There's been precious little in the way of exciting news for motorcycling fans from Intermot this week.

When one of the biggest shows in Europe has just two or three genuinely new machines for people to get excited about, it tends to suggest a grim outlook for the entire industry.

At least some manufacturers have made an effort.

Triumph have given their Speed Triple 1050 a makeover.

There’s a little bit more power on offer, a tweaked frame and new styling.

But apart from the new-look lights it looks almost exactly the same bike.

Ducati have added traction control to their  existing 1198 model and they’re showing off an SP version of their sportbike flagship.

Being a German event, BMW are proud to debut their 1600GT, a genuine NEW motorbike – hurrah!

Of course we have seen this 6-cylinder beauty before in pictures, so that means that the impact of seeing it in the metal is somewhat diluted.

Meanwhile, Suzuki are showing off a new budget all-rounder motorbike, the GSR750.

Let’s hope that the 750 is more fun than the dull GSR600 from a few years back. The GSR750 looks sharp and the price will probably be competitive.

Ditto the KTM 125 Duke, which is the fruition of their partnership with Bajaj of India.

If KTM can offer a cheap insurance deal with the bike, it will sell.

All hail Kawasaki who have a new ZX10R sportbike, with a rumoured 190bhp motor, plus new frame.

But again, it is essentially the same ‘race rep’ format that’s been around for a decade and has hardly any appeal for the 50-year olds who buy bikes in the UK now.

Unless something genuinely new, fresh and interesting appears at Milan, I think 2011 will be another year of recession for motorcycling, with sales of new bikes dropping another 15 per cent.

I never thought I’d live to write this, but I think Norton have more marketing focus than all the Japanese manufacturers put together – half the industry is out of touch with reality.

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