revolution has only just begun. That’s in the near future but let’s get back to the here-and-now, the stars of this show, our Ten Best Bikes of 2008. Some are all-new, others are repeat winners and one has been collecting hardware from us for 30 years, plus we’ve included five honorable mentions that would be a welcome addition to anyone’s garage. Please, enjoy.