Jamie,
I don't have any favorites either way, it was just a question about whether or not the criteria's and test parameters for the awards are the same across the board. Most likely not. It strikes me at times to be similar to movie critics: The movie that is the most avante garde, usually foriegn, with a wierd inconcievable plot wins, more often to illustrate the cleverness and/or worldliness of the critic as opposed to providing a practical service to the movie-goer.
I would guess as well that the selection depends in part on the overall theme of the magazine. "Nazi Biker Digest" magazine might be slightly biased towards a Harley Davidson, while "Uppercrust Motorcycle Monthly" may have a tendency to select the winners based on the most outrageous and decadent MSRP.
It would also be interesting to conduct a "post-mortem" on these winners, say two years later, so see if the 'on-the-street' results matched the predictions, technical savvy and conclusions of the award selection committee.
Here's a bunch more BOTY awards, and what seems like a consensus/compilation.
Cycle World - 2008-2009 IBOTY Final Results
Interesting.
Obviously in the end, the BOTY is the one each of us chooses individually for ownership, based on our own highly selective, and individual criteria.
Another question or thread might be: How much weight do you place on these various periodical BOTY Awards? Do they influence your purchase 100%, 75%? 10%, other? The results may (or may not) be interesting.
Ride Safe!
Bob
