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/128107
o Italian Super bikes ~!1,{1f) @(]fJjJ)§[jJ@@[jJfB£j @ /l[jJ§ § /l It's About Vibe It 's About Grip ' Ifyou want to pick up on the Italian vibe, you may need to go no furth er than an Italian specialty bike shop. Presumi ng that yo u have one in your area, we guarantee that it will offer quite a different experience than walk ing through the door to you r local Honda dealer. That was jus t the case when we stopped by GP Moto rcycles of San Diego, California, for two of the three test bik es. Through an agreement with the manufact urers, GP supplied us a Ducati 996 and an MY Agusta F4S. Housed in a quaint brick buildi ng on the corne r of 16th and G Street in San Diego, California, GP is the third largest Ducati dealer in the country , and also carries all br ands in the Cagiva (Cagi va, MY Agusta, Husqvarn a) and April ia (A prili a, Moto Guzzi, Laverda) groups, along with a full catalo g of aftermarket goodies from Italian hot rod boutiqu es such as A rr ow , Term ign oni and Marchesini . to name a few. Acc ord ing to GP owner/partner Paul Lim a, the business has been selling Italian brands for the past 10 years, puttin g it in a perfect position to capita lize on the growi ng lust for Italian motorc ycl es. "People are wakin g up," Lim a says. "It' s the same thi ng that turned me on when I started with vintage bik es. They may not work as well as some other bikes, but they have personality in the way they 're built, the way they're designed. They do have character. You can buy any new sport bike and have a bike that works well, but not everything has character. Once you do have a bike that has character and instills a pride of ownership , it's hard to go back . It' s like , all food does the job. but not all of it tastes good." According to Lima , these days it is easier to weed out the elements of unreliability and disting uish them from true character . as Ducati has continu ed to refine its popular mode ls and Aprilia has set new standards for reliability with its line. "Aprili a is a very mainstream com pany , and there shouldn' t be any reservatio ns in anybody's mind about buying an Aprilia because of some idiosyn cracy ," Lim a says. "They' re as dialed in as any other company. With Ducatis, especia lly with the superbik es, a guy should be a little more tuned Into keeping the bike serviced and keeping it right. An Aprilia is more like a Japanese bike , where you can flog it and not really think about it as much." Of course. ther e's no accounting for the economy, but Lim a doesn't really see the trend toward Italian fever cooli ng off anytime soon. "I think that there are still people out there that don't know what Ducatis are," Lima says. If you want a ta ste of GP's m oj o . call them at 6 19/ 233-4 76 2 or ch eck them out at www.gpmotorcycles. com . "It's about grip. It's not about mi leage or compromise. It's about grip. So it's definitely not for everybody." That line from the Pirelli press release ju st about sums up the company's new Supercorsa Street and Supercorsa DOT race tires . which vary only in their com pound and noth ing else. For our test purposes, we chose the Supercorsa DOT race versions . The Supercorsas utilize Pirelli's patented O-degree steel-be lted radial construct ion, the beit wound in the direction of the travel to reduce intemal heat-prod uci ng friction that can occur in cross-belted radials. Pirelli's singl e-belt construction also reduces tire weight to combat centrifugal growth , which creates a more stable contact patch, aids trac tion and extends tire life. On th" front tire, the O-degree belti ng is also said by Pirelli to work as a sort of steering damp er, helpi ng to control front -end oscillations in bike s prone to them. Afte r havi ng belted out a few hard-riding miles on them at Laguna Seca, we certain ly have to give the Pirelli s two thumbs up for over all stic kiness and solid feel under braking. Sure, Rousseau lost his grip, but th at was hardly the fault of the tires, now, was it? The Pirelli Superco rsa line Is available most popular 17-inch sportbike sizes, with suggested retail prices ranging from $ 180.95 to $187 .95 Jor th e fronts and $207 .9 5 to $245.95 for the rears. For more information, see your local motorcycle dealer or contact Pirelli Motorcycle Tir e Divis ion, 300 North Pottstown Pike. Suite #280 . Exton , PA 19341 , phone : 610 /524·2190. th e b ra k e le ve r comes all th e w ay to ROMANCE the h andleb a r b efore t h e re a l power k i c k s i n . No a mo u nt of adj u st i ng O f cou rse , th is is m ore subjective, but it really st rikes to th e hea rt of the seemed