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/128237
fac to ry ea ch da y , This feat ures a three- co lor p aint scheme designed by M a ss im o T ambu r ini ' s so n An drea , wh i ch ec hoes the classic 19 7 2 MV Ag usta 750S, while alongside it MV's sis ter brand Cagiva showed updated versions of the 650/1 000 Su zu k i pow er ed Ra pt o r V-twins hea ded b y the X-3 concept bik e , and co nfirm at ion ca me fro m Claud io Cast igli oni that ten of th e 25 c o p ie s of Joh n K o cinski 's V5 9 4 Cag iva V4 50 0 c c Gra nd Prix race r, wh ich he's building to celebrate his famil y m arque's 25th birthday this year, still rema in ava il able - at an eye-watering $ 146,000 for each one. Still, that does include a spa res kit, so you can take it o n a trac k day and not have to wo rry about repa irin g c ras h damage o r h a v in g pa rts to freshen the engine . As if.. . Another birthda y bran d in the MV fa mi ly is Husqvarna, this year c ele brating its 100th anniversary in rather less strung-out or str ident fashio n than Harl ey -D avidson . To mark this, th e Ital o -Sw ed ish dirt -devi l marq ue d is p layed th e m o st costly custo mer off-road bike ev er made, the 500-off lim ited edition six -speed TE51 0 Cen tenn ia l end uro, dripping with ca rbon fi b er , titanium and trick hardwa re and thus weighing at a scant 260 Ibs ., with fu ll st reet equipment. Yo u get yo ur choice of tires (knobbl ies on the showbi k e , ro ad tir es if you prefe r to go Su permotard ) and 50mm Marzoc chi upside -down forks , w ith a Sachs shock . Des ign ed by M onster/Raptor creato r Miguel Galluzzi, th is fabul ous looking d irt to o l is sure to be a co ll ec to rs' item - all yours for $20,495 and on ly availa ble in Hu sk y 's his to ric col o rs of red and white wi th a c h ro m e fu e l tank , rath er than the marq ue's current blue-and-yellow Swedish -flag livery. How come? " Look, wh en I us ed t o race motocross back in Argentina when I wa s a kid , the da mned Chilean s used to c o m e across th e And es t wi c e a year w it h t hei r t ric k ed -o ut red- and c h ro m e Huskies a nd sweep us and our crappy locally made Zanella rub bish into the dirt," says Galluzzi with so m e f ee l ing . " I hat ed Husqvarn a s back then , eve n if I dreamed of having one myself - so , now I' m help ing c om memo ra te thei r c e n t e n a r y . It co uldn 't be with anything pa inted any other co lo r! " Competing fo r star billi ng in th e d irt b ike segment o f Milan '03 was the 450cc eng ine that will fuel April ia' s return t o off -road ne xt y ear , enti rely developed in -hou se (so, noth in g to do with Rotax , wh o wo n't even m anufa cture it - th at 'll be do ne in th e M ot o G uzzi fa ct ory ) by t h e firm 's Var ese-based R&D team headed by Ampelio Macchi, who crossed the st reet from Husqvarna a year ago , eye I e togethe r with many of his HVA engi nee rs . A g ai n st all expectations and cu rrent tren ds, this prove d no t to be yet anot her li g ht w ei gh t four -s t r o k e sing le , like all its rivals , but a heavier and bul k ier, if in evitably m or e powerful , fuel-inje cted liquid-cooled 77d egree V-tw