EICMA 2024: Top 5 Bikes Shown At The Expo - KTM 390 Adventure R, Aprilia Tuono 457 And More

EICMA 2024 was nothing short of a blockbuster. This year’s gala celebration of two-wheeled mania saw a lot of action with quite a few India-bound motorcycles making their maiden appearance. Here’s what we think stood out amongst them all:

KTM 390 Adventure R

KTM pulled out all of the stops to showcase the next-gen 390 Adventure with 3 new models spawned from the Adventure family. While the 390 Enduro R and 390 SMC R had charming personalities, the 390 Adventure R was simply attention grabbing. It seemed to have taken things quite a few notches higher with seemingly improved capabilities on hand. While the bike shown at EICMA will be sold in India, we expect a more touring-friendly version to arrive as well.

Aprilia Tuono 457

The second bike on Aprilia’s new 457 cc platform looked interesting. It might not have had the typical Tuono-esque semi-fared look but the Aprilia Tuono 457 was packing all of the goodies from the RS 457 sport bike, albeit in a naked avatar. It felt easier to hop on and the specs suggest the 390 Duke has its work cut out. We cannot wait for Aprilia to launch this bike in India in the first half of 2025.

Hero Xtreme 250R

Another naked that quite caught our attention was the Hero Xtreme 250R. The largest Xtreme yet, Hero managed to plonk in a longer stroke version of the Karizma 210’s engine into a naked body format. The resulting claims are of a promising naked that has quick acceleration, perhaps the best in class according to Hero. And while there was a Karizma XMR 250 counterpart of the same bike, we did find the Xtreme to be far more intriguing of the two.

Ducati Panigale V2

The next chapter of the Ducati L-twin sportbike heritage witnesses a big change as the Panigale V2 has undergone a massive makeover. The new 890 cc L-twin motor is not nearly as powerful as the old 955 cc mill, pushing out quite a lot less power. However, considering the new racing SuperSport rules that should come into effect soon, the Panigale looks better equipped and more in tune to continue to be a big contender for the crown.

BMW Concept F 450 GS

After some success with the 310 cc platform as well as the emergence of the new small electric vehicle platform, the BMW-TVS partnership is now likely to offer a new 450 cc parallel-twin series of bikes. And the first of these new Indo-German offerings was shown in the form of the Concept F 450 GS: a 175 kg adventure motorcycle that had nearly 48 bhp on tap and with the same design language of the new R 1300 GS. Certainly, BMW has realised the segment is growing up from 300 cc to 450-500 cc and doesn’t want to miss out on the action. Hopefully, the production bike isn’t too far away.