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/127860
SHOW ye ar will start in December, says Marconi, at a price just under 50 million lire, in time for World Superbike homologatio n of a t least 200 units by March I. This reall y is a racer with lights. Without lig hts but still a Bimota-built productio n racer is the new Vertemati VR500 . Th e VR500 is a join t ventu re between the Italian off-road specialists and the Rim ini factory to manufacture the four -valve, fou r-stroke single developed by Ver te mati a nd lau nched at Mila-n in bo th mo to cros s and end uro form (okay, so the re is one lig ht). Prod uction of the tota l of 1500 chrome-moly tubular -st eel- fram ed bikes planned for 1998 w ill begin in Bimota' s factory in December, w ith both three- (motocross) and five-speed (end uro) trans missions p lanned , and a d iffer en t st a te of tu ne, depending on projected use. Meanwhile, its Italian rival Husqva rna pr epared for the October production d ebu t of its new four-s trok e engine (eq uipp ed with a cou nter ba la nce r, an electric-st a rt er a nd prop er oil pump) wi th a varied ran ge of TE/TC m odels 1991Milan Show: Part 1 ou t lights), with 500 unit s p lanned for '98 - mainly tar geted initially a t the U.S. . m ark et, wi th a retail price of a bo u t $12,000. Future versio ns are planned in Supermotard and Sportbike street form but interest also centers on KTM's plans for the sam e eng ine des ign, which High land claims to ha v e un der ex cl usive license. With Triumph' s on ly new mod el bei ng the exten sively pr evi ew ed Thunderbi rd Sport, and BMW pr eferring to allow sn eak photos to be publish ed in the German press of its Rll00S Sp ortBoxer prototype due to enter production ea rly next year rather than launch the model ju st y e t (a s w ell as opting to debu t the ir no-hel met C-I townbikewi th-a- roo f where it really belonged - at the Fran kfur t Mo to r Show the week before Milan), th at left the only other co m p any w ith a n eq ua lly d istincti ve engi ne format, Moto Guzzi. Apart from va rio us up dates to its existing V-twin range (including - at last - adjus table handl ebars on the VIO Centa uro ), as well as once again showing (Right ) Bimola's Mant ra appeared with some styling and color changes for '98. t, (Left ) A brand-new Swed ish com apny called Highland debuted Its Idea of a tr ue openclass ott-reed machine, a 950cc V·tw in· powered dirt bike producing 80 to 100 hp, depending of state of tune. (Below) The anticipated SB8R superblke fro m Bimota is powered by a mod ified version of Suzuki's TL1000 engi ne filled with a TDDlB imo ta fu el-Injection system. A conven tional Ohllns rear shock Is used rather than SUZUk rot ary damper. Through som e' , i's cleve r design tricks, the 400·pound superbike has a 54/46 percent front weig ht bias I unheard of on a 9()"degree V-twin. t; desig n ed to take advan tage of it including a prototype Supermotard street rod that looked seriously smart in black and chrome, with 17-inch wheels and radical rubber. . As light relief, the Husqva ma Mantis off-road scoo ter (really a made-in -Tai wan Ca giva pain ted blue a nd yellow) took some kind of a pri ze, thou gh. KTM a n d Husaberg only sh o w ed . updates of existing mod els, but a for e-t as t e o f what the Austrian V-t w in enduro schedu led for lau nch a yea r from now will look like wa s provided by an all-new company making its internation al d ebu t in Mil an, th e Sw edish H ighland bra nd . This mo d el em p loys the compact, ultralight 79-po und Folan 950c c liquid -cooled 60-d eg ree V-tw in eng ine, measuring 95 x 66mm and fitted with 40mm Mikuni carbs a n d a s ix speed transmissi on . It's been und er developmen t for som e years, but now at last is fitted with a vibr ation-sapping balance shaft, as we ll as a proper oil pump. Pro ducing between 80 a nd 100 bh p, d ep en din g o n specification, the High lan d w ill enter prod u ction th is winter in off-road form (wit h and wi th-