Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

EUROFILE BY ALAN CATHCART Right now, it's one of those periodic times of upheaval for the Italian motorcycle industry, with several major developments - including key personnel and mana gement changes all taking place in recent weeks. Here's a roundup of the changing face of motorcycling the Latin way. Pierlulg l Marconi, chiel e ng ineer at Bimota an d th e man behind the Vdue and th e Te sl (and sta nding be hind th e bike tha t brings the two together - a Vduepowered Tesi), will s tep down Irom his post to join Aprllla. All change at Bimota The biggest shock has been the news that it' s all cha nge at Birnota, with the two top men in the innovative, influential Italian sportbike company depa rting for new pastures. It was alread y announced back in November that compan y boss Wa lte r Martini wo ul d be stepping dow n, but now it's been revea led that Bimota's chief engi neer, Pierluigi Marconi, a linchpin of the Rimini firm 's pro duct d evelop ment for more tha n a decade, is also leaving at the end of January - to join Aprilia! Ma rconi, 38, is only the third man in Bimota's 25-year history to ha ve held the specialist manufacturer' s design reins, tak ing over the top job in 1989 w hen his pred ecessor. Federico Martini moved to Gilera, having in turn succeede d Bimota co-fo und er Massi mo Tambu rini when he left early in 1983. Bu t even w hile he was an eng inee ring stu de nt at Bologna Un iversity, Mar coni had wo rked for Bimota w hen his stud ies allowed , having the sa tisfaction of seeing the subject of his mechanical-engineering thesis ado p ted by the Rimini firm in the form of the first hub-cent er-steered Ho nda- powered Tesi pro toty pe w hich ap pea red in 1983. . On gra dua ting in 1986, Ma rco ni joined Bimo ta full time a nd , aside from putti ng the Tesi into production with Ducati otto va/vole engines , he crea ted a host of other, mo re conventional designs, including the best-selli ng motorcycle in Bimota histo ry: the Suzuki GsX-RllOO-engi ned SB6 tha t's still in production today, com ple te wit h innovative Straight Line Concept twin-spar chassis design. 'However, it was the first Bimo ta to be bu ilt with the com pany's ow n engine, the new 500 Vd ue wi th its revolutionary direct-injected two-s troke V-twi n eng ine , for w hich Ma rconi is best know n tod ay. Per ha ps it wa s Marconi's dogged, determ ined and u ltimately su ccess fu l deve lopment of such a n ava nt-garde engineeringconcep t as the Vdue, added to his already peerless reputati on for chassis design, tha t persu aded Ap rilia boss Ivano Boggi o to headhu nt him - and that' s w hat the boss of the ambitiou s, fast-growing Ital. ian company ha s don e. Though no official annou ncement has yet been mad e, the word is that he's been hired to head up the new R&D opera tion Aprilia is creating in San Marino, a stone's throw from the Bimota factory and inspired by its rival's Cag iva CRC operat ion, which is loca ted in the same po cket-sized hilltop republic and whic h, headed up by Marconi' s predecessor at Bimota , Ma ssim o Tarnburin i, has produced such milestone mod els as the Ducati 916 and MV Agusta F4. Incestuous, isn't it? Thou gh he won 't yet talk on the record , Marcon i's bri ef is clearly to achiev e the sa me for Ap rilia as Tamburini has done for Cag iva and Ducati - to ov ersee development of a range of lar ge-capacity fou r-stroke motorcycles with lead in g-ed ge ch assis d esign a nd dyn amics, clothed by arres ting styling . Aprilia's curren t in- hou se des ign stud io a t its Noale factory is s kill ed at p rodu cing tre nd-se tting scooters and sma ll-c a paci ty motorcycles, but ha s non e of the big-bike expe rience or technical und erstanding needed to do the same with the family of 600-1000cc V-twins that Aprilia is now committed to producing. With production of the RSV1000 superbike s ta rti ng in April (thereby expa nd ing Aprilia's profile as a manufacturer upward ), the need for a Tamburini /CRC-type operation was paramount and who better to head it up than the younger man who followed so successfully in the ma ster's footsteps at Bimota ? Marconi's successor as chief engineer at Bimota will be his longtime understu dy, 34-yea r-old Luigi Marzocc hi, w ho has worked Happy birthday,everybody A B ~ 4 This is a year to remember for several motorcycle ma kers, all of which celebrate milestones in the ir history : It's th e 100th b ir t h d a y of t h e No rton marque, with James N orton's fra m e-making com pany founded in 1898 (though he did n 't produce a m otorcycle with his own nam e on the tank until 1902); BMW cloc ks up its 75th anniversary of mo torcycle manufacture; Ducati m a rks its 50th bi rth day in bike p rod