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/128125
style, as well as a 650cc SOHC scooter motor of Ducati-type L-twin configuration, for better installation. In light of the MV Agusta deal, expect some of these engines to appellr eventullily in future Cagiva models, replacing the TL1000 Suzuki motors used in the RlIptor and NlIviQlltor, liS well liS in Gilerll products. MV AGUIITA With MV Agustll production now resumed in full flow, in the wake of the cllsh trllnsfusion impllrted by the link with Pillggio, the volume-production version of the Brutllie four-cylinder streetrod with lIttitude was dispillyed lit Millin, ready to stllrt production in Februllry next year after the completion of the 300-off Serle d'Oro limited-edition model due to commence manufacture in November. The Brutllie 750S uses aluminum chassis and swingllrm castings, where the Oro uses magnesium, as a result of which it weighs in 13.2 pounds hellvier at 407 pounds, but otherwise is mechanically identical and costs substllntially less, at Euro 16,500 ($15,219) in Italy. Also on dispilly were the production version of the power-up F4 SPR sportbike, producing II claimed 146 hp at 13,900 rpm with a dry weight of 414 pounds, liS well as an F4 masquerading as a Mondial in blue and silver colors, with the v.arious MV Agusta aftermllrket parts now available from the factory catalog for the model, includIng those magnesium castings formerly only available in the Serie d'Oro version. In other words, roll your own - but it's worth noting that a privateer MV Agusta F4 has been racing all season long in the World Endurance series with heavy support from factory technicians at each race. On-track R&D, that's called. Various detail styling updates on the Cagiva Raptor range were also on view, including several versions with clear plastic handlebar fairings, while Husqvarna's main novelty was the new SM400 enduro and Supermotard models, derived from Stefan Merriman's World Enduro title-winning prototype. MONOIAL Across the hall from MV lay the Mondial stand with the blue and silver real McCoy, in the form of the customer version of the Honda RC51engined Piega Superbike now allegedly ready for production to begin in December, when the first 150 units of the 250 planned for 2002 manufacture will be assembled in the company's fllctory near Monzll. It's relldy for World Superbike homologation for next season, says company owner Roberto Ziletti, who in a fit of realism decided to focus on meeting the orders that rolled in via the BlIncll di Roma sales operation in the plIst six months, before restarting R&D of the factory Superbike which WllS also on display at Milan. While the Hondll V-twin engine continues to form the hellrt of the bike, Mondilll has now completed R&D of its own fuel-injection system EC(J, 60mm throttle bodies, and suspension, wheels and brakes front and rear, as well of course as the tubularsteel chassis and carbon-fiber bodywori(. With II claimed 136 hp lit 9500 rpm aVllilable on a bike sCllling 370 pounds dry with full street equipment, the Mondial promises to be the closest thing in terms of performance to Colin Edwllrds' factory Honda Superbike thllt you can buy with lights on even if it does come with a Latin twist. TIle Nuda naked streetrod version due to be unveiled at Milan has been put on ice, says Ziletti, and will instead be unveiled at Intermot a year from now. APRILIA Aprilia has also sent its Naked bike to the freezer, pulling the RSV1000-engined bike that it had concocted lIS an answer to the Ducati Monster and Cagiva Raptor from the company's Milan Show lineup at the last moment because, say company insiders, it wasn't considered to be individual enough compared to Miguel Galluzzi's two benchmark streetrod products to be worthy of bearing the Aprilia name - or to have a good chance of making its mark commercially. That dose of realism left the Italian company looking for an eye-catching new model to head up its display at Milan, alongside the slightly retouched versions of its existing RSV1000 V-twin range, the new X9 Piaggio-engined Atlantic 500 maxi-scooter, and the direct-injection Scarabeo 50 Ditech big-wheeler. The answer arrived when French style guru Thierry Henriette came knocking on the door looking for