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/128127
Paris Show 2001 in the form of a 112 hp variant of the company's TLlOOO motor, inserted in a twin-spar aluminum chassis. The result is known as the DLlOOO VStrom - no, not a Janglish misprint but supposedly a reference to the unit of electricity of the same name - and is being marketed by Suzuki as "the first sport enduro tourer." Well, quite apart from any BMW or Triumph contender for that title built in the past 10 years, there's always the Cagiva Navigator using exactly the same engine albeit admittedly in detuned 98 hp guise - but the VStrom's 5.7-gallon fuel tank and protective half fairing with powerful 60/55W twin headlamps give some substance to that claim, especially since the fuel appears to be better distributed than on other such bikes, resulting in a manageable 830mm seat height, just 5mm higher than the more nimble-looking TDM900. The V-Stram's rangy 1550mm wheelbase and kicked-out steering geometry should give enduro-type stability, while the claimed 455pound dry weight makes it one of the lightest tarmac trailies, and the streetbike tires fitted as standard denote it as having a 100-percent tarmac focus. With Honda having already dealt a full deck of new models at its EuroDisney press launch the week before Milan, that left just Kawasaki out of the four Japanese to debut an important new product at Paris, in the form of the ZZ-R 1200 sport tourer, supposedly based on the ZZ-R1100 sportbike but in reality owing more in terms of the engine to the ZRX 1200 naked model. This sees the still-carbureted 1164cc engine producing a claimed 145 hp instead of 122 hp, fitted with a close-ratio six-speed gearbox and retuned for more mid-range torque and less emphasis on outright performance - though the 40mm carburetors have a TPS throttle sensor for crisper pickup and more linear power delivery. There's a stiffer frame, new suspension (though still conventional 44 OCTOBER 24, 2001 . . . . ..11 43mm cartridge forks up front) and all bikes come fitted with a catalyst as standard, irrespective of the market. Apparently, however, aimed at the Hayabusa end of the sport touring market, let alone Yamaha's new FJR1300 and the now aging Honda BlackBird, the ZZ-R1200 has fairly protective-looking bodywork (which has a 'face' very similar to Triumph's Trophy touring bike, but with an extra pair of 'eyes'), but still lacks a drive shaft, which counts it out as a serious sports tourer - Honda's made-over Pan European won't notice the competition - but it may well fit in the slot between the Megasports mafia and the Cap'n Sensible tourers. Kawasaki's stand also unveiled the VN1500 Mean Streak power cruiser in public for the first time, with a package of power upgrades to the 1470cc engine, including bigger valves, hotter cam timing, revised EFI mapping, larger throttle bodies and a more-performance-oriented exhaust. After sitting out the Milan Show for whatever reason, Triumph turned up at Paris with the new Bonneville America twin-cylinder cruiser ... • • n _ .. s launched at the start of the month and now in the shops, and the new 120-bhp Speed Triple streetfighter powered by the 955cc Daytona engine in its latest form, giving improved torque of 10 kg/m at 5100 rpm as well as the extra power, packaged in a shorter, lighter chassis, with the claimed dry weight of 415 pounds - down by 15.4 pounds over the older, slower model. Triumph also started celebrating its 100th birthday (in 2002, one year before the nextoldest current marques, Husqvarna and Harley-Davidson) with a limitededition version of its range-topping sportbike, the Daytona Centenary, which apart from some fancy paint and carbon bodywork also features the return of the single-sided swingarm no longer incorporated on the new, standard Daytona model. British dirtbike manufacturer CeM also had a new addition to its singlecylinder range, the R30 - a tarmacfocused supermoto still powered by the venerable air-cooled Rotax fourvalve motor. There's nothing much British about the MBK Jaguar, apart from its name - the Yamaha-owned French scooter manufacturer was just trading on its deal to supply the Fordowned British company's Formula One race team with paddock transportation. But another car manufacturer, Renault, displayed what was probably the most innovative machine at the show in the form of the Ublo three-wheeler, presented as an innovative alternative to the range of more conventional scooters launched alongside it which the French company has bought in from Benelli (thus helping underwrite .the Italian company's return to the motorcycle sector, and World Superbike racing, with the Tornado triple) and badge-engineered in an effort to match its great rival Peugeot's success on two wheels. Initially the brainchild of the Renault Design studio in. Barcelona, the project was taken in hand and developed by HQ in France, as an attempt to give more protection and comfort to commuters, with shapememory seats, reasonable storage capacity, and the added protection of an airbag. Rear vision is supplied by a camera, with the screen mounted on the handlebars, while the 124cc four-stroke engine which powers the vehicle has an electrically-controlled six-speed gearbox, and the final transmission is by twin belts fitted to each swingarm. Just another showbike special? Well, not necessarily remember the industry's reaction to the C1 BMW back in the mid-'80s? And, in any case, Renault's Head of Corporate Design, Patrick Ie Quement, says that the company intends to launch a production version of the Ublo in 2003. So - when do we see the Mercedes-Benz motorcycle? CN