Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

All the Husky off-road models will come stock with Marzocchi suspension components; the MXers will feature White Power suspension equipment. - injec ted , 90-degree V -t w i n , and boas ts a six -speed tra nsmission. Cagiva cla ims a dry weigh t o f j ust 405 lbs., with Brernb o brak es (no w increased fro m 2801010 to 3201010 at front), Ma rzocchi forks a nd shock, Mich elin Hi-Sport rad ial tires (with a massive 180/ 55-17 a t rear) a so lo sea t and, o f co urs e, a brill iant red fin ish ro u nding o u t the package. The 85 1 wi ll retain some of its limit ed-product ion sta tus, as on ly 200 will be im ported into th e U.S. The seco nd Du cati is th e 750 Sport, wh ich co mbines th e F-I 's tubular ch ro me moly stee l chassis with th e 750 P a so's s us pe ns io n , wh eel s, brak es a nd controls. The 750 Spo rt is pow ered by the two-val ve-p er cylinder Pantah mo tor, now with o il-cooled cyli nders , Digiplex ignition a nd a dual-throat Weber carburetor (no more Dell'Ortos). A red -and-sil ver co lor scheme (altered from th e red/blu e o f the 1989 Eu ro pean model) graces th e a ll- new fairing a nd rem ovabl e so lo sea t cow l. With a comparatively in expen sive price o f $6700, Cagi va ex pects the 750 Spo rt to be it s volume seller. R oundi ng ' o u t Ca giva 's s tree t lin eup is the Du cati Paso , wh ich returns for 1990 in liqu id-cooled, 906cc form , wi th a Weber carbu retor a nd a six-speed tra ns m iss io n . A sli m mer fai ring based on Rand y Marnol a 's Gra nd Pr ix race r provides mor e efficient a ir du cti ng. Co lor o ptions a re red or blue, a nd it will sell for $7800_ As with previous Du cat is, th e three show n here share Du cari 's desm odromi c pos i ti ve va lv e a ctuati on system , whi ch uses cam s to bot h open and close the val ves. Duca ri's othe r new creatio n , th e 900 Su persp ort, com bines the 750 Sport fra me and 906 Paso moto r (bu t with o il ra ther th an liqu id coo ling), bu t will be Europe -on ly in 1990. As far as Mota Morin i, whi ch Cagiva owns th e rights to, th ere wi ll be n on e im por ted into th e U.S . Acco rd ing to Cagiva's marketing mana ger , Dan Van Epps, th ere was so me d iscu ssio n of in creasin g th e d isplacem ent o f th e 350cc V-twin Dan to near 40Occ, but th e bike (which wo uld be ca lled a Du cati, rega rdl ess o f its OH V co nfig uratio n) wo u ld still be too slow (com pared to th e Yama ha FZR400 a nd its ilk ) a nd wo uld cost too much . On the off- roa d side of th e spectrum , Cagiva will be offeri ng a full lineup o f MXers and Endu ro /Cross Co un try models. H o wever, a ll of the six models will be ca lled Husq varnas. Even the Cagi va -built motors will be stamped - Husq va rna. T he H uskys will be ava ilable in th ree Motocross (WMX) an d three Enduro/Cross Country (WXE) models. Bo th mode ls will co me in three di sp lacement sizes - 125 and 250cc two-strokes, an d a 5 1O four-s tro ke. cc T he W MX I25 a nd 250 mo toc ro sse rs fea tu re l iqu id -co ol ed motors, power- valves, Mah le Nikasil cylinders, Dell 'O rto flat-slide carburetors and mor e co m pact engine cases. T hey als o have six-speed tra nsmissio ns, Mo to pl at ig nitions, front a nd rea r dis c brak es a nd 2.2 gall on ga s tan ks. T he WMX5 10's fo ur -stro ke motor is a lso water -coo led, bu t has redesigned cases, cra n k, and connecting rod . It still has a four-va lve head with ro lle r - rockers, an autom ati c ca m cha in ad juster, and Husky's RAL Iubricatio n system. Suspension- wise, a ll the WMX mo tocross ers co me eq uipped with Wh ite Pow er su spensio n co m pon ents. The 'fro n t s uspension is hand led by the Whi te Po wer Mu lti Adj uster upside-down fork, wh ile the rear su spension is filled with a Wh ite Pow er Su pe r Adjuster shock. T he clai med dry weig h t is 194 pounds for th e 125, 2 16 for the 250 a nd 245 for th e 5 10. All th e WMX mod els shou ld be availab le by th e end o f the month with suggested retail p rices o f $3300 fo r the WM X 125, $385 0 fo r th e W MX250 a nd $4350 for th e WMX510 four-st ro ke. After losin g its stronghold in the off-roa d ma rket a few years ago, Ca giva is trying to clim b th e nam e H usq varna back to th e to p of th e cha rts with three new End uro /Cross Country models. T he Enduro a nd Cross Country versio ns have th e sa me WX E design a tions, b ut the E nd uro m ode l comes with head lights and th e Cross Co u ntry mo de l withou t head ligh ts. Unl ike th e WMX Huskys wi th Wh it e Power suspens io n co m ponents, th e off-roa d mod els feature Marzocchi u pside-down forks a nd fu ll y a dj u sta ble Ma rzocchi Duo shock rear shocks. The Marzocchi for ks a re reported ly easier to work on tha n most upside-down forks on th e market. All th e Husky models wi ll feature man y sta ndard Husky tra its, such as a l u m i n u m h andl eb a rs, Regin a cha ins, Acerbis pl astic, Metzeler (o n the four-s tro kes) a nd Pirelli (on the two-st rokes) tires a nd Ch rome Mol y frames. Plu s, a ll th e Huskys co me wi th 30-day engine a nd fra me (parts on ly) warranties. T he o ff-ro ad models sho uld be arriving o n showroom floo rs as we spea k, a nd will sha re th e sa me p rices as th e WMX mot ocrossers, Cagiva su ms up its 1990 lin eup by saying, " We have repositi oned ourselves in the U .S. market to in su re a healthy a nd exci ting fu ture. We have focused o ur motorcycles a nd promo tio na l ac ti vi ties tow ards th e enthusiast. Cag iva feels th e future of o ur ind ustry lies wi th the en th usiast, as the ent h usiast forms th e basis of our industr y." • The 51 Occ four-stroke will be available in both motocross and off-road versions. It has a claimed dry weight of 245 pounds and will cost $4350. 29

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