Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126892
lell, ,jlhes bilk "jeh Iyenlelnce By Chris Myers MILAN. IT ALY <.0 00 O'l " Move o ver J apa n , yo u 're n o t h a ving th in gs yo ur own way .. ." That's the message th a t "co m es loud and clear fro m the Italian motorcycle manufacturers wh o launched an unpre- ...... cedented ra nge of new models at the recent Milan Show, New machines from Cagiva, Ducati, La verda , Vespa. Gilera Ducati int ro d u c e d a 750cc V-twin chopper-style bike at the Milan , Italy show: a Ducati engine in a Cagiva chassis. With Cag iva now owning Ducati, the Ducati Desmo 750 F1 TT f e a t u re s the Cagiva elephant emblem on the tank and fa iring. (A bo ve) The 350cc Dakota dual-purpose b ike is G ilera 's f irst fou r-stroke in many years. (Bel o w) The 200cc Gilera Arizona Hawk. 12 and Moto Guzzi packed th e giant h alls a t the Milan show co m p lex to show the world that th e Ita lia n s are n' t tak in g the j apanese threat lyi ng down . T he sta r of the sho w was th e 350cc Laver da Lesmo - the lo ng -a wa i ted water-coo led, three -cyli n der , tw o stroke th at's reported to devel op o ver 74 horsepower a nd be ca pa ble of ov er 125 mph . La verda al so sho wed a I25cc Lesmo , th o u g h based o n a sin g le cy linde r, two- stroke motor. An inter esting feature o f thi s bike is what Laverda ca lls "aerodynam ic lenticular disc wheels ." Basicall y, th ese a re cas t a lloy wheels with stream li ning p lastic insert s. T he lon g-a wait ed Ma ssimo T a mburini-designed Cagiva- D ucati sportsters, based o n th e Du cati Pan tah range of motors, made thei r deb ut at the show in 350cca nd 750cc versions. Known as the Paso . th ese bikes sport a nea t box-section tubu la r steel fra me wi th si ngle rea r shock a nd a ll oy swingarrn. A fu ll-body fairing a nd scree n with fa ired-in rea r section compl etes th e p ackage. Int erest ing ly, a lt hough Cagiva a nd D uca ti had separate stands at th e show. th ey were keen to present a si ngle corporate image a nd a ll the new Ducatis sported new ta n k badges wi th big D uca ti letter in g incorporating a li lli e Cagiva elep ha nt . Desp ite th e fact that Cagiva, whi ch now o wns the Duca ti co ncern, is keen to esta blish th eir name internationa lly, it lo o ks as if it will be a lon g time before o ver-65Occmachines appear with just the Cagiva bad ge o n th e bodywork , Other n ew Cagivas incl ude the 125cc KZ tw o-stroke single , a so p h istica ted 22 h orsepower , water-cooled machine with a power cham bel' devi ce o n th e ex h a ust port to improve lo w a n d midra nge power deliver y. T h e KZ comes in a high -tech. single-rearshock fram e wi th a n integrated fa iring. Gilera , for so long manufacturers of tw o -stroke riddl ers, stu n ned showgoers wi th a co m p letely new fourstroke mach ine - a twin -ca m , si nglecyli nde r tr ail bik e wi th water cooli ng a nd four-val ve h ead . Kn o wn as th e Dakota , the bik es co me in 350cc a nd 500cc ver sions. T he 350cc versio n develo ps as cla imed 33 horsepower a t 7500 rpm a n d a lt hough no p rinted information was ava il able o n the 500cc. a power outpu t of a rou nd 40 horsepower is being forecast. Scooter pion eer Vespa launched it s first 'n ew motor for yea rs; a fuelinj ected, reed-valve, two -stroke u ni t tha t' s ex pected to be i ncorporated . into a new model wi thin a yea r. Wei rd and wonderf u l offeri ngs came from th e tiny HRD co nc ern , whi ch showed an outrageou s Honda Aspencade-stv le mach ine ... based o n a 125cc two-stroke motor! T h e tiny bike incorporated a radi o and pl enty of other ex tras . The bi ke's onl y a va i la ble to cus to m order , a nd there' s no o fficia l pri ce yet. Chopper-style machines wer e much in evidence a t Mi lan: Laverda sho wed th e C U 125, a laid-back machine based on a 125cc two-stroke motor and Duca ti sh o wed the 750 Louisiana a desmo V-twin machine that wa s designed a t th e Ca g iva factory. Bi rno ta , t he fram e specia lis ts, sh o wed o ff the new tube-framed , h ydraulically-steer ed T esi racer, the la test development of th e p ioneering mach in e that th e R im in i-based co nce rn p lans to ca m pa ig n seriously this yea r. And Bim o ta bosses were pleased a t th e show with th e success that thei r first a ll- Ita lia n mach ine - th e 750cc Duca ti-en g in ed T esi - is enjoy i ng. A p pa re ntly they ca n' t ge t enoug h o f th em in j a p an , wher e the first batch of 50 was sna pped u p almost before th e crates wer e cracked open . Mo to Guzzi showed th e la test Le Ma ns : sty li ng cha nges include an a ll black engine. But of co urse, it was n ' t o n ly Ital ia n bikes a t the show; th e japanese were th er e in force , as they ha ve to be, si nce th is is th e world 's number two internationa l show. But they had n othing reall y new to show - th ey'd a ll pop pe d thei r co rks a t Tokyo ea rlier in the month a nd the ZL 600 Ka wasa ki El imi nator-sty le street cruiser, a lt hough a ttracting p lenty of attention a t the show, just wasn't reall y new . Husq va rna , the Swedish off-road manufact urers, sprang a world surprise a t th e show in th e form of an 800cc, water-coo led , twin-cylinder sup er tra il bike. T he bik e's still exp erimenta l a t th e m oment but P ro ject 2000, a s it's known, looks li ke for ming t he ba si s for a n interesting Pa risDakar bike. A power o utput of around 90 ho rsepowe r is bein g rumored for th e Project 2000 machine wh ich , as sh own, sports long-t ravel sus pe ns io n front and rear. a big . si x-ga llon gas tank . and a 300-po u nd dry weight. H usq varna wid lillie about th e powerplant, but bare det ail s are include a bore and stroke of 82.5x71mm, interesti ng two-into-one expa nsion cha m ber, reed valve induction and a six speed transmissio n . A sur p rise from Laverda was th e Atlas tra i lbikes, hasti ly co bbled to ge ther fo r the show to ad d depth to the Laverda sta nd. T he bikes - a 50cc wa ter-coo led, two-strok e si ng le a n d a 600cc fo ur-stroke , based o n the Montj ic para llel tw i n - were not roadworth y, and the rear suspension linkage o n bo th bikes ' was j us t a mo ck -up. The new 350cc Les mo G rand Sport was an ex tre mely well -finished m a ch ine th at is based around a 90° tripl e-cyli nder , water -cooled twostroke design. Ind u ction is by reed va lve a nd the 90° motor is reported to produce over 70 horsepower. T h e motor has six speeds, oi l-i njection and a n elec tric starter. The new D ucati-Cag iva Pasos use a beautifu l square sectio n box tube frame a nd ligh t a ll oy swi ngarm with single shock o pera ted through a progre ssive linkage. Bo th have the latest ' a nti-d ive Marz occhi front forks. •