Rennie Scaysbrook | October 16, 2019
Cycle News Lowside
COLUMN
Almost Showtime
The time is fast approaching for new-model season, and this year it appears to be starting earlier than ever.
It was heartening to see Honda use the recent AIMExpo in Columbus, Ohio, to give the international public its first taste of the 2020 Africa Twin, marking the first time I can think of in recent history a major manufacturer chose the U.S. show over EICMA in Milan to launch one of its biggest products. That shows a degree of optimism from Honda itself about the state of the U.S. industry and how important the Africa Twin is to the U.S. public, because the AIMExpo pales in insignificance compared to the behemoth that is EICMA, in both physical size and global reach.
EICMA is going to be interesting this year because for the first time in many years, Ducati will not be taking center stage on Sunday night. Normally, the Bologna Boys get Sunday all to themselves, with the rest of the world’s manufacturers fighting over airspace from Monday to Wednesday, before the show officially opens to the public on the Thursday, November 7.
Ducati instead will be launching its 2020 product line in a standalone show on October 23 in Milan, and it’s there that we will see the production version of the bike the late Carlin Dunne raced in prototype form in the 2019 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.
Yes, the Streetfighter is back for 2020, and we are all the better for it. This is a motorcycle that’s been on the drawing board from about the same time as the Panigale V4 S it’s based off, and it’ll come packed with the same Desmosedici Stradle V4 motor (or at least a very similar version) found in the superbike. I know this because I raced against Carlin and his Streetfighter prototype at Pikes Peak this year, but I am waiting with bated breath to see what the production version will look like.
It’s already been confirmed we won’t be seeing a V4 Multistrada until 2021, with Ducati preferring instead to roll the V4 format out over time. There’s a good chance we will also see the new V4 Superleggera, meaning the superbike lineup will be have completed the transition from the old Desmo V-twin format to V4.
Interestingly, Kawasaki will also be using the October 23 date to show off its new supercharged ZH2 naked bike in an online launch; however, competing with Ducati for airspace will be a challenge for Kawasaki, especially with the Streetfighter coming back after an eight-year hiatus.
With Ducati opting not to use EICMA to launch such an important product in the Streetfighter, that leaves the door open for its neighbor to the north in KTM to fill the limelight. EICMA will see the Austrians launch one of its most important bikes in the new 390 Adventure, a platform that will be massive for developing nations in southeast Asia as well as here in the U.S.
Adventure riding is by far the fastest growing segment of the market, and currently there’s not a lot to choose from in the sub-400cc ADV (not dual sport) segment, with only Kawasaki, BMW and Honda (okay, theirs is a 500 in the CB500X, but, whatever), so it’ll be interesting to see just how extreme KTM is going to make its junior ADV weapon. Also on display will be the new Super Duke and Super Duke 890, which will replace the two-year-old 790 thanks to tightening emissions regulations in Europe.
As for BMW, the Germans will have four new bikes confirmed for EICMA, the most exciting of which (at least for me) is a tie between the new S 1000 XR and the R18 cruiser, which has been in development for about as long as I’ve been able to grow facial hair. The XR has long been one of my favorite street bikes after we had one here at Cycle News for long-term loan back in 2017, but it’s not seen a huge amount of updates since the 2015 unveiling.
As the XR is based off the S 1000 RR, which itself got a ground-up redesign for 2019 with the all-new ShiftCam motor, the new XR should be a bit of a showstopper. It remains to be seen if the production version of the R18 has anything like the pizzazz BMW’s own custom bike created earlier this year did (which served as a company insight into what they could do with the model), but the BMW style department has hit a few home runs of late and its collaborations with various custom-bike builders over the past few years has sparked a design renaissance within the BMW halls.
Moving on to Aprilia/Piaggio, they have been rather quiet about their EICMA offerings, but we are positive we’ll see the production version of the sportbike the world is craving in the RS660. This motorcycle could be the shot in the arm the sportbike sector needs—lightweight, 100 horsepower, good suspension, amazing looks—and if it’s half as good as the prototype we saw last year, the MotoAmerica Twins Cup could become a one-make Aprilia series before we know it.
The Japanese have been rather quiet, but we expect to see a new Honda CBR1000RR superbike. Honda is getting mega serious in WorldSBK next year after signing Alvaro Bautista, and we’ve had it on good authority from our European sources that the new CBR is going to be a beast (although nothing, and I mean nothing, has been confirmed or denied by Honda).
This is but a taste of what’s coming over the next couple of months. With manufacturers spreading their launches out and not all going head-to-head for attention at EICMA, the consumers are the winners as we get fed more new bikes for longer. I love this time of year. CN