Next up on our analysis of the EICMA show in Milan are the Japanese brands: Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha.
You can usually count on the Big Four to bring out some popular new bike launches and intriguing concepts to EICMA, and this year…well…the Japanese brands phoned it in, for the most part.
Before we get into Jensen’s complete feeling of disappointment, I first have to apologize because I failed you as a publisher. Much of the disappointment that comes from the INTERMOT and EICMA shows comes from the implications of the Euro5 emissions standards. As a publication, we should have prepared you better for this reality, and we didn’t.
There is very little incentive right now for a motorcycle OEM to release a new model. Euro5 comes online for new models in 2020, and for existing models in 2021, which means that many of the motorcycle brands are holding onto their new bike launches for those model years.
As such, the 2019 model year is very much a “development year” for the industry. This doesn’t change the fact that the Japanese brands had a weak showing in Milan, especially compared to the Europeans, but at least it explains why…for the most part.
How to Ruin a Motorcycle, A Story by Yamaha
I am incapable of building up to this section on Yamaha, so it is best to just get it out of the way first. If there was one bike that we expected to see at EICMA this year, it was the Yamaha Ténéré 700. That obviously didn’t happen.
The Iwata brand has been teasing this middleweight adventure bike for the past two years, and 2019 seemed obviously to be the year that we would get this machine in production form, especially since it had just finished a promotional world tour.
Instead, we must wait.
This came as a surprise to just about about everyone, and as such, one of the biggest news items from EICMA was the delay that the Ténéré 700 would have in coming to market. I still have trouble fathoming that this is the reality for the Ténéré 700.
In Europe, the Ténéré 700 will be a 2020 model year machine, coming in Fall 2019 – i.e. after the riding season concludes. For the American market, the Ténéré 700 will be a 2021 model year machine, coming vaguely in the “second-half of 2020” – let’s hope that means in the summer time.
For those doing the math, that means almost a four-year wait for American who wanted the Yamaha Ténéré 700 when it first broke cover at EICMA in 2016.
I remember talking to a colleague about the Yamaha Ténéré 700 right before its non-launch this year, saying that the bike surely had to debut, as Yamaha wouldn’t dare tease it for a third year in a row. How wrong I was.
Watching the live stream on Facebook, you could see the anticipation that the Ténéré 700 had amongst the viewers, and their complete disappointment at the release date announcement. As one A&R commenter said, if you wanted to know how to launch a motorcycle, do the opposite of the Ténéré 700 team’s example.
This might be the biggest new model release gaffe I have ever seen in the motorcycle industry.
Yamaha’s official line, for the US market at least, is that production for the American-bound bikes is set to occur in Japan, instead of Europe, which means a delayed production schedule. Of course, this explanations completely glosses over the delays for the European market, and doesn’t really explain why the US has to wait even longer.
The real answer has more to do with product development cycles, the gap years to come in 2018 and 2019 as we wait for Euro5, and Yamaha’s difficulties in developed markets. It is easier to blame geography, however.
It is rare when you have objectively bad events in the motorcycle industry, and this is one of them. On Twitter, I mused that how journalists and publications handled Yamaha’s Ténéré 700 news would be a litmus test on who was doing their job.
By the time the Yamaha Ténéré 700 finally comes to market, the KTM 790 Adventure will have been available for two riding seasons, Honda will likely have a CRF450L Rally available, and other brands could surely have competing offerings.
Meanwhile, the Ténéré 700 will suffer be suffering from market fatigue before it has even landed in dealerships, thus completely squandering any momentum the company generated in all of its market activities.
We have seen delays from concept to production kill motorcycles in the past, the KTM 1190 RC8 comes to mind right away, and this is a concern even if the Ténéré 700 is as potent as Yamaha’s hype for it has been.
There is very real possibility that the Yamaha Ténéré 700 is dead on arrival, and there will be no recovery if the press reception for this machine is anything but glowing. As such, don’t expect Asphalt & Rubber to be attending. Yamaha will be too afraid to risk any critical opinions. I wouldn’t be surprised if only social media influencers were invited to the press events.
In all of this, I am not sure who I feel more sorry for, the engineers whose work is being spoiled by delays, the marketers who have painted themselves hopelessly into a corner, or the PR professionals who have to spin this story with a straight face.
Even a week after the fact, I can’t help but shake my head when I think about the Yamaha Ténéré 700 debacle. I would say that there are no words for this, but clearly my emotions have no trouble finding them.
The Suzuki No-Show
Yamaha’s missteps almost distracted us from the fact that Suzuki brought nothing to Milan. No Hayabusa, no GSX-R600, no GSX-R750, no Recursion, no nothing…well, there was the Suzuki Katana in black. So…yeah.
To be fair, Suzuki was one of the OEMs grabbing the spotlight at the INTERMOT show, so it is not like the Japanese brand is without something exciting for the 2019 model year, but EICMA was supposed to be Suzuki’s big debut.
This was supposed to be the year that the beleaguered company showed the world that it was back in action. This is obviously not the case. I temper my incredulous state with the thoughts of Euro5. Maybe next year.
Small Showings from Kawasaki
Kawasaki did a bit better at EICMA. Revamping a number of machines with facelifts, feature updates, and obvious extensions. It is hard to get excited about a brand whose big reveal (I use that term loosely) was a naked 400cc machine, especially when it was the most obvious bike to come for the 2019 model year.
Remember though, Kawasaki had a set of good-looking 125cc machines at INTERMOT, and already gave us the revised ZX-6R at AIMExpo, which sports a very aggressive price tag. The Ninja ZX-10R line also got updates, so it is not like Team Green has been standing around idly. Again, I reiterate…it is a development year.
Hope from Honda?
Big Red didn’t have much to show at EICMA either, and you could say that Honda underwhelmed, with its big new model release being the Honda CB650R, which trots out the Neo Sports Café aesthetic yet again.
That would be fair criticism, but Honda also updated a number of its machines, most notably the CB500 lineup. The Honda CBR1000RR got some much-needed fixes, and we are digging the Honda CBR650R.
Honda’s real headlines though come from the company’s concept models. I am captivated by the Honda CB125M and Honda CB125X machines.
I am not sure that these motorcycles work in the 125cc format, but if Honda wanted to gauge interest on a design that could easily be made into a 300cc or 500cc production bike, this would be a good way to do it.
I could easily see the CB125M becoming a popular pit bike and mini-moto racer, and if the CB125X design doesn’t get used for an ADV model, that will be crime against motorcycling.
Both concepts come from Honda’s European R&D facility, which is of note, and in contrast to the Honda CRF450L Rally concept, which comes from Honda’s R&D lab in Japan.
I firmly believe that we will see the Honda CRF450L Rally debut for production next year, and the only reason that the CRF250L Rally model preceded this one is because the CRF450L platform wasn’t on the market yet.
Now that Honda has a 450cc class dual-sport again, the company has a lot of options available to it. Let’s hope they are not squandered. If Honda can act fast too, there could be a number of Yamaha Ténéré 700 sales that jump ship to the Dakar-inspired dirt bike from Big Red.
A Closing Thought
I have this secret hope that there is still more to come from Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha before the 2019 riding season is upon us. Perhaps there is more to come, like at a trade show in Japan that was chosen for a home-market debut of an exciting new model.
It could happen. This might not be the last we see of the new bike season. I am not holding my breath, however.
Photo: Yamaha Motor Europe
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