MV Agusta makes helicopters but to fly bikers need to just sit on the latest models of their bikes and at EICMA 2007 they have unveiled two new models and showed their new versions of the Brutale.

MV Agusta makes helicopters but to fly bikers need to just sit on the latest models of their sports bikes. At EICMA 2007 in Milan MV Agusta has unveiled two new models and showed their new versions of the Brutale. The 989R has a 142hp engine and a compact and rigid frame. The 1078RR sets new limits in design and performance while also being a beauty. It has 1100cc engine with 154hp that allows track speeds of 270km/h. Even more powerful is the super sports RR312 and the top of the line F4. It has a 190hp engine with 1078cc and can fly at over 300km/h on the track.

Meanwhile at EICMA 2007 the Italian motorbike industry was focused on building for the future. Time goes by and fashions change but statistics show that the Honda Hornet 600 is still the most popular motorbike on Italian roads. According to Moto Dealers News between January and September, 8429 Honda Hornet 600 were sold, an increase of 23% on the figure of 6852 from last year.

Overall motorbike sales in Italy suffered a slight drop of 0.10%, dropping from 502.905 to 502.388. The biggest drop was motorbikes (-6%) and maxi scooters (-2%),while 50cc scooters increased (+11.43%) as did quads (+22.24%), helping the final overall figure. Although the Hornet was the best selling bike, Honda lost 3% market share, Yamaha 1.4%, while Kawasaki grew (+0.8%), as did BMW (+0.9%), Ducati (+0.9%), Harley Davidson (+1.8%), Ktm (+0.5%) and Triumph (+0.9%). Suzuki was unchanged. Honda gained ground in the scooter market at the expense of Piaggio, who lost 8.6%. Honda gained 3.5% and so closed to just one percentage point of the Italian company. Yamaha was stable, while Kymco, Aprilia and Suzuki all grew market share.The opening ceremony of the 65th edition of the EICMA motorbike and bicycle show honoured the driving force of the world of two wheels, praising the companies that are successful examples for others, who triumph and succeed despite difficulty.
 
Ancma Industrialist association president Guidalberto Guidi officially opened the show, with his welcome and salute to the new BikeAsia 2008 show. He was followed by speeches from a wide range of guests from the world of sport and important institutions. These included world road race champion Paolo Bettini, legendary motorbike world champion Giacomo Agostini and Confidustria president Luca Cordero di Montezemolo.
 
Leading voices during a round table debate also included the Italian minister for University and Research Fabio Mussi, the president of the Lombardy region Roberto Formigoni. They all acknowledged the professionalism of the two-wheel industry, while also admitting the economic difficulties of a weak dollar and a lack of reforms make growth difficult. “I’m proud of this impressive show that combines the tradition, innovation, art and technology,” Formigoni said, reminding everyone that the world road race championships will be held in nearby Varese in September next year, and reminding the importance of the Milan Exhibition centre and the EICMA show as Milan tries to secure the 2015 Expo event. He was supported by Montezemolo and by the Lombardy councillor for movement and the environment, Edoardo Croci. He announced major work to promote the use of two wheels to “decongest the traffic and reduce pollution,” and revealed new bike paths (that now cover 67km) and a system of bike sharing in 2008 that will involve 5,000 bikes, 250 stations and a road safety campaign for schools.

Also present at the official opening were president of the Milan Fiera Luigi Roth, CEO Claudio Artusi, Roberto Colaninno (Piaggio), Alberto Bombassei (Brembo, vice president of Confindustria), Renato Di Rocco (President of the Federazione Ciclistica Italiana) and famous bike builder Ernesto Colnago. Minister Mussi remembered his childhood riding a Bianchi bike and then a Ducati 98TN in his home town of Livorno in Tuscany but quickly became serious when he criticized the lack of funding for research in Italy. A problem that could have serious consequences on the world of two wheels, he described as “an important piece of the Italian industry,” before revealing data from a EU and OCSE studies on research. “Italian research grew by 2.4%, like Greece and Hungary. Italian scientists are 5/1000 and only 1.1% of the Pil is spent on research. That means we’re getting blood out of a stone at the moment,” he said.
  
Montezemolo pointed out that it was up to the government to solve the problem of a lack of research and was applauded for his speech. Mussi responded by hoping for optimism in the future. “We need to make a jump in or self belief and behaviour so that Italy can be the centre for growth, and not only a depot of a foreign economic system.”