Eicma 2022
Bye bye Covid,
If you love bikes and beer, beautiful creations from humans and Gods, well Eicma is the place you have to be yearly every November. Now, lacking experience on other motorcycle shows, I am sure some of you would definitely have better proposals but from my point of view, Milan is just a couple of hours away from home and another home in deed.
This year the show was obviously injured by the covid epidemic by missing important participations, those of Beta and KTM not being there and numerous other famous brands. Still, the remaining participants gave the show an extravagance presentation with Bikes, Girls, Beer and Music that were able to quince the average riders thirst for motorcycles and style, technology and innovations, safety and gear and so much more.
The weather was pleasant, Milan was again packed with visitors, vibes where positive, tastes were amazing and above all, things seemed to be back to normal again, after those awful times with empty streets and terrified people of the past years.
Visiting the show is quite easy, for the ones planning to attend, you need to book tickets online, find a hotel that has access to the red line M1 of the local Metro train, plan your meals in the show and dinners to local trattorias early due to the fact thousands will attend the show and availability to the good ones might be limited.
Go there as early as possible since lines can be huge in the normal hours. Pack light and prepare for long walks. Grab water and fruits with you, a snack that will give you strength to walk, empty some space in your phones camera since you are shooting hundreds of pics. Don’t hesitate to ask politely to be photoed with the featured models, always be respectful and nice keeping in mind this is their Job and not a hobby as most likely yours.
Plan your visit by finding out where the booths you are interested are placed. Plan a route, make breaks, go outside for clear air, search for the events and visit to rest, go book a test ride, eat the local junk food and pulled pork and drink beer. You may think the show is long but you will not realise how fast the time passes in the show pace.
This years worth mentioning features,
a. Bimota had a Kawasaki remade. They took, frame, engine, suspensions, chassis, and added some prints and style on a 4stroke enduro that impressed us pleasantly, but has a long way to be called a proper enduro bike.
b. Rιeju (https://rieju.com/gr/hard-offroad) line of production is awesome. They threw in the show an electric enduro that surely caught our attention and can’t wait to try it. They also have some an awesome ADV with small engines called ADVENTURA 500 & 125 and street bikes Century and Tango that are noteworthy.
c. There is a silent war on ADVs. Suzuki remake of the DR Big is nice, Arpilia’s Tuareg is an eye catcher, Yamaha has made little changes on the successful Tenere and smaller makers cut in the deal some serious competition, for example Voge from China !!! Honda showed up a Transalp version that was horrible in design yet super comfortable and useful for the average business rider having focused on functionality and not looks. Honestly, the bikes has the lines that belong to the 90s bikes in the colour schemes of a graveyard vehicle. New Companies around like KOVE had featured a nice line of quality makes like the 800X Super Adventure, the 500x and the 510X (?).
d. Concept bikes are awesome. For example Brixton showed us a nice little ADV called Crossfire 500 STORR. This bike is a dream we all had in our youth. Small, light, awesome looks and lines and a huge load of aftermarket stuff.
e. EICMA has the most beautiful girls on the planet featuring the motos and booths.
f. The future might be electric but this future is not coming soon to our garages. Most of the electric engine and vehicle makers can’t hide their embarrassment on issues as autonomy and battery waste. We agree that we need to save the planet, not fill the planet with lithium and led that can’t be recycled. In addition electric power prices are so raised the last years making battery charging a considerable cost, that the conspiracy theorists can fairfully claim this is a game from the petrol cartel so the electric engines to be to expensive to use. We have seen lots of makers trying, mostly on city scooters and concept bikes. Problems are plenty such as charging time, overheating etc. For sure though, an industry started on these and it’s coming to our houses with innovation and technology to replace the engines we know so far.
How about that Kawasaki’s H2-inspired hydrogen-powered motor?
These are some few words to try and describe what I saw and what my thoughts are on visiting EICMA 22 show in Milan. If you have any comments, I would be more that happy to read them.
Further readings on the show: https://www.motorcyclistonline.com/story/news/best-motorcycles-of-eicma/
https://www.bikeexif.com/motorcycle-news-eicma-2022
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