uct ion (the long-established Italian pocke t-ca mera and radio specialists moving into m otorcycles in 1948 with the acquisition of the C ucci olo design from SlATA ); and Bimota clocks up 25 years in hi gh-tech , low-volume p roduction of the world 's most excl usive spo rtbikes. Definitely a party yea r, 1998 . In the ca se of th e two Ita lian man ufactu re rs, they're celebrating their an nive rsary wit h two su m me r ge t-togethers barely a week apart, each based a t the seaside circuit of Misa no, on Italy' s Adriatic coast. Firs t up is Birnota's bash , June 6-7, with alongsid e him as th e company' s chief developme n t engi nee r for most of the presen t d ecade. Marzocchi's brief will be to re tu rn Birnota to its root s - and tha t's the wo rd from the company's new managin g di recto r in successio n to Walter Martini (who de pa rted for fa mily rea sons, bu t w ho will remain on the Bimo ta boa rd ), 59-year-old Ca millo Martinotti. A former banker, who after wo rking for Fiat, has spe nt the last 12 years as fin a nce d irec to r of Rimini-ba sed woodworking machinery giants SCM (who recentl y bou ght contro l of the similar rival empire ow ned by Giancarlo Morbidelli, crea tor of th e Morbidelli V8, w hose chas sis and revised styling is the wo rk of... Bimotal , Martinotti ha s no di rect motorcycle-ind ustry expe rience on his resume, but says he has analyzed Bimota thorou gh ly as a company and is convinced the compan y need s to return to its roo ts, to specialize in producing the leading-edge sportbikes t hat mad e it famous. . "We mu st concentra te our efforts on a small number of high -caliber pr oject s, to co nsolidate our image as a d yn amic co m pa ny de livering high- techn ology products," he says . "My objective is to provid e a so u nd financial base and strong corpora te s tructu re , which will allow ou r expert team of enginee rs to concentra te on crea ting exciting new mod els wh ich represent Bimota's innova tive de sign p hilosophy." • That mean s not onl y an add ed emphas is on racing, but that the 1500 handmade bikes planned for 1998 production will consist only of the 500 Vdu e, sB6R and the new Suz u ki TLlOOOR-powered sB8R twin - sharp-edged spo rtbikes all, so no more Mantras or projected spo rt tourers.-The compa ny will, however, honor Birnota's com mitment to build the range of Verternati four-stroke MX and endu ro sing les lau nched a t the Milan Show last September. As part of the ir new em p has is on return ing to the marque' s spo rting past, Bimota managem ent has refound ed the factory race tea m, wh ich will contest th e 1998 World Superspo rt series with wo rks Yama ha-powered YB9SRi machines ridden by French for mer GP winn er [ea n-Philip pe Ruggia and Italian Serafino Foti. The team will be man aged by Stefa no Ca racchi , whose Gia.Co.Moto team took Paolo Casoli to the 1997 World Supersport crown. But all eyes are on 1999, w hen Bimota will return to the Wor ld Superbike Cha mpio ns hip it came so close to wi nning a d ecade ago. The sa me wo rks team that will contest the World Su persport series will ru n the SB8R, development of the race ver sion of whic h will be another of Ruggia's ta sks in the com ing seaso n . Mea nwhile, new desig n chie f Mar zocchi' s first priority will be to develop a successor tothe YZF600-engined YB9SRi for the crucial su pers port class - thou gh not necessa rily wit h the new Rl -derive Yam aha 600cc four-cylind der engine exp ected to make its d ebu t in 1999. Expect Suz uki's current GSX-R600 motor to be a strong candidat e to provide the basis of a future middlew eight sport Bimota fitted wi th Bimota's own TOO fuel injection. Marzo cchi to replace Marcon i (who took over from Ma rtini) , Martino tti to succeed Marti ni - it' s eas y to decipher whic h thr ee letters your nam e must begin wit h if you wa nt a top job at Bimota! a series of festi vities as well as an opportunity to tour the factory punctuating the chance to wear a groove in the Misa no tarmac during two days of track time. Contact Pierpaolo Catani at the factory by fax (all 39(o l541 383259) if you 're a Bimota owner and would like more details. A week later comes -the World Ducati Weekend (WOW) , Ju n e 11-14 , whic h , t h ou gh b a sed i n Mi sa n o, a lso offe rs Ducatisti the cha nce to ride ov er and visit th e Bolog na factory 90 miles away. A series of scenic region al road rid es u sing road books supplied by Ducati accompany the liberal availabili ty of Misano track time for races as well as noncompeti tiv e sport riding, wit h picnics, eve ning barbecues, discos a nd a giant beach party all part of th e extensive socia l program . The chance to meet and hear Ducati's famed engineers an d designers (me n such as M assi mo