engines to power his Boxer VBl models if, as seems increasingly likely, the supply of Voxan motors he uses at present dries up with the French company's permanent demise. Thus, the inventive Henriette's Boxer Design offshoot was commissioned just two months before the show to produce a '60s-style cafe racer for Aprilia called the Blue Marlin, built around a 130-hp RSV1000R engine and weighing a remarkable 343 pounds dry, according to its creator. The lean, mean, stylebike hilS a composite chassis with a double-cradle tubular steel frame bolted to tall, cast-alloy rear uprights, surmounted by a long 3.9IIIIoID Qual ... "C gallon fuel tank that delivers the look of a new-Millennium Seeley Mlltchless, but with a V-twin motor. Henriette delved into the Aprilia Pllrts bin to come up with the Pegaso helldlamp, but says he'd have preferred to fit a pair of round ones to the carbon-fiber nosecone. An Ohlins 43mm fork and a Foumllies air shock made across the other side of town from Boxer's Toulouse bllse lire employed, with distinctive conical exhllust silencers borrowed from the Boxer Bl Naked streetrod, which is set to mllke its debut lit the Pllris Show next week - lind mllY, ahem, even end up bearing an Aprilill badge one dllY. Aprilia boss IVllno Beggio pronounces himself well pleased with the Franco-Italian joint venture: "It reminds me of the first rOlld bike I built with the Aprilia name on the tank more than 20 years ago, the 50cc Colibri," he says. "This hlld a similar lean, naked look, lind if the response is favorable from the markets we would expect to sell such a bike in, namely Germany, Britllin, France and Italy, we will definitely put the Blue Marlin into production.' Most likely outcome is a Iimitededition production run sold over the Internet, like the Ducllti MH900e Beggio has been watching the success of his Ducati rivals in the dot. com marketing sphere with interest. And expect a closer tie-up between Boxer and Aprilia - including a supply of engines to the French company for its own products. SACHS An equally minimalist motorcycle launched one year ago was the Sachs Beast, the target Design showbike powered by a Folan V-twin engine which the small German company again displayed at Milan, appropriately locked in a cage awaiting its release with the 60-degree V-twin 1000cc engine, which Sachs is developing itself for 2004 production. When that happens, expect an inter- esting Teutonic battle of the 60degree V-twins between the KTM LC8 Duke and the Sachs V2 Beast. Naked bike Valhalla! Meanwhile, a sportier version of the firm's more conservative VX800 Suzuki-powered Roadster now in production was launched at Milan - though bearing a different name from the one that was intended. "We decided that, after the events of the past week, we could not displaya bike that was called the Sachs Bomb," said company sllies chief Hartmut Huhn. Quite so. Instelld, the new SlIchs model will be called the V805 when it enters production in June next year, using the same mechaniclll and chllSSis packages as the existing Roadster 800. BMW At the opposite sCllle of things in Germany is BMW, which launched the F650CS street single in the metal at Milan that had 1I1relldy previously been Netted-out, and revealed it to be an urban lifestyle product aimed at the modemlst fmnUy with 2.5 mountain bikes and an espresso coffee machine, which wants to move up to a motorcycle from the maxi-scooter they have at present. The fuel-injected single has the accent on easy-rider user-friendliness, with a low seat, low center of gravity, very soft and compliant suspension, no-maintenance toothed-belt final drive with singlesided swingarm for easier wheel changes, a slot in the airbox cover that will take either a clip-on soft bllg, locked-in helmet, or hard case, lind II 105 mph top speed from a mechanical package delivering 50 hp at 6800 rpm and unchanged from the existing F650GS street trailie model, save for a remapped EFl, flatter airbox and 500 rpm higher rev limiter, so slightly more torque, too. The 415-pound bike goes on sale in November, alongside the two new Boxer flat-twin models also unveiled Continu~d insitk TttlT bcduc.d two " ....... of en..n" . _ of whIcII .. CIIIIecI ....... m.-. a U a • _ n __ • • 0cT0BEft to, 2001 cuoer