Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ ,~,; - :!/"~' • ~ . . ,. . "' " ,,' , ~ Another Italian four? The hist oric Gilera name - Ital y's old est m otorcycle marqu e , d ating from 1909, and the o riginato r o f the trans verse in-lin e four-cy li n de r motorcycle for mat later co pied by its MV Ag u sta riva ls, then by the Japanese manufacturers - has only e ver been seen o n a bun ch of scooters in th e las t halfd ecad e, ever since owners Piaggio :r shu t the company's ~ Arcore factory nea r ~ Mon za in 1992 and Q s to p p e d making ~ Gilera mot orcycles , z Su ch badge-engineer in g on gl o ri~ fied Vespas has not ~ o nl y go ne Italian --' ba d ly with down i L.:... -r-t wid en its mod el ran ge at the to p end , while targeti ng one of its main compe ti- . tor' s best -selling bikes, as well of course as the BMW twin and four-cylinder lineup - even if there's understood to be no fou r-cy linder version of the Triumph in • the works. Still, it looks like the sport-touring customer will be spoiled w ith choices come the 1999 model year! M Guzzi makes more agni Not displa ying its wa res a t th e Milan Sh ow on the gr ounds o f co s t but st ill very mu ch in busines s is Italian specialist manufacturer Magni. whose line of Mo to Gu z zi -e ngined bike s will be extend ed in 1998 by a new model develope d in respon se to Ma gni 's Japa nese importer , Fukuda Motors. This is a fu ll-fairin g version of the r Sfida 1100 neoclassic spo rtbike powered by the fuel-injected versio n of the Gu zzi 1100 pushrod mot or. Th is has bee n in production for the last 18 mont hs, with the majority of the bike," buil t go ing to Japan . Prod uction of the new Magni Giap p one 52 will begin in Marc h of next ye ar , sa ys co m pa ny bo ss Gio va n ni Magn i, and each bike will be pa inted in the red-and-sil ver MV Agu sta colors, to denote hi. father Arturo 's tw o-d ecadelong connection as chief mechan ic with the famou s Italian race team, which he joine d from rivals Gilera in, er, 1952 he nce the name of the b ike, of which only 52 in dividually numbere d examples will be const ructed ! Honda courting Gilera? This isn' t the firs t time a 600cc Gil era four has been a subject of specu lation (see box): Back in 1990, Piaggio revealed a deal with Honda to purchase CBR600 engines in order to create an Italian-built superspo rt contende r the quick an d easy way. The deal fell apart with the closure of the Gilera factory an d the Italian marque's withd rawal fro m the mot orcycle mar ke t - b ut Pia gg io' s evide n t ly reawakened enthusiasm for the project, co u p le d wi th H ond a ' s top mana gement's announ cem en t a t the Pari s Show that they are exploring closer links with va rio us Europea n m an u fact ur e rs , ind udi ng the esta blishmen t of joint ven- e n th us ia s ts who remember the Gilera domination of 500cc Grand Prix racing in the 1950s - this year is the 40th anniversary of Bob Mcintyre's his toric IT victory on a Gilera, when he became the first man to lap the Isle of Man IT course at over the magic "ton" (100 mph) - but also seems sho rt-sighted, given the inh erent value in tod ay' s world of such a histori c name. With Bene lli, MV Agu sta and Moto Gu zz i all making a motorcycling come back to the marketplace under new owners who understand the commercial potential of such leg endary marques, the pr essure has been increas ing on Piaggi o to revive the Gilera name and start ma king motorcyd es bearing it again - if only to be in a pos ition to cash in on its past glories . Given that Piaggio is owned by the Agnelli family , w hose Fiat car group now includes Ferrari, Maserati and AUa Rom eo among its array of trophy marques, the world's th ird-largest manufacturer of powered two-wheelers appa rently need s no lesso ns in how to earn a profit from the history books. Th ou gh the cha nces of a Piaggio-developed World Superbike contender bearing the Gilera name bein g ready to race head to head aga inst the MV Agos ta F4 are very slight, sources in Italy insist that Piagg io is working on a four-eylinde r 600cc supe rsport Gilera project, which, however, hasn't yet reached the stage of bein g definitely approved for production. Lucio Masut, Piaggio's chief enginee r (by coincid ence, he occupied the same post with Gilera until 1989) rece ntly wen t on the record in an in tervie w wi th an Italian journalist to ad mit by implicati on the existence of the Gilera 600cc project, when he stated that "noth\!'g has been decided yet." Asked in person at the Milan Show to elabo ra te on this, Masut said only , '1 can't talk abo ut this; it' s too ea rly to make any definite statement." So, draw you r own conclus ions - bu t the chances of a fuel-injected DOHC 16-valve Gilera 600cc four coming on line befo re the next millenium must be better than even. Supersport racing looks se t to get even hotter... The historic Gilera name - ltaly's oldest motorcycle marqua - may be on its wa y back into the motorcycle world after several years of only scooters bearing the name. Sources indicate that lt will be on an In-line fourcylinder supers port bike. tures an d the supply of Honda com ponents such 'as engine packages, raises a question mark ove r its revival. Honda executives insist Piaggio isn't (presently) one of the compa nies wi th which they're discussing: a relationship but w ho knows what may happen in the fu ture? And if th ey aren't talki ng to them , w ho are they talking to...? H ey art arl Customi zed Harley-Davidson motorcycles are a two-wheeled art form, say admirers - but now their artistic merit is to be recogn ized by a unique exhibition . to be staged in London ea rly in the New Year . Opening at the prestigious government-owned Barbican Art Gallery in London's fina ncial district on January 22 is The Art of the Ha rley, a display of 30 of the world's mos t famo us and unique cus tom H ar leys, w hich seems se t to meet its orga nizers' daim of provi ding a unique insigh t into the history of Harley cus tomizing worl dwide from 1945 to the present da y. The exhibition ~ whi ch is one of the ·launch events of "Inve nting America," the Barb ican's year-long celebration of American arts and culture - unites bikes like the Cap tain America chopper from the mo vie "Easy Rider" an d ZZ To p' s famous Hoggzilla with a duster of Hog customs by legend ary builders such as Arlen Ness, four of whose creations will be on display. Europea n Harl ey cus to ms are also featured , wi th emp hasis on the various cou n tr ies' s ty les, ran g in g from the Swedish Cho p to the Ge rma n Mu scle Bike. The influence of retro styling will be featur ed, with a historic cus tom display, as well as various spinoff aspects of the custo m Harl ey movem ent, covered in so-called "Soft Roo m" interactive infonna tion areas, "The Art of the Harley" exhibition is open every day of the week until Ap ril 26, and is expect ed to attract Harley fans from all over Europe. For more information, phone the Barbican Art Gallery at 44-171-588-9023. Ducati upstheante Ducati 'p rod uction has now increased to 140 units per day, accord ing to com pa ny manager Massimo Bord i, resu lting in a 27,OOO-bike total production for the 1997 model year. For 1998, volume is pr ojected to rise to 31,000 bikes in total, with an inc rease to a productio n level of 150 units per day by the time ma nufactu re of the new Pier re Terbla nche-designed fue l-injected 900sS begins in Ma rch. As the only com pletely new Ducati mod el plan ne for the coming year, this d will be the main prod ucti on target for '9B. The non -appear ance of the expected ST4 at Milan - a n upra ted exam ple of the 944cc two-valve ST2 powered by a revi sed version of the 916's otto valvole s upe rb ikc mo tor - is att r ib u ted b y Ducati insiders to the fact the ST2 was late gelling into production, and to the d esire not to let it overlap in the ma rketplace wit h a re lative ly simil ar new mod el. But the ST4 looks set to be launched at th e Mu nich Show in a year's ti me, giving mile-ea ting sport touring performance - a t a price - to ma tch Honda 's new VFR, wh ich by no coincidence uses a modified version of the fuel-injec ted RC45 mot or that jus t d efeated the 916 desmo V-tw in for the '97 World Supe rbi ke cr own! r-, 0\ 0\ ...... 0\ .... N M a ybe by then Du ca ti wi ll have ClJ regained its world title, to set the ST4 on .0 its way. And then , of cou rse, there 'll be · 0 the new Triumph "TFR" triple: Hm mm U - if '98 is surely the year of the spo rtbike, '99 loo ks certain to be spo rt-tourer territory. .... o 5

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