EICMA's Fab Five: MV's New Middleweight, Honda Adventure Tourers, Customs and Concepts Too.

HONDA CROSSTOURER/CROSSRUNNER
Honda staked out a surprisingly large display area at EICMA, dominated by a disco-looking hall of mirrors where they displayed the Crosstourer, a new adventure-touring concept based on the 1200cc, V4-powered VFR1200. Shaft drive is retained, as is the auto-shifting dual clutch transmission, but the aluminum beam frame has been mildly reconfigured to accommodate a giant fuel tank and a burly subframe to support a passenger and luggage. Long-travel suspension and 18/19-inch wheel round out the transformation. Though it looks essentially production ready, Honda says the Crosstourer is just a concept. One new bike that will actually see production is the Crossrunner, an imaginative repurposing of the Honda VFR800 engine and chassis to create an ersatz adventure tourer with upright ergonomics and off-road inspired styling. With a chassis, suspension and powertrain that appears virtually unchanged from the Interceptor, however, the Crossrunner looks to have zero off-road capability, furthering the trend of ADV bikes becoming the SUVs of the motorcycle world.

MV AGUSTA F3
The most anticipated sportbike to break cover at Milan was definitely MV Agusta's all new, 675cc F3 triple. The storied Italian marque's entry into the middleweight category will be every bit as exotic as the big-brother F4, complete with a single-sided swingarm, spidery 10-spoke wheels and a distinctive, triple organ pipe exhaust. We didn't get to sit on it-there was only one bike at the show, and tucked high on a dais inside a minimalist white cube-but company CEO Giovanni Castiglioni claims it will be the smallest supersport ever made. Eyeballing the diminutive, gorgeously finished machine suggests that it is sized very much like a 250GP bike. It will also be fast, with a claimed 140 hp, and reasonably affordable for an Italian exotic, at around $16,000 when it's expected to appear sometime next year.

APRILIA TUONO V4R
Here's the new bike that we're most looking forward to riding, Aprilia's all-new Tuono V4R. Essentially a stripped-down version of one of our favorite sportbikes, the RSV4, the new Tuono maintains the RSV4 headlamps for a consistent look, but trims away almost all of the bodywork to expose a wide swath of aluminum beam frame and that lusty V4 motor. The V4R also incorporates Aprilia Performance Ride Control (APRC), with programmable wheelie control, launch control, eight-position adjustable traction control and a quick shifter. All of which will be appreciated, in light of the tall tubular handlebar and 81 lbs.-ft. torque at 9000 rpm.

HUSQVARNA MILLE 3 CONCEPT
Husky's Mille 3 concept comes straight from the Wild File. It's basically a chopped-and-channeled supermoto fit with a wild, 930cc V3 motor, constructed by combining three of the company's single-cylinder top ends on a single crankcase. Husky has no intention of putting it into production, but wanted to inspire its fans with some new ideas beyond the company's traditional off-road designs.

CR&S; DUU
Milan-based small-batch builder CR&S; showed some gorgeously turned-out Duu monsterbikes, set to enter production soon. Think of these as (relatively) more affordable, more production-oriented versions of Confederate's Wraith. Duu-which means two in the Milanese dialect-refers to the fact that this is CR&S;'s second model, with seating for two (provided your passenger is sized like an Italian supermodel), and powered by a two-liter, V-twin made by Wisconsin's S&S; Manufacturing.