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
(Left)Trtumph's single new model this year is the Thunderbird Sport, yet another nostal gic version of the triplepowered Thunderbird range. (Below) Luigi Segale appeared with a rollin~ha s sis prototype of his VTR1 000-powered SR1000V, complete with single-sided swingarm and adjustable head angle. (Bottom) CagivaooOwned Husqvarna is preparing for an October.starting date to begin production on its new counterbalancer -equ lpped , electric-start s lngl~y l ind e r four-stroke. the pro totype lppogrifo 750 from a yea r 'ago (w hich - accor di ng to Gu zzi man age ment - will only enter production for the ' 98 model yea r in grea tly al te re d form to redu ce costs and and thu s lower the selling price), Guzzi's only real nov- elty was a new maxibike - the Vll Spo rt. Fitted with its new six-speed version of the fuel-injected pu shrod motor, this is an updated versioo of the 1100 Sport designed by Ce ntauro creator Luciano Marabese, and available in two colors - sil ver, a nd green (bo th w it h a red fram e). This is intended to recall Guzzi's most hist ori c (and collectible) early Vtwin of 25 years ago , the tclai rosso V7 o Sport, wh ich was effectively Italy' s firstever twin-cylinder supe rbike, and will form the backbone of Guzzi spor tbik e production in the coming year. Still, d e vel opment of the all-new chai n- d ri ve V-twin su p crb ike e ng ine co ntinue s and, tw o years from now, Italy will have still more superbikes to show off at its Supe rfelone - both twins and triples next time around . Meanwhile, though, the last of the small specia lis t chassis builders that once formed the core of the Italian bike ind us try showed his latest limited -ed ition spo rtbike at Milan (Guzzi specialists Magni opted once again not to displa y its wa re s) . Though Luigi Segale had time to complete only the prototype rolling chassis for his Honda VTR1000powered Se gal e SR1000V. Using his trademarked modul ar-fram e desi gn (purloi ned by Tamburini for the MV), this time with square-section chromemol y tubing for th e upper space fra rne mated to alloy eng ine plates also comprisin g th e pi vot fo r his sing le-sided , cast-aluminum monbra ccia swin garm, Scgale has succe ed ed in cu tt in g the Firestorm 's wh eelba se by 1.2 inches and its cla ime d d ry weigh t by 66 pound s, ' thou g h th e SR1000V' s protot ype full fairing bodywork was n' t di splay ed at the sh ow. Fitted w ith the newest Hmm GCB upsid e-d own fork a nd a Ceria ni rea r shock, Sega le ha s ret ained th e VTR' s sid e-m ounted radiat ors, but has ad opted an adjustable head angle that can be set anywhere between 23 degrees and 25 deg rees by use of its conical inser ts. Produ ction begins in January with a price tag of 40 million lire - but coming up next is Sega le's prom ised BlackBird CBRllOOXX-based special , w hic h he says a lrea dy exis ts in prot ot ype form . Big o r sma ll , no th in g succeeds li ke excess. l~ r-, 0\ 0\ ...... 00 ... .g . .... o QJ U 29