The biggest motorcycle show in the world is off and running again, and there is no reason to believe that they’ll get fewer than the half million visitors they had last year. Advance bookings from punters are actually up.
It’s not looking too shabby from the exhibitors’ side either. Despite the fact that Honda and Yamaha did a no-show this year, choosing to launch their new bikes more cheaply at the Tokyo (car) show, the halls are full and buzzing. Admittedly a lot of the buzz is in Mandarin – there are lots of Chinese stands, and one of the biggest pieces of news was that the Milan show people will help the Chinese to run a show in Canton next year.
Yes, we have an invitation – that should be interesting!
Of course the main news was bikes, bikes and more bikes. But what I didn’t expect, and nobody else did either, was that the biggest news would be from one of the smaller and definitely more troubled local manufacturers. Moto Guzzi outshone even BMW’s flash new six cylinder “sports tourer” with no less than three “studies” based on the V12 and designed by no less than Pierre Terblanche. The ex-Ducati star designer outdid himself with these minimalist machines. Mind you, he was a long way from certain that the bikes would see production.
“The ways of management are inexplicable…” he said when asked, echoing the feelings of many of us moto-scribblers.
There were also a couple of V7 specials on the stand which attracted almost as much attention. On the public days it was almost impossible to see anything on the stand, the crush of fascinated punters was so solid.
I don’t mean to take anything away from BMW’s latest design study. That across-the-frame six cylinder bullet with its sobering resemblance to Star Wars bounty hunter Boba Fett would be a very welcome addition to the range from the buyer’s point of view – even though it’s hard to work out if BMW really needs another sports tourer… Nothing more was ever seen of the prototype bike that stood in the same place last year, the Lo Rider, so we can but hope that the six will fare better.
Mind you, the bike looked a runner – and the investment in the engine would have to be recovered somehow! I think they’ll build this one.
The R1200GS got a general upgrade ready for the 30th birthday of the GS (or initially G/S) sticker.
Honda’s BMW competitor, the VFR1200F, didn’t make it to the show but the Japanese didn’t exactly set the word on fire this year anyway. The upgraded ZX-10R from Kawasaki, with 188 horses and 208kg wet was welcome, certainly, but not especially different from the bike it succeeds. Suzuki’s star of the show was the GSX 1250 FA, a sports tourer that will win a lot of friends but that isn’t actually terribly… new, you know. It was flanked by the M800 cruiser and the updated GSF 1200 Bandit.
Whew! I need some sleep. More from Milan and EICMA in a couple of days!
Peter “The Bear” Thoeming
More
Comments