EICMA 2014: What I'm Looking Forward to Seeing

Rumours and leaks have been pinging around the web for some weeks now on what shiny new two-wheeled baubles we can expect to see at EICMA next week. MV Agusta may be showing up with a new dragster and Ducati, it seems from a verboten photo taken at a recent dealers meeting, may come to the party riding a new Panigale powered by a 100 cc larger engine. Yamaha (also deduced from a leaked picture) could be debuting the FJ-09, an econo-adventure touring machine based on the FZ-09 platform.

Here are some of the things we know for certain and that I’m looking most forward to seeing:

Kawasaki will unveil the batmanesque H2 – a 225 hp street-legal version of the 300 hp super charged H2R which debuted in Cologne at Intermot just weeks ago. It’s not the bike’s obscene power specs that I’m attracted to, rather the positively nasty look of the thing (and I mean that in a good way) that makes me want to get a closer look.

Ducati we’re told will be promoting their recently announced Testastretta DVT – the first motorcycle engine with variable valve timing of both the intake and exhaust camshafts. Desmodromic Variable Timing (DVT), says Ducati, guarantees the “highest power, smooth delivery, muscular torque at low rpm and reduced fuel consumption.” In concrete terms: a claimed 160 ponies at 9500 rpm and 100 lb-ft of maximum torque at 7500 rpm, while providing 59 lb-ft at 3500 rpm and over 74 lb-ft between 5750 and 9500 rpm. So, increased power and torque plus an eight percent reduction in fuel consumption. Also, the valve service interval has increased to 30,000 km, up 6,000 km from the previous Testastrettas.

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The question is, will Ducati simply have their shiny new powerplant spinning on a pedestal at EICMA, flanked perhaps by a pretty woman, or will they be unveiling the Testastretta DVT cradled in the belly of new 2015 Multistrada? The rumour mill says the latter, though I’m sure there’ll be a pretty woman on a pedestal somewhere nearby whatever the case. (See Alex’s Women of EICMA post from last year).

Yamaha has confirmed that the 2015 R1 will break cover at EICMA. Expect 200-plus horsepower, an advanced electronics package with newly designed traction and stability control, and possibly a dual clutch gearbox that allows rapid shifting up and down the gears.

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Obviously there'll be much more. So stay tuned as we post from Milan next week!