to all evi ate the fee lin g, w hich m atter wh en d iscussing It ali an b ikes , is q uite unnervi ng until y ou g et use d and, w e fe e l , is what re a ll y d i vides this t r io into t w o di sti nct c a m p s. Just as we dis cus s ed f r o m the t o it . You cou ld, h o w ever , co u nt on some h el p fr om th e f o ur- pi st on 2 10mm rear un it , whic h offere d a fa ir a mou nt of pow er and pl enty of pro - ' that is . That's when the n ightma re to en d all n i g h t mares t o o k pl a c e , but we'll get to t hat . The Aprilia RSV w as the true sweetheart of th e g r oup , thoug h , ab le t o p low thro ug h an y surfac e irregularity like a Ca dillac o n two w heels. Li k e th e M V, the RSV spo rt s a Sh owa (4 3 m m) front fork and Sa chs shock in arrears . The c o m bi n at io n seemed to be w ell suited to th e bike, w hich, th anks to its alumi num p eri met e r c has si s, rea ll y a llowed th e rid er t o fee l ex act ly how the sus pension w as rea cting. The RSV offers th e sm ooth est, most mellow rid e In typica l Duc ati fash ion, the floa t i n g 320mm rot ors a nd fou r - pi s t on ca li pers on the 996 requ ir e p le nty of effort t o whoa t he b ik e from speed . Th e y o ffer d ec ent f e e l at s lowe r speeds , but w he n the v elo city is h igh , plan on using a v ise-li k e grip to ge t t o t he b est o f th e braking . By t he way , d on 't cou n t o n mu ch h elp f rom the 220m m tw o -p is ton uni t o u t b a ck e ithe r. In typ ic a l Du c ati fas hion , it's m o r e o f a d ec orat i o n t ha n a tru e T he M V Agu st a F4S , o n t he other h and , fee ls as though it could stop o n of th e lo t. g ression at the lev er - an ac e in t he e rn co n ve nie nces tha t li f e h as to ho le w hen trail -braking d eep into t he offer. Th ey p lace prem iums on such fac t ors as eas e of us e and ultimate La guna corn ers. On c e a g a in , th ough , th e semifloati ng 320mm Brembo s w ith th e four-pot cla m ps on the Apr ilia RSV M ille offered th e best of both worlds: s oli d fee l a t t h e le ve r a long with excelle n t sto p pi n g p ow e r. Fu rther m ore , i t w as t h e ma chine th at re quired t he least help from th e rear brak e, th ough the 21 Omm two-piston re ar bra k e was dialed in fa r bette r stop pe r. a d i me wi t h its 310mm ro tors wi t h BRAKING t ha n t ha t f oun d o n t he 996 . Th e Aprilia ' s b rakes simply feel the most balanced at an y speed . rel iability . For them , cha racter is sirnply d efined in that, whate ver it is, it work s fo r t hem . If those pe ople were to bo th er sh opping for an It al ian bike, then they w ou ld probab l y find t h e Aprilia RSV M ille as the best fit for their lifes tyle. Ba lanced a nd civil, the Aprili a le a n s far closer to the ma in st r ea m Japan ese motorcycles tha n it s cou ntrym ates , the Ducati and the MV A gu sta. It bo asts m o re of a h ightech fee l than e it her of t h e others, and , pack a ged i n that aluminum f rame a nd n e w - wave It ali a n bod y- six-p iston calipers . The problem is - A ll thre e of o ur b ik e s co me equ ip p ed w ith so me Ja p a nese co mp on ents , such as Sh owa fo rks , b ut in t he b rak ing ' d epa rtm en t , it' s a ll ltal ian , as Brembo p ro v id es t he b in d ers f or April i a , Du c ati and MV A gu st a . And , j u st li ke th e b ik es t hemsel ves , each sy ste m o ffe rs a n individ u al fee l wh en it comes t im e to slo w d own and flick a p articular b ike into a corner. b e gi nnin g , the re a re t ho se i n this · w o rl d wh o are c ontent with the mod - at least it was o n our test b ik e - that ENGINE VALVETRAIN BORE x STROKE DIS PLACEMENT COMPRESSION RATIO CARBURETI ON The source o f the stupendous symphonic sound waves. IGNITION TRAN SMISSION CLUTCH FRAME WHEELBASE RAKEITRAIL SEAT HEIGHT SUSPENSION FRONT REAR Liquid-coo led, in-line four-cylinder DOHC. radial four valves per cylin der 73.8 x 43 .8mm ',' • . . ... .,,749 .4cc 12.0:1 Weber Marell i 1.6M, integrated ignition-injection system w/ multipoint electro nic inject ion CD! Six-speed cassette Multiplate in oil bath Chrom oly steel tubular trellis .55.04 in. NA j] 03mm 3 1.1 in. Showa 49mm upside down fork w] 4.65 in. travel; full y adju stable Progressive, w/ single-sided swingarm ; Sachs shock w/ 4.72 in. travel; fully adjustable TIRES FRONT REAR WHEELS FRONT REAR BRAKES FRONT REAR CLAIMED DRY WEIGHT FUEL CA PACITY MSRP 30 JUNE 6, 2001 • cue I e n e vv s ~ Pirelli Evo Dragon 120/ 60 ZR17 Pirelli Evo Dragon 190/50 ZR17 Brembo 3.50 x 17 Brembo 6.0 x 17 . (2) Brembo 310mm disc w/ six -pisto n caliper ( 1) Brembo 210mm disc w/ four-piston caliper .418 Ibs. .5.2 gal. $18,4 95