Expert guide to the best motorbikes in Australia in 2025
Our car editor’s expert guide to the bike for all seasons, destinations and forks in the road.
Riding a motorcycle is wonderfully economical and, arguably, ecologically beneficial (they use less fuel). They’re also far quicker through traffic than cars and much easier to park, plus you can justify wearing all kinds of sexy leather gear if you happen to own one.
These are not the main reasons people buy a motorbike, of course. For the genuine enthusiast, a motorcycle delivers the kind of visceral thrills that no other machine can. Carving your way through a corner with your knee on the ground and the wind rushing at you – there’s simply nothing else like it.
Here, then, are our tips for the five best bikes you can buy, depending on what kind of motorcycling you’re after.
1. The Goldilocks option
So, perhaps you are sensible enough to know that a raging superbike is too much for you – indeed they are probably too sharp and too rapid for most humans – but you’d still like to engage with the excitement of motorcycling, without being gripped by sheer terror.
Let me introduce you to the sweet spot of bike world, the 600cc mid-ground between learner bikes (250cc-400cc) and properly enthusiast machines. And the best of the breed right now is the Honda CBR600RR, a bike that has been legendary for almost as long as I’ve been licensed to ride.
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There’s a just-rightness, a Goldilocks quality, about a 600cc bike like this because it’s not too heavy (just 193kg), so it’s easy to throw into corners, but it’s by no means underpowered, either, with the Honda making 89kW at 14,250rpm and 63Nm at 11,500rpm (indeed, even this machine now has Wheelie Control). The Japanese really know how to make high-revving, highly strung machines like this a joy to ride, and Honda is truly one of the best brands at doing so.
I must admit I was surprised, and a little disappointed, to discover that today’s Honda CBR600RR will set you back $27,599, but I promise you it would be money well spent, and is engineered to last.
2. Pure, thrilling speed
Sure, the BMW M1000RR looks almost aggressively weird, with what appear to be tusks sticking out of its nose, but its aero-focused design is all about one thing – speed.
Its front fairing, screen and new carbon-fibre M Winglets give it more aerodynamic downforce load at 300km/h – a whole 30kg of it. And in a bike so powerful (160kW at a soaring 14,500rpm and 113Nm at 11,000rpm) that it comes with a Wheelie Control function, being able to keep the front wheel on the ground is vital.
I rode an older, less-weird looking version of this bike a few years ago, and I still turn white with fear when I think about it. I also enjoyed it immensely, however, because it is just so, so good at what it does – tearing up racetracks, and rule books. Incredibly you can have one for just $28,680.
Go on, I dare you.
3. A thing of beauty
The wonderful thing about the motorcycle world is that you can dream of owning a Ferrari one day and then discover that it’s not financially implausible. That’s because bikes are so much cheaper, and even the Ferrari of motorcycles, Ducati, won’t entirely break the bank, but it will deliver a thing of absolute mechanical marvellousness into your life.
Honestly, I have long promised to buy myself a Ducati 916 – the most beautiful motorcycle ever built – and park it in my loungeroom, just so I can stare at it. Sadly I am married, so this will not happen, but it’s exciting to know that I could get one for as little as $25k.
The modern version of the 916 is the stunning, and spectacularly fast, Ducati Panigale V4 S; a 159kW race bike for the road. It has a 1103cc Desmosedici Stradale V4 engine, which is just fun to say, can hit 100km/h in 3.1 seconds, and has all kinds of algorithmic traction-control systems.
More importantly for an Italian super machine, it looks simply glorious. Truly, this is a two-wheeled Ferrari, which makes it a bargain at $38,800.
4. Mid-life crisis cruiser purchase
People often wonder why so many men buy Harley-Davidsons, often accompanied by the philosophical question, “If you want to ride a couch, why don’t you just stay at home?”.
Yes, the modern ones are big, soft and comfortable to ride, but what appeals to so many people is that aura of the past, the rebellious, raucous and frankly rancid bikie image that Harley represents.
You can still see it in the bikes’ design, particularly the low-slung lines of the Harley-Davidson Sport Glide, and that’s because precious little has changed for decades about the way these machines look. You could say that makes them classics, even when they’re new. And all the chrome and shiny bits surely are lovely.
But there’s also no denying you can still hear the rebel within when you start one up and give it a rev. There’s a unique, guttural quality to a Harley exhaust, the sound of which is sometimes described as an angry man muttering “potato, potato, potato” over and over.
I must admit, I loved the laid-back feel of riding the Sport Glide, and that its 61kW and 139Nm never felt intimidating, but I still can’t personally imagine spending $32,495 to own one.
5. For something totally different
Want to dip a toe into the world of motorcycling and zip through traffic while saving the planet? Behold the very small but very retro-cool-looking Streetdog electric motorcycle, built by FTN Motion in New Zealand.
This clever machine comes with a removable battery that you can take inside and charge up at any wall socket, and you’ll get up to 100km of range (which could all be free, if you’ve got solar panels). You can choose a Streetdog50 for $11,260, with a maximum speed of 50km/h, if you’re quite brave, and in some states (Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory) you don’t even need a bike licence to ride one.
I’d suggest the Streetdog80, which can at least do 80km/h, is the better option as a city commuter. It’s incredibly light and simple to ride, with no clutch or gears to worry about and delivers “an exhilarating and uncomplicated riding experience”, according to the manufacturer. It certainly made me feel like I was alive, and at $12,950 it’s a very, very affordable way of hitting the road on two wheels.
This story is from the June issue of WISH.
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