Stars of EICMA 2018

The EICMA motorcycle show is over for another year, and the 2018 instalment will be remembered for delivering a horsepower bonanza in the form of the Ducati Panigale V4 R and BMW S 1000 RR sportsbikes, as well as a less unlikely source – the MV Agusta Brutale 1000 Serie Oro naked.

Horsepower figures well above 200hp were expected from Ducati and BMW – how good is the 2019 world superbike title going to be with these two juggernauts entering the arena! – while MV Agusta wasn’t content to let its limited-edition gold series Brutale 1000 hit the market in a retuned, less fire-breathing state compared to the F4 donor.

The Brutale 1000, too, pumps out a claimed power peak well north of 200hp from its four-cylinder powerplant, using large chunks of the electronic, chassis and engineering trickery from the marque’s F4 world superbike machine.

And just to top off the Serie Oro’s grand entry onto the world stage – prospective Aussie customers should get in quick if they’d like to buy one – it was then voted the most beautiful bike at EICMA.

Thirty-five percent of the 16,000 respondents voted for the Serie Oro, which was a clear winner ahead of the Ducati Hypermotard SP and the Aprilia RSV4 1100 Factory.

One bike which was unlucky not to have snuck into the top three ‘beautiful basket’ was the MV Agusta Superveloce, with the retro-styled machine drawing heavily on the company’s racing pedigree from the 1960s with features such as the bulbous fairing and three pipes – one on the left and two on the right. It was only a concept, but we’re likely to see a similar production version very soon – in limited numbers no doubt.

Retro machines didn’t figure heavily at EICMA this year, although Triumph (T120 Diamond and Ace) and Yamaha (XSR700 XTRibute) confirmed some production-ready units which will hit the market in 2019.

As well as the aforementioned Superveloce, Royal Enfield produced a stunner in the form of the 838cc Concept KX and Aprilia’s middleweight RS660 V-twin – basically cutting a bank of cylinders from its V-four – also turned heads.

Kymco also unveiled a fully faired electric bike, the SuperNEX, which has a manual gearbox, while Husqvarna’s Vitpilen 791 Aero Concept was another standout.

Based on recent evidence, the transition from concept to production can be a swift one, so we’ll wait and see whether this EICMA batch gets the green light. We’ll take the Superveloce, please...

One bike which was just a concept when unveiled in Paris a few weeks ago – the Honda Neo Sports Café – made it into production form at EICMA in the form of the new CB650R. It’s the same marketing exercise as Honda used last year to eventually announce the new CB1000R.

Nothing ever stands still in the adventure bike space, and in 2018 KTM launched its 790 Adventure in standard and up-spec R guises at EICMA, and Yamaha finally came good with its Tenere 700. BMW also unveiled the Adventure version of its F 850 GS – Bikesales will be riding the standard F 850 GS at the Aussie launch in early December – and it also had the new R 1250 GS on display, complete with variable valve technology.

Kawasaki took the covers off the new Z400 naked, while Suzuki announced a second colour for the upcoming Katana.

Want to know when all the new models will be arriving in Australia? Then visit our comprehensive new bike release calendar.