At the 71st EICMA International Motorcycle Exhibition in Milan, one thing was very clear – motorcycling is getting younger. More or less every stall in EICMA had at least one trick up its sleeve to attract the younger riders. Traditions were broken, new design philosophies were explored and new strategies unveiled.

Muscular naked bikes such as the new Kawasaki Z1000, Yamaha MT-09 and MT-07 and the KTM Super Duke 1290 brought out raw aggression with their sharp and angular features and angry engines. And at the same time the new Ducati 1199 Superleggera and the BMW S1000R stood for gravity defying speeds.

Motorcycle manufacturers have been clearly recognising the growing market for enduro, touring and supermoto bikes, and we saw a lot of new adventure motorcycles, armed to the teeth to take on any kind of terrain. The massive new BMW R1200 RT and the new Triumph Tiger XC were a couple of worthy examples from the show of this trend. Big cruisers from Indian and Moto Guzzi attracted their fair share of the crowd, but not so much as the Project Rushmore motorcycles from Harley-Davidson, the American manufacturer’s most dramatic overhaul for its touring machines in a long time.

Even electric motorcycles from Caterham and classic speedsters from Brough Superior gathered quite the crowd. Moreover, Suzuki and Aprilia announced their return to MotoGP in the coming years, which means there would be more factory bike action on the tracks.

And never before, at any motorcycle show, have so many motorcycles shown so much promise and potential to fit right into the Indian market! From the big Triumphs to the smaller sports bikes from KTM and Honda, a lot of them have been touted to enter the Indian market soon. There was way too much awesomeness for any motorcycle enthusiast to handle at EICMA 2013, and the cold day in the fashion capital of Milan was forgotten amidst all these hot bikes.

sabyasachi.b@thehindu.co.in

Published on November 13, 2013