EICMA 2026

Hardwrkr13

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Anyone see something new that tickles your fancy?

The Himalayan 750 looks nice for what it is, albeit heavy.

The Africa Twin Enduro looks nice and should do well.

CFMoto really upped their game with new Adv models and an actual Superbike.
 
Yaas!

I've been binging EICMA videos all week long.

Top of the list of interesting bikes for me is the Panigale V4 SP.

Panigale_v4_SP.jpg


IMO, it's the Panigale for people who are more serious about tracking it compared to R owners. There are only two reasons why people buy an R with the WSBK-constrained 1000cc engine: it's a collector's item, or they are actually racing it in a FIM-sanctioned SBK series.

The SP uses the larger displacement 1103cc base Pani V4 engine in it. Same power, less stress. No need to adhere to homologation rules for track days, and that engine can be ridden and revved over and over again every session without a rebuild after every race - because it's not being raced.

Also, I've been pricing out V4Ss and they've made the SP very price-competitive if you opt for every tasty upgrade they've incorporated in it. A V4S with the OE dry clutch, fully adjustable racing rearsets and carbon wheels works out to be more expensive than the SP with all those components stock. A good deal - if such a thing were to exist on anything with a Ducati badge on it...

And you get the cool Winter Test Livery and the R's fairing with all the racing aero bits in it. Debatable whether the humongaloid wings are actually an upgrade, but the cornering side pods and front brake ducts are kinda cool.

Speaking of wings, CFMoto with their V4-SR RR RRR RRRR with the "adaptive aero" is quite a party trick:


I was Today-Years-Old when I learned that unlike MotoGP, active aero is actually allowed in WSBK. Since 2021! huh.

Not sure anyone is actually using them currently though.

Another bike of interest is the Desmo 450 Rally.

DucatiDesmoRally-2-2048x1365.webp


Not really a factory offering though. It's an aftermarket special by Rebel Garage. They are only producing 35 examples, meant for Dakar Rally entrants. Similar to KTM's 450 Rally. I called this over two years ago, when the 450cc engine first debuted! :D

I got a chance to ride a similarly-equipped Desmo 450 MX earlier this year with the Rally tank and tower. Did not have that huge tablet, but was still nicely modded.
 
Anyone see something new that tickles your fancy?

The Himalayan 750 looks nice for what it is, albeit heavy.

The Africa Twin Enduro looks nice and should do well.

CFMoto really upped their game with new Adv models and an actual Superbike.
Honestly....no, and perhaps most disappointingly I see ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that would motivate me to pry open my wallet, or even go to a dealer to get a closer look. Every year there's at least something that warrants a look, but not this year.

The RE Himalayan 750 is fine, as is their cafe racer version, the KTM 690 Rally is also nice, and I like the traditional red, white and blue decoration of the Africa Twin.

The marketing for adventure bikes always features wide open vistas of deserts or wide-ish mountain trails with highly skilled riders performing long, lurid slides, the occasional wheelie or jump, while the reality here in Southern Ontario is far different and more enjoyable (for me) on something smaller and lighter.

I think I may have aged out of the new bike market at 61. I associate value with some modern tech and am willing to pay extra for it, ABS, a couple ride modes (or not), cruise control, bluetooth coms and that's about it. All the other guff, no thanks.

Servo controlled directional lighting, electronically adjustable suspension, multi-level, infinitely adjustable traction control, lidar controlled safety features and on and on add nothing to my enjoyment or significantly (enough) to the utility of the bike to offset the extra complexity, weight and most significantly the cost of a new model.

There are literally thousands of lightly used motorcycles for sale close enough to me to satisfy every possible interest I may have, whether it's an adv, an off-road bike, a mild dual sport, or a touring bike for that long continent crossing/circumnavigating trip and I could scratch a couple of those itches with money left over for the MSRP of one new bike.
 
The new Ducati Desert X Rally is the only thing on offering that I would be interested in selling my 1290SAR for only because I'm considering downsizing and there's currently nothing in the 900 range that I'm truly interested in.
 
I think I may have aged out of the new bike market at 61. I associate value with some modern tech and am willing to pay extra for it, ABS, a couple ride modes (or not), cruise control, bluetooth coms and that's about it. All the other guff, no thanks.

I get it.

For me, bike shopping is about getting a new tool that's a good fit for the kind of riding that I will be doing.

Got out of track a decade and a half ago, but now after some one-off track day rentals the last few seasons, I think I'd like to get back into it, so I'm actively looking around for what's out there currently.

Happy with all my other bikes. Got a great ADV, got a good touring bike, love my enduro. At the time of each purchase, I did the research and got the best (for me) bike, so no buyer's remorse. Unless I mile them out and rising maintenance costs start to outpace the cost of replacing it with another new bike, I'm completely happy playing the cards I have in my hand.
 
The new Ducati Desert X Rally is the only thing on offering that I would be interested in selling my 1290SAR for only because I'm considering downsizing and there's currently nothing in the 900 range that I'm truly interested in.

New DDXR is a pretty complete package. Ducati did an admirable job fixing everything people were complaining about on the first go.

eicma-2027-ducati-desertx-rally-quick-look.webp

A couple things I'd watch out for is ground clearance and tank range.

DDXRV1 gets 280 mm ground clearance and ~385 kms tank range
DDXRV2 gets 256 mm ground clearance and ~320 kms rank range

These may or may not be important to you.

My wife regularly gets over 400 kms on her Norden equipped with a similarly sized tank. That 890 parallel twin is very fuel-efficient.

The L-twin is more fun though. Just MO... :p
 
New DDXR is a pretty complete package. Ducati did an admirable job fixing everything people were complaining about on the first go.

View attachment 80635

A couple things I'd watch out for is ground clearance and tank range.

DDXRV1 gets 280 mm ground clearance and ~385 kms tank range
DDXRV2 gets 256 mm ground clearance and ~320 kms rank range

These may or may not be important to you.

My wife regularly gets over 400 kms on her Norden equipped with a similarly sized tank. That 890 parallel twin is very fuel-efficient.

The L-twin is more fun though. Just MO... :p
I'm with you, range is important on an ADV especially if you go exploring. If you're a bit enthusiastic with the throttle off road (and why WOULDN'T be?) fuel economy suffers. The piece of mind that comes with +/- 400km of range is a desirable feature for me.
 
I'm with you, range is important on an ADV especially if you go exploring. If you're a bit enthusiastic with the throttle off road (and why WOULDN'T be?) fuel economy suffers. The piece of mind that comes with +/- 400km of range is a desirable feature for me.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of mid-weight ADVs that seem to sacrifice range in order to come under a certain wet weight target.

I test rode the F900GS and almost ran out of gas during my ride. It has a teeny tank and gets 280-300 kms real world range. Great bike, but that kind of range would completely rule it out for me for riding faraway dirt.
 
New DDXR is a pretty complete package. Ducati did an admirable job fixing everything people were complaining about on the first go.

View attachment 80635

A couple things I'd watch out for is ground clearance and tank range.

DDXRV1 gets 280 mm ground clearance and ~385 kms tank range
DDXRV2 gets 256 mm ground clearance and ~320 kms rank range

These may or may not be important to you.

My wife regularly gets over 400 kms on her Norden equipped with a similarly sized tank. That 890 parallel twin is very fuel-efficient.

The L-twin is more fun though. Just MO... :p
That's certainly something to consider that I hadn't looked into yet (the SAR's range is enough that I rarely look at the gas gauge). Doubtful I'll make a change within the next year but it's ok to look and be prepared in case the markets have a lovely year :)
 
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