Courtesy of Cycle World

New Bikes from EICMA 2016

Dirt related motorcycles from biggest moto show in the world

As the largest motorcycle show in the world, EICMA has plenty of prototypes, first looks, and unveils. While a lot are street related and have nothing to do with all of us dirt guys and gals, we did notice a few bikes that are dirt related. A few days ago we showed you the 2018 Gas Gas EC and XC models, which are pretty much new models from the ground up and that was the most relevant bikes that we saw.

But, there are some ADV and retro bikes that just might peak some of your interests. Here at Dirt Rider, we are all about any bike with knobbies, and while some of these bikes don't come with them stock, some knobby tires would spoon up quite nicely. This is just a quick glance. For more information on any of these bikes, go to our sister publication's website, cycleworld.com.

Honda Africa Twin Enduro Concept Bike

When we first heard about Honda’s CRF1000L Africa Twin we hoped it would be a really big dirt bike. Well, it is a very dirt capable ADV machine but ultimately it is still a big, street bike leaning motorcycle. But what you see here is a stripped down, lightened up, off-road ready beast that truly befits the CRF1000 name. No no, put down your wallet. This is just a concept bike meaning it is anyone’s guess it if ever comes close to being put in production, but it sure is fun to look at.Courtesy of Cycle World

Yamaha T7 Tenere Concept

Yamaha’s Super Tenere is long on comfort but short on dirt worthiness, but the same probably can’t be said for this T7 Tenere Rally concept bike. Using a motor based on the 700cc parallel twin of the FZ-07, this machine is said to be developed in conjunction with Yamaha’s Dakar Rally team so it might actually have some basis in reality. As with all concept bikes, we would advise not to hold your breath.Courtesy of Cycle World

2017 Husqvarna 401 Svartpilen

We had a sneak peek at this bike a couple years ago but now it shows up at EICMA in production form. That’s right, Husky will be making this bike as well as a street-only version. First off, we like that it comes stock with some big ol’ chunky tires. The style of the bike is a little bit of a mash up between retro scrambler and futuristic TRON bike. With a mid-size engine and minimal build, we can’t see this bike being terribly heavy, which could help it stand out from the very new crowd of small-displacement ADV bikes.Courtesy of Cycle World

2017 Ducati Scrambler Desert Sled

It is interesting to use that the hot new bikes the last couple of years are street bikes trying to be dirt bikes. We just like dirt bikes. But I digress, the standard Ducati Scrambler did a really good job of looking the part of a real, dirt-ready motorcycle like scramblers were back in the day. But, at the first sign of dirt, rocks, or any moderate obstacle, it would scream “UNCLE!” immediately. Responding to this embarrassing fact, Ducati seems to have pumped their knobby-tired bike with some real off-road-ability. Longer travel suspension, spoked wheels, and a new swing are are among many changes that just might allow this Duck to live up to the name Desert Sled.Courtesy of Cycle World

2017 BMW G 310 GS

We’ve played around on BMWs before. Their 800 and 1200 GS Adventure bikes are pretty much the standard by which all other mega size ADV bikes are measured. But with the 310 GS, it looks like they are thinking smaller is better in Bavaria. We don’t see ourselves slicing through the forest or hitting the endurocross track on this bike but I doubt we would object to a spirited jaunt down a fire road or Jeep trail.Courtesy of Cycle World

2017 Suzuki DL250 V-Strom

In the world of ADV bikes, we don’t really know how the V-Strom stacks up since we’ve never ridden one, but a fully decked out 248cc parallel twin sounds a lot more manageable than a liter bike. There aren’t really any specs out on the bike and just looking at it, we can tell that the weight is going to be our biggest issue, but if you are a diehard Suzuki fan and need a bike with all the comforts of home, this might be the adventure bike for you.Courtesy of Cycle World

2017 Kawasaki Versys-X 300

This is probably the most street biased bike we are looking at but we don’t want to leave any Kawasaki fans out in the cold. Following the trend of this year’s show, here is another small-displacement adventure machine. Based on the Ninja 300, the X 300 looks like it would really only be comfortable on the smoothest of dirt roads.Courtesy of Cycle World

2017 BMW R nineT Urban G/S

Another BMW but it has knobbies so we have to show it to you. The standard R nineT is more of a modern retro throwback roadster kind of bike and it has now spawned a retro scrambler styled machine. How dirt worthy is it? We would love to find out, but something tells us that we would hurt this bike… badly.Courtesy of Cycle World