Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

FIRST LOOK ': Mota Guzzi VA·10 Superbike Engine . I:. Key to the compact build and reduced frontal area of the all-aluminum V-twin (Ferrari say s magnesium could be used for man y of the covers, once weight regulations are confirmed nearer the time of the VA-lO's race d ebu t) is the decision to nar row the cylinder angle from Guzzi's traditiona l 90- deg r ee for ma t to 75 degrees. In theory, this sho uld require the use of a p ower- sapp in g ba lance s haft to reduce vibration - bu t Ferrari has taken a page out of the Hond a design book and a do p te d th e o ff set cra n k p ins of t he NT 650 Hawk V-twin sportb ike . here spaced 30 d egrees a pa rt to rest or e the perfec t primary balance of a 90-deg ree Vtwin , but withou t its bulk. Seconda ry bala nce is obtained by usin g longer-th an u sua l co nn e cting, m ated to a n ultrashor t-stroke crank design. Bore and stroke are 100 x 63.5mm, for a d isplacement of 998cc - compa red to the 98 x 66mm format of existing Ducati, Suz uki and Honda one-liter V-twins. Ferrari says he projects 170 bhp at the , rear wheel in race form, at 13,000 rpm, with 135 bhp at 11,000 rpm the target for the street version of the superbike racer. Other capacity variants of the engine are a lrea d y project ed for va rious mod el s such as a sport tourer, custo m, trail bike and roadster, ran ging in size from 850cc up to 1200cc. Most of these are aimed primarily at th e cruiser marke t, a nd th e b ig g es t of t h ese will be a we t-sump design and may perha ps use carbs, says Ferrari , bu t otherwise all of them will be fuel-injected via a fu lly mapped, mul tipoint Mar elli -Weber package that will see triple injectors on each of the su perbike racer 's cylinde rs, twi n injectors on the street version, and single injectors on all other mod els. By Alan Cathcart Photos by Kyo ichi Nakamura 24 fter Du ca ti, Aprili a and MV Agu st a, now it' s the turn of the old est existing member of Italy's clan of race-bred marques to present its prototype su perbike engine for the next millenium: Moto Guzzi. Dist in ctive, com pa ct and bristlin g with innovative design features, the allnew 75-degree V-twin engine's imm inent arriva l look s se t to make the wings on Gu zzi's trademark eagle emblem flap a lo t hard er in th e new mill enium. Th e bare castings of the wa ter-coo led , fue linjected, DOHC VA-lO engine displayed at the Itali an press launch of the new Guzzi California Special road cruise r and du al-purpose Qu ota ES contrasted vividly with the elde rly pushrod motors fitted to these bikes, as we ll as with the aircoo led Day tona 8V high-cam engine on show next to it. But, fueled by the develop ment fund s b ro ug ht o n board by th e A merica n Tamarix investment bank whe n it boug ht into Guzzi's controlli ng Trid ent Rowan hold ing company last year, Guzzi managing director Oscar Cecchinato is plann in g a five-year over ha u l of G uzzi's en tire ran ge, spearhead ed by th e new en gin e design wh ich, in various forms, will gradua lly sup plan t the existing airco oled twin-cylinder ran ge over tha t period . In doin g so, Guzzi plans to develop a ran ge of models abl e to meet all noise and emi ssions regulatiqns planned for the next century, as well as offering conside rably more performanc e, plus added refinement. But the decision has already been mad e to start at the top by dev eloping a World Superbik e contender to launch th e new family of Mot a Gu zzi bikes powered by this engine . The MG-1 Superbike is set to debut at the Milan Show in September 1999, and to take to the race track soon after deliveries begin early in 2000, most likely following the sa me development cou rse planned for its MV Agusta F4 rival that's running one year ahead of it. This would see Moto Guzzi 's new su p erbike contend er make its competition debut in the AMA Superbike Series in 2000, run by legendary Gu zzi guru Dr. John Wittner, who remains closely linked to the Italian factory . After a dev elopment season racing in the States, plans call for Moto Gu zz i to contest the World Superbike series in 2001 with a full y sponsored two-bike wo rks team. The all-new engine powering Guzzi's world -class return to the race track for the first time in almo st ha lf a century - the company pulled out of GP ra cin g in 1957, after win n ing eig ht 250/350cc wor ld titles in as many years provid es a fascinat ing basis for a competitive racer, as well as a potent contender for sport-twin supremacy on the street. Moto Guzzi's first all-new engine for 20 years , and the first wa ter-cooled Guzzi motor since the legendary V-eight SOOcc GP bike of the mid -'5Os, the design is the work of the compan y' s chief engineer, Angelo Ferrari, who joined the Mandello (Left) Moto Guzzi has its superblke hopes pinned on the all -new 75-degree V-twin powerplant set to debut at the Milan show in Septembe r 1999. factory four years ago after head ing up R&D at Laverda , Lamborgh in i a n d Bugatti , and wa s immediately given the green light to begin work on the project by then Guzzi boss Amolfo Sacchi. Starting with a clea n shee t, Ferrar i has nevertheless succeed ed in retaining Gu zzi' s trademark transv er se V-twin architecture, while turning it to h is advantage to deli ver an engin e package that is both compact and narrow. Not only is the dry-sump design mu ch smaller than the current Dayt ona aircooled wet-sump motor (see photo), but, says Ferrari, the new design results in a bike the same width as Suzuki V-twin TL100OS, even once a rad iator has been ad ded - and that' s wi thou t the possible use of a Britten /Saxon /Moden as-t yp e rear -mounted rad iator to further reduce width. "Th e grea t advantage of the Gu zzi engine forma t is the packaging freed om it de livers ," says Ferrari. "We' re able to position the engine and fuel load where . we wa nt them in order to obtain the ideal weight dis tribu tion for the bike, as we ll as optimize induction and airbox design, and deliver a stro ng, narrow crankcas e that gives excellen t ground clearance even in racing conditions. And , above all, it's completely distinctive. No other man ufacturer can build a bike like this, even with all its advantages, without being seen to copy us." (Abo ve and below) Smaller, from every angle: The new powerplant is dramatically more compact than the eng ine it replaces. Output for t he DOHC eng ine is expected to be 170 bhp In race form, and sh ou ld make its racing debut In the United States In 2000.

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