EICMA 2019 brought me back to Milan after skipping a few years, and walking the halls again confirmed that returning was the right call. Press day on Tuesday is the only way to go — fewer people, clear access to the bikes, and real time to study what each manufacturer actually brought. This year was slightly more hectic than usual for a press day, enough to be noticeable, but nowhere near the chaos of a public day. The electric section went quickly. A bike without sound does not hold my attention the way an engine does, regardless of how eco-minded I try to be the rest of the time. The BST Hypertek and the Tazzari Zero electric cars are interesting, but I moved on fast. The real EICMA 2019 started at the Honda stand.
Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP at EICMA 2019
Honda’s CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP was the most talked-about debut at EICMA 2019 and the crowd at the Honda stand confirmed it immediately. The winglets, the six-axis IMU-assisted electronics package, and the wet weight of 443 pounds put this bike in direct conversation with Ducati’s Panigale V4 platform — which is exactly the conversation Honda wanted to start. It is a bike I want to test on a track, and not because of how it looks parked. The engine package alone warrants it.
Ducati’s EICMA 2019 Lineup: Streetfighter V4S and the Scrambler Concepts
Ducati brought the width at EICMA 2019. The Streetfighter V4S is the most immediately covetable thing on the show floor — winglets, a liquid-cooled 1103cc V4 producing 220 horsepower and 95.8 foot-pounds of torque with a full race exhaust, and a silhouette that does not look like it should be street-legal. The base V4 model is also available for those not prepared to go all the way, which still represents going quite a long way. I need one immediately.
Ducati’s Scrambler division showed two concept bikes: the Desert X and the Motard. The Desert X reads visually as Ducati’s answer to the Honda African Twin — a tall, adventure-oriented silhouette built around the Scrambler DNA. The Motard takes a different direction, sitting lower with an 803cc two-cylinder engine, closer to a Hypermotard in feel. Both are compelling concepts. If production comes through, the Desert X is the one I’d pursue given I already have a Scrambler Icon in the garage — though I would not say no to either.
Other Standouts at EICMA 2019 and the State of the Show
Beyond Honda and Ducati, EICMA 2019 had two other moments worth noting: an Aston Martin concept motorcycle that drew serious attention on the show floor, and the Harley-Davidson Livewire — the brand’s first electric production motorcycle, which made its European exhibition debut at the show. Both represented manufacturers pushing into territory they hadn’t previously occupied, which was one of the more interesting undercurrents of this particular edition.
EICMA 2019 felt smaller than editions from a few years back — the kind of show where you could once spend four days in the halls and still not see everything. That scale has contracted — EICMA’s own attendance data reflects the shift — which is worth acknowledging even while the quality of what’s there remains high. What it still does better than any other motorcycle show: puts you in the same room as beautiful motorcycles and the people who care about them. That part has not changed, and it’s still reason enough to make the trip.
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