BMW Motorrad management celebrate a successful evening, having won all the major honours at the Motorrad magazine awards ceremony in Dortmund.

BMW Motorrad boss Hendrik von Kuenheim had a very busy night at March's Motorräder Dortmund expo. It is the first big motorcycle expo of the year in Germany and forms part of the traditional start to the new European riding season, although this year the snow was still thick on the ground...

As part of the festivities, Germany's 'Motorrad' magazine put some sparkle into the event with a lavish awards ceremony held in Dortmund on the evening of March 4, to celebrate the best bikes of 2010. The prestigious awards in various classes and categories are all voted on by readers of Europe's most popular motorcycling magazine. The readers take these awards very seriously and thousands cast their vote for what they think is the 'best of the best' from every manufacturer.

For the first time ever BMW Motorrad swept the board, taking all five motorcycle awards. The newly launched S 1000 RR won the hotly-contested Sports category in its first year; the K 1300 GT won the Best Touring Bike category, with the R 1200 RT in third place; and the R 1200 GS / Adventure were class leaders in the Enduro /Supermotard segment - surely the first of many accolades in the 30th anniversary year of the iconic GS.

The powerful and versatile K 1300 S won the Best All-Rounder category, with the R 1200 R scooping the top award for the Best Naked Bike. True, most of the voters would have been German but national pride only goes so far - the bikes have to perform in the real world too.

This is the best result ever achieved by a manufacturer in the history of the vote, much to the delight of Hendrik von Kuenheim, who was excited by the results and was not at all troubled by having to walk up to the podium on so many occasions. In fact he had a sixth award to receive as BMW Motorrad also won the Brand of the Year, which takes into account not only motorcycles but also clothing and accessories, dealership service and how the brand is perceived by the general public.

"I am very glad to hear of the outstanding success of our motorcycles and would like to thank the readers of Motorrad magazine most sincerely for their votes," said the Head of BMW Motorrad, commenting on the result of the vote. "As I see it, this is a great sign of confidence and reflects the enormous enthusiasm for our products. I am particularly pleased that BMW Motorrad was able to achieve a top ranking in reader popularity so quickly with the S 1000 RR - after all, we have entered new territory with this model."

The industry faces many challenges in the years ahead but for BMW Motorrad it was a good way to kick-start the New Season in the important home market and also the rest of Europe.