Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

• 1.1_: .....1_ •• . . . •• 1- .I'I~ • Happenings In Motorcycling I ... . . . " . " ' - - __ iij @D[jjJ@DfJi]cfYUD@ Ducati motorcycles announced at the Monza round of the World Superbike Series that it had entered into a licensing agreement with Oakley to produce exclusive Ducati/Oakley eyewear. Factory Ducati riders Ruben Xaus (left), and Neil Hodgson (right) model some of the sunglasses in the Monza piUane. By ALA CATHCART • • Baby Tuonos On The Way Although they are not likely to be on display at Aprilia World Meeting '03, Aprilia has com· pleted its prototypes of the junior members of the Tuono family which are set to be launched at the Milan Show in September (alongside the heavily revamped Mille R V-twin sportbike which has already been captured on film in prototype form by an alert German tourist under· going supposedly secret tests at the Croatian circuit of Rijekal) • the Tuono 50 and 125 single-cylinder two-stroke sportrods. In the wake of the dramatic commercial success of the original Tuono R and its volume production Tuono Fighter and Tuono Racing spinoffs all powered by the RSV Mille. V·twln motor, Aprilia has quickly opted to extend the Tuono concept downward in price and capacity to its strong·selling minibike range. Less likely to reach production, though. is ApriJIa's other naked bike concept displayed alongside the prototype Tuono at the 2001 Bologna Show. Known as the Mana E1VlOOO, this was based on the Caponord tarmac trame and tar· geted the same more mature sportrider as the Yamaha BT1100 Bulldog· though the choice of the Maori word meaning "force of nature" as the model's name tag was not perhaps meant to refer to the aging process! The Mana used the same aluminum twin·spar frame as the Caponord but with larger 320mm Brembo front brakes and was fitted with the same lower· perfonnance version of the 60·degree V·twin engine tuned to deliver 98 bhp at 8250 rpm at the crankshaft, so with added midrange torque compared to the 125-bhp Tuono R. The twin-headlamp nose fairing provided some wind protection, while the single.sided swingann allowed the single 2-1 exhaust's quite bulky twin·exit silencer to be tucked in doser than with a conventional design. The shapely fuel tank incorporated the header tank for the [lj)(j]~(1@[?[j)D@@@ It doesn't really malter if the movie is any good, because the premiere of the movie Faster at the Cannes Film Festival included six of the MotoGP riders featured in the film riding their race bikes down La Croiselte, the famous beachfront boulevard in Cannes. How cool is that? La Croiselte is the focal point of media attention during the Festival. Over the past two seasons the documentary about the MotoGP World Championship was filmed at several GPs by a Hollywood production company. The screening took place at the Riviera 8 Theatre on Friday, May 16. The six MotoGP stars who attended are (left to right) Valentino Rossi, Alex Hofmann, Loris Capirossi, Colin Edwards, John Hopkins and Olivier Jacque. engine'. I1quid-cooling system in its front section, with two grab·handIes lIxed BMW F65OCSstyle to dte rear part for the passenger to hang onto. So, no more excuses to have the Mana rider's favorite squeeze do just that around his • or her • waist. The Mana's appearance in prolotype form at Bologna was evidently designed to elicit public response to detem:line whether it was worth putting into production, but ApriIia SOUT<:es confinn that the model is presently "congelata"· In the deep freeze· for the tJrne being. That's because Aprilia management isn't convinced there's a big enough Cap'n Sensible streetrod market to jUstify putting a model into production that would be more costly to develop than the Toono (which is essentially just a stripped·out Mille R) yet would have to be marketed at a lower selUng prIce because of its reduced performance level and would thus risk robbing sales from the Tuono Fighter. "If the Tuono is a super-Monster, then the Mana is a super-Bulldog," says an key Aprilia executive, "and probably it would make much more sense with an BOOcc engine. like the VamahaTDM." This of course begs the question of whether Aprilia is indeed once again developing the 750/800cc version of its RSV Mille motor, Which it was known to have got close to launching three years ago but work on which was then SUddenly stopped for a mixture of budgetary and commerdal reasons. Though you won't get anyone in the company to confirm so directly, this and other pretty heavy hints that are continuously dropped lead one to suppose it's odds· on that this is the case - in which case. look out for an RSV750 Supersport contender to give the Ducati 749 a run for its money using the lower, lighter chassis package of the forthcoming new RSV1OOO, as well as an E1V800 Mana... and an RSV750 Blue Marlin. a junior version of the deliciously-styled and very Seeley·esque Aprilia RSV 1OOO-based prototype cafe racer designed by French style guru Thierry Henrielte's Boxer Design. This debuted at the 2001 Milan Show to universal acclaim and was set to make it into production. until the difficulties of reconciHng an airbox sufficiently large to give meaningful power with suffICient fuel capacity to deliver acceptable range. all without spoiling the Blue Marlin's lean styling, proved insur· mountable. A 750cc version of what is. after all. primarily a stylebike rather than a sportbike, wouldn't have the same difficulties - so, watch the Aprilia pond to see an RSV750 Blue Marlin swim· mlng your way in a couple of years... To cast your vote. lag an to http://www.cytlenews.com. ~ ~~~ . - .. - • • • • With Ricky Carmichael finally lasing an outdoor motocross mota after 3D straight vldorles. how lang will It be before tie lases In overall? A. Next week at Mount Marris. Round 3 - - - - - - - - - - ;:;:-::===========::::=!.:--------- B. By round 7 in Tray C. Before the season is aver D. He won't lase another ~-----------6 MAY 28, 2003' cue I e n e vv s f?

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