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/128211
.... _:.-1... •• .... ........... - • .... .f'I~ ." Happenings In Motorcycling Kevin Windham's long-awaited return is coming to fruition at the Glen Helen National on Mother's Day, May II. It's official. He will be riding a works Factory Connection/No Fear Honda CRF450R, and if his riding at the recent introduction of the Dunlop 756RR motocross tire was any indication, he may have the ability to make the 2003 summer a long one for a lot of riders. " When I left Honda two or three years ago, I wasn't unhappy with the bike or anything, I was just unhappy with myself, and I was looking for what I could do to get happy. Obviously changing bikes and all that wasn't the key. That's what reqUired me to take this little break, and while I was off, I was like, 'Man, the bike looks good, and a lot of people say it would fit my riding style and stuff; it makes perfect sense.' There's no sense going back to a two-stroke when eventually I'd probably wind up on a four-stroke anyway. That was the bike I wanted to ride, and lucky for me, thankfully it all worked out. "[It feelsjlike home. I haven't been in any situation where I feel that that bike isn't sat- Fortuna Yamaha's Carlos Checa has been staying with three-time Worid Champion Wayne Rainey since the Japanese Grand Prix, and he's been doing plenty of riding. Checa went dirt tracking at Chandler's father· in-law's ranch and then went Supermotarding with Chandler, Rainey, Jeff Haney and Jason Curtis in Stockton, California. isfying me as a rjdeT." Here's to K-Dub's successful return. By ALAN CATHCAItT - • Gilera Shelved Gnable to proceed with its MV Agusta deal, Pleggio has put its plans to relaunch the Gilera marque as a motorcycle brand on the back bumer and is intensifying its focus on the scooter market, which it. continues to dominate at home and in other European countries, as it seeks to trade its way out of trouble. But with a home scooter market that declined by a further nine percent in 2002, on top of a 28-pen:ent drop in 2001 for models over 50cc in capacitY, the strategy adopted by Piaggic's two wheeled business director, Giancarlo Binetti (among other divisions of the group, there's also a four-wheel minivan division that In Italy, for example, manufactures around 10.000 vehicles a year, In conjunction with Daihatsu). is to concentrate ever more on export sales, reflecting his previous job as 3M's European business director. However, with Italian home sales, which formerly represented around 60 percent of Piaggio's turnover, now dropping to 40 percent as a proportion of total sales volume, and 50cc models responsible for around 75 percent of that foreign market slice, ifs perhaps surprising that the several new .ax.. models IIlIIl PIaggio is known to be to t.unch IIJter 1hls year. all focus on larger capadly segments - presumably in punM.it of kIcreasecI margins, and the desire to clifferentl_ a more costly European product from Plagglo's waves of AsIan competitoIs. Thus alongside the aII-..- Vespa, which will shortly be launched with Mquid-cooled 125cc and 2OOc<: four-stroke engines - quite separate from the exlsting Er4 and PX Vespa models, which will also be restyled and updated mechan1caUy - an all-new Hexagon range and the completely restyled X9 models running from 125cc to 500cc in capacitY. Piaggio's biggest novelty 1hls spring wID be the Gllera SOO Nexus, a bik....lik:e scooter code-named the "Run- nerone" (B-I-G Runner!), powered by a 40 bhp version of the group's SOOc:c single-cylinder four-stroke engine, with sporty exhaust and engine mapping for the Marelli fuel injection, and a 48/52 percent weight bias . so, far more weight on the front wheel than with a normal scooter. This will be capable of being further exaggerated by means of a ride height adjustment for the ingenious horizontal-monoshoc:k rear suspension design, and the speciallydeveloped 41mm Kayaba forks will also be adjustable for damping. Twin 260mm Brembo front discs will help stop a high -performance crossover package blending both motorcycle and scooter elements, weighing nearly 400 Ibs. and capable of over 90 mph. but also on the horizon is a twin·cylinder competitor rumored to be corning in 2004 for the Honda Silver Wing and especiaUy Yamaha's best-selling T-Max • a big hit in Italy. But still no full-on Giiera motorcycles for the meantime, after all • not even the Suzuki GSX-R6oo engined Supersport unveiled 18 months ago. a project which has now been set aside after extensive R&D· meaning the Pontedera-based company is unable to benefit from the continuing strong shOWing of the motorcycle, as opposed to scooter, market in Europe and North America. To cast your vote, log on to hllp:/ /www.cytle(lews.com. With the AMA Supercross Series winding down, what interests you the most righ now? 6 APRIL 30. 2003' cue • .. n e _ s