Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

in Milan, the uprated, restyled R1150RS version of the company's existing sports tourer, which now delivers 95 hp at 7250 rpm and is fitted at last with the six-speed gearbox found on other Boxer models, and the almost inevitable R 1150GS go-anywhere version of the same family. VOR, VERTEMATI & TM A very different kind of street single was to be found on the VOR, Vertemati and TM stands, with all three Italian specialist off-road manufacturers launching Supermoto versions of their existing trail bikes powered by their own DOHC four-valve four-stroke motors ranging in capacity from 400 to 530/580cc. Each costing around Lire 20 million (or a costly $9500) in their home market, these bikes represent the best of Latin sporting traditions in modern minimalist guise - or alternatively, a fourth Italian specialist, Borile offered a retro take on that, with the beautifully detailed and imaginatively styled B500MT Supermoto which debuted at Milan, powered by the company's unique air-cooled four-valve motor derived from the World Speedway title-winning Italian GM design. Weighing just 235 pounds fitted with beefy 50mm Mazocchi Magnum forks and an offset WP linkless shock, the new Borile is already in production to special order alongside its established B500CR cafe racer sister. Also built in bespoke quantities is the Ghezzi & Brian Guzzi range of shaft-drive V -twin sportbikes, using Moto Guzzi engines which new owners Aprilia continues to supply them, and joined at Milan by the new Furia naked streetrod, based on the fuelinjected 1100S engine in five-speed form and standard tune, except for a bigger airbox, sports exhaust and remapped EFI. The firm built around 50 Guzzi specials this year, all with the same G&B rectangular beam frame, says partner Bruno Saturno, but expects to double that in 2002 with the sharply styled Furia due to enter production in February, fitted with the distinctive 420mm Braking perimeter front disc, 41mm Paioli upside-down forks and an Ohlins shock, and scaling just 418 pounds dry. Price in Italy is $15,000, including 20-percent local tax. MOTO GUZZI Moto Guzzi itself once again focused at Milan on the past rather than the future, and so too did its new companion in the Aprilia empire, Laverda: both historic marques packed their stands with exhibits from the factory museums, though Guzzi did reveal a couple of new takes on the California cruiser theme, with different paint jobs, the Stone and the Aluminum. It's to be hoped Aprilia's current problems with the saturated local scooter market don't delay the promised re-Iaunch of both marques, scheduled for 2003 - but it's worth noting that Benelli is downgrading its now deeply unprofitable scooter involvement in favor of fastforwarding motorcycle production of the Tornado triple, which is already giving a good account of itself in World Superbike, and which was again on display in Milan. ITAWET One scooter manufacturer successfully swimming against the outgoing tide is Italjet, whose 32,000unit annual production is already replete with niche-market novelties like the Dragster and Jet-Set. Owner Leopoldo Tartarini's two latest brainwaves debuted at Milan, and will be Tbe AprtIIa 81_ .....lnl. built around anRSY1000A ...._ _d .elghs'ust 343 pound•• rnakl 1t a lean n str\eblk•• It looks a lot like a newMillennium Seeley Matchl... with a V-twin motor. available in 50cc two-stroke and 125cc or 150cc four-stroke guise from June onward, powered by Piaggio motors - the 125 Amarcord, dubbed a 'scootermoto' for its twist'n'-go convenience added to the dynamic chassis qualities of a proper motorcycle, and the three-wheeler Scooop (sic - 3 x '0'1), which gives stability in turns thanks to the twin front wheels steered by a handlebar, yet allows the rider to lean into curves on the pivoting rear section of the vehicle. It'll be interesting to see if you can get your knee down on one. The events of September 11, just a week before the Milan Show press day, inevitably meant a near total absence of American visitors though Harley-Davidson's European staff debuted the all-new VRSCA VRod and Buell Firebolt XB-9X in public for the first time on a show-mustgo-on basis - as well as a lack of any Japanese company executives other than those based in Europe. Surprisingly, the only manufacturer to cancel its stand was British, not American: Triumph no-showed at Milan, albeit canceling for putative cost-efficiency reasons at the beginning of September, thus for reasons unconnected with what happened later - though the absence of the British firm caused a ripple of comment, especially among the Italian press who aren't used to John Bloor's idiosyncratic ways. With Honda launching its array of new models via the Internet and at dealer conventions around the world, it was the revised version of Yamaha's benchmark R1 which took center stage at Milan among the Japanese bikes on show, with its sleek, sharpJooking styling still retaining Yamaha's trademark look, while clothing what is effectively an all-new motorcycle, with no shared components with the older bike. The 20-valve slant-block DOHC engine is now fuelinjected and mounted 20mm higher than before in the all-new blackpainted Deltabox III chassis derived from the company's R7 Superbike racer (so Yamaha did after all get something from going Superbike racing) as well as more closely jncorporated as a stressed m mber, to sharpen the handling. Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki all held back significant new models for the Paris Show opening 10 days later, so the only major new mode from Suzuk,i - apart from the GSX 1400 musderod already announced - was the 650 Burgman mega-scooter, whose cornpletely undistinguished boat-like styling conceals one of the most innovative and arguably significant technical packages to make its appearance in the small-wheeled sector for many years. Powered by a fuel-injected 638cc 8-valve paralleltwin engine with almost horizontal 'cylinder block, the new maxiBurgman's greatest innovation is its transmission, which no longer features the ubiquitous variable-belt pulleys of other scooters, but a semiautomatic gearbox offering a choice of three different options, selected by a switch on the left handlebar. In the Normal position, the Burgman behaves like a conventional small-capacity scooter, using less rpm at normal road speeds, to conserve fuel. In Power mode, the scooter uses higher rpm like another maxiscooter, for added performance. And then, by using another handlebar switch, the Burgman 650 rider can swap between five predetermined gear ratios, either for a sportier ride, or to enhance engine braking, without the need to use the automatic centrifugal clutch. Due to go on sale in April of 2002, the 650 Burgman con-

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