The expo was practically born with the motorcycle, way back in 1914, and has persisted throughout, despite criticism and competition. This year's event has been met with unprecedented support.

This 59th Salone del Ciclo e Motociclo took place September18 - 23, held in its traditional setting at the Fiera di Milano facility. For the first two days, only members of the press and industry professionals, while the general public was admitted as of the 20th.
Milan hosted the very first motorbike Salone is 1914, and interrupted only by the two world wars, continued to host a new edition each year, unperturbed by the similar Motor Show event held in Bologna or the shows in Paris and Cologne.

VITAL STATISTICS

The event occupied a total exhibition space of 65,469 sq. meters in 1999, making it the largest space ever accorded the EICMA. Confronted with increased demand for space in 2001, fair organizers scrambled for an additional 2,000 sq. meters.
Also notably on the increase this year were the number of individual Oriental manufacturers and exporters, particularly from China and Taiwan. The presence of four major Japanese manufacturers, world-wide market leaders, is a good indicator of the show's importance, as is the presence of their reanimated European and American rivals. Close-up of Italian manufacturers.

A number of supplementary features appealing to special interests were integrated into this year's event, supporting program, presented directly by the EICMA. One such example is the sector devoted to "2-wheeler tourism," a measure intended to promote recreational bicycle and motorcycle travel.