Koelnmesse GmbH, Thomas Klerx

Highlights From Intermot 2018

The biennial trade fair in Germany had new bike reveals, customs, fresh gear, and more

October 12, 2018

Every two years the German city of Cologne gets swamped with the sounds of roaring engines, but it's not a bad thing; it's Intermot, the international trade fair for the motorized two-wheel scene. This year had the usual graybeard demographic representing, but word on the street was that large numbers of younger two-wheel fans (50 percent more than the last show in 2016) were flowing through the halls of Koelnmesse too, getting the full motorcycle show experience. With a packed slate of events on the program, with new model releases from Indian, Ducati, and Triumph, to the AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building, to even a special program for women riders, there really was something for everyone this year. Zillers Garage took first place in the 13th Annual AMD Championship with "Insomnia," a Yamaha SR400-based custom. Some of the other highlights for us:

We’ve heard estimates of more than 200,000 trade visitors and bike fans from almost 100 countries attending the show in Cologne this year.Koelnmesse GmbH, Thomas Klerx

Headline news at this year's Intermot was from an American brand, with the reveal of Indian's new 2019 FTR 1200 street tracker. It was the first time Indian Motorcycle staged a world premiere outside the United States. Check out our first look here.Indian Motorcycles

Closer to home, Ducati rolled out three new Scramblers for 2019, each model a fresh spin on the Italian brand's super-popular Scrambler line. More info can be found here.Koelnmesse GmbH, Harald Fleissner

Triumph Street TwinTriumph Motorcycles

Triumph was not far behind with its introduction of two heavily revised models, the Street Twin and the Street Scrambler, both of which received welcome power, braking, and electronic enhancements.Triumph Motorcycles

There was no shortage of customs, with the AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building underway. The championship attracted 107 bikes this year, a new record. Russian customizers Zillers Garage took first place at Intermot 2018 in the Freestyle category.Koelnmesse GmbH, Oliver Wachenfeld

Avon was there presenting the brand’s new Cobra Chrome cruising tire range, which claims improved longevity and more fitment options. It’s a replacement for the Cobra line, long a standby in the custom and cruiser segments.Koelnmesse GmbH, Oliver Wachenfeld

Nolan introduced its new N70-2 X, the first on/off (road and off-road) crossover on the market. Nolan’s N70-2 X and N70-2 GT models are aimed at riders who use their bikes in varied situations: from city to off road, as well as touring. Both feature a removable protective chin guard and ultrawide visor.Nolan Helmets

For the first time this year, Intermot featured Ladies@intermot—a meeting point for female bikers with a specially tailored program that led women on tours of the fair to see motorcycles, tours, services, and apparel especially designed for this target group.Koelnmesse GmbH, Oliver Wachenfeld

There was plenty of other unique machinery to gaze at in the halls at Intermot, including this Horex VR6 beauty.Koelnmesse GmbH, Thomas Klerx