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/128177
Novecento does now have a passenger seat fitted, even with the model's trademark extraction fans still spinning away beneath his/her nether regions - but designer Adrian Morton has succeeded in lowering the seat a crucial 10mm and also narrowing it behind the fuel tank/airbox shroud. The result is still a visually arresting motorcycle which looks fresh and distinctive even three years after its launch, especially in the bright-red colors of the show model (it's also available in sliver and black, as well as Benelli's traditional green-and-silver livery) in which to many visitors it evidently bore favourable comparison with Ducati's new 999. Now there's an interesting showroom battle... A plethora of Supermotard singles underlined the growing appeal of this low-cost, high-fun-Ievel, affordable form of sportbiking at Intermot, whether from major dirtbike specialists like KTM or its affiliate Husaberg_ marque (production of which will be transferred to the Austrian parent's Mattighofen plant next March), or small-volume specialists such as Vor, Vertemati (whose gear-driven dohc engine has been bumped up to 570cc in capacity, and now produces 55 bhp at the rear wheel), TM or CCM. British firm CCM launched the first model in its range powered by something other than an air-cooled single at Intermot - a Suzuki DR-Z400engined R40 liquid-cooled prototype that will be available next year in several versions, from street-legal fun enduro to hard-edged supermotard racer. The new range will run alongside CCM's existing R30 models powered by the heavier but more streetfriendly DR650 Suzuki motor from the Freewind, and will help the company increase production from less than 2000 bikes a year at present, to more than 3000 machines in 2003. The American answer to existing MX/enduro products was unveiled to European eyes at Munich, in the form of the Cannondale range, which is now being launched trans-AtlanticalIy. This included the new X440 motocrosser powered by the firm's radically revamped 432cc, fuelinjected, dohc, fOUT-valve engine with reversed cylinder head and five- bimotistil) and with some subtle touches has transformed them into the ultimate Naked streetrods, each capable of speeds approaching 180 mph for anyone brave - and strong enough to hold on tight. A notable no-show at Intermot 2002 was ltaljet, the specialist scooter manufacturer in which Piaggio was supposed to be taking a 20-percent interest, until its own cash problems became so serious. Founder Leopoldo Tartarini insists the firm is still solvent, but it may be that the collapse in the PTW market will cause him to close the doors. One that eVidently has alrea'c!y shut down is another famous Italian name, Garelli, whose Intermot stand space was instead spread with chairs for those to rest in. The display area was a trial of stamina. But much more buoyant among the scooter brigade - perhaps because it's supported by the profits of one of the few caT manufacturers to be in the black at the moment was France's Peugeot, which unveiled what was arguably the most significant technical novelty at Intermot 2002, its supercharged Jetforce 125 scooter, complete with fuel-injected four-valve, four-stroke engine and an aluminium twin-spar frame worthy of a GP motorcycle racer. The sharplystyled result is set to go on sale early in 2003 and to deliver the same performance as a 250, but with smaller bulk and weight, while increasing torque by 60 percent compared to an unsupercharged 125. Supercharging has been a step crying out to be taken by two-wheeler manufacturers the world over for the past decade, ever since the introduction of EFI and commensurate engine-management systems made installation user- speed cassette gearbox, the whole 95 x 61 mrn, 11,600-rpm package slotted into an aluminium twin-spar frame equipped with Ohlins suspension and Nissin brakes. If Bimota had ever built an off-road bike, this would be it - but instead, the defunct Italian high-end spoTtbike manufacturer which is on the point of being reborn, was present at Interrnot only through the guise of its former German importer, who has bought up every unsold example of the firm's Yamaha FZR 1000 Thundercat-engined YB 11 and Suzuki GSX-R 11 OO-powered SB6R models, stripped the bodywork off them (good deals available on crash damage replacement panels, cycle n e _!IS . OCTOBER 23, 2002 27