This year's EICMA was one of the biggest we have witnessed, and as such it had a lot on offer besides its numerous world premieres. One-off builds, concepts and some peculiar contraptions complemented the Italian show, acting as publicity magnets and occasionally as signs of things to come.
Although the actual Custom Show of the 73rd EICMA was rather minuscule and poorly presented – a couple-dozen privateer motorcycles cramped within a small corner – plenty of interesting custom offerings were scattered around the exhibition's six huge halls.
Most of them were tailor-made for specific manufacturers, such as Honda's two interesting CB650F concepts playing out the fashion themes of our time: café racer and scrambler.
Indian Motorcycles attracted a lot of attention to its custom Scouts, a collection of three takes on its best-selling model that commemorate historical events in the company's timeline.
Yamaha's presence involved much more than just a naked R1. Its investment in the Yard Built project continues to evolve, occupying a separate stand with most of the custom interpretations of its Sport Heritage models.
BMW Motorrad's EICMA presence may be remembered for the Scrambler version of the R nineT and its first small capacity engine in almost 50 years, but a centerpiece of its stand was this beautiful R50 Kaczor replica.
French boutique manufacturer Avinton Motorcycles came to Milan with an intriguing turbo-charged racing prototype, alongside its typical lineup of hand-built S&S-powered roadsters.
As for Ducati, the publicity of the X-Diavel and the 400 cc Scrambler left no room in its booth for custom models, yet EICMA was abundant with Ducati-based customs. They were to be found everywhere; Italian magazines, custom shops, clothing brands. After all, we were in Italy.
If it's not a Ducati, then it's a Moto Guzzi. The V7 continues to be one of the custom builders' favorite bikes, as well as the California 1400. Given these levels of popularity, the unveiling of the V9 model family comes as no surprise as Moto Guzzi attempts to strengthen its appeal across the Atlantic Ocean.
We even met some old friends. Sine Cycles' electric custom proudly holds the unofficial title of the only electric model in the whole Custom Show.
Take a virtual ride around EICMA's elaborate, peculiar and awesome customs in our photo gallery.