Bord i, Pier r e Terblanche , Fabio Taglion i and Franco Fame), as well as see the extensive range of historic bikes scheduled to be on display in the hill top ci ty of San Ma ri no , s ho u ld ma ke this a memorable occasion for hard ened desrno addicts. A key element"of th e fact ory d ay on Ju ne 14 will be the opening of the new Ducati museum in th e Bo rgo Pa nigale plant, containing so me of the rarest and most hi stori c d esig ns in Duca ti history including th e V-fo u r d esmo prototype engine and man y other stillbo rn p rojects. For furthe r in forma tio n, con tac t yo ur lo ca l Duca ti dea le r , o r lo g o n to th e Ducati Int ernet site at www.ducati.com . Italian separatists change Germany The sep a r a ti o n of Ducati a nd Cagiva /HVA ha s inevitably resulted in big changes to the res pective companies' distribution 'networks aro u nd th e world, with the biggest surprise so far occuring in Ge rma ny, w here es ta blished Du cati im po rter DNL ha s been given the boot in favor of a com pa ny-ow ned ope ra tion in con junction wi th the co u n t ry's fo r mer number-one p a ralle l importer , Ron al d Ma rz. . A look at the cou ntries respon sible for selling Ducati 's 1997 production of 27,041 motorcycles explains w hy . Apa rt from a huge increa se i n Italian ho m e-ma r ket sa les to aro und 5000 units, the best-selling m arket for Ducati la st yea r was Great Britain, with 3800 units - a 104-percent increase ove r the last year of fu ll prod uc- ' tio n in 1995 , a nd s ufficient to earn UK importe r Moto Cine lli' s boss, H oss Elm, the Ducati fac tory's Dis tributor of the Year award . N ext came the Uni ted Sta tes w it h 3200 units (a 68-perce n t in cr ease), while lan gu ishing m uch farther down the scale is Germanv, wit h 2790 bikes sold - a 39-perce n t decli ne over 1995's figure of 3872 units. In Fran ce, too , im porter Ma rce l Seura t's SIMA company has also been ous ted b y Du ca ti, bu t h e r e tains th e Cagiv a / H VA fra nc hise, in w h ich form h e' s a lready ma kin g pl an s for a factory MV Agusta endurance team to contes t the Le Mans and Bol d'Or 24 Hour races in 1999! Bu t Cagi vas biggest s ur prise is reserv ed fo r Japan, w he re Cagiva Japan has been formed to import Varese-built bikes under th e control of no ne othe r th an Ka zuno ri M a e ka w a , Yama ha 's fo rmer 500cc GP boss who has now teamed up w ith h is fo r mer Cagiva rivals! Cagiva Japan will be officia lly launch ed a t th e Yokoha ma Bike Show in Ma rc h, w here th e M V F4 w ill also m a k e its Far Ea st d ebut on its stand. Ducati rolls on Production of the new Pierre Terblanchedesigned Ducati 900SS is due to start on time in March, with factory tes ter s insi sting tha t th e cantilever-sprung two-valve desmo sports bike han d les as well on the stre et as the 916. Looking further ahead, Duca ti management now confirms th at th e ST4 ott o valvole ve rs io n of t h e a ccl a i med ST2 , s p o r t tourer will be lau nched a t the Munich Show in September, to provide what Ducati hope will be knockout blow to the new VFR Ho nda. Then, in 1999, th e lon g-awaited debu t of a s tree t v ersion of th e Supermono sing le (introd uced as a ra ce bik e in 1993) is set to be pro du ced . However , Duc ati ma na gement has so many key execu tives of th e Bologna comp an y w ho are un ashamed supporters of the " r a ce r with li ghts " fo r which so m any Ducatisti h av e be en as king that, th is tim e around , it lo oks odds-on th e Supermono Strada will make its d ebut at th e 1999 Milan Show - bu t no t with the 90055 chassis th at on e Italian m agazine insists will be employed as a cos t-saving measu re! "You ca n no t be se rious if vo u think thi s will happen ," says a factory insid er. "Eith er we do this properly, or not at all." Wait and see. a Magni adds amodel Mo toCuzzi's projected move to Mo nza w ill brin g th em a li tt le closer to th eir Magni pa rt ners at Sa rna ra te , th e small specialist manufacturer run by one- time MV Agusta race chief Arturo Magni and h is so n Giova n ni, which prod uces jus t 200 h a nd -bu ilt spo rtbikes e ach year, usi ng M ot o Guzzi e n g in e s fi tted in Magn i's ow n chassis, with s ty ling also done in-house. Magni has just announced its lates t m od e l. a lmost inevitab ly a n eig h t-valve version of th e exis ting h alffaired, retro-styled Sfida 1100ie cafe racer, b u t u s in g th e h ig h -cam D ay tona 1000 m otor in p la ce of th e 1100 Spor t t wova lve pu sh rod engine. Boih bikes are, of co u rse, fuel injecte d and u se th e sa me box -sec tion s tee l-backbone chassis, fitted wi th Ceri ani Forcella Itali a suspens ion, top-level Brembo bra kes, 17-inch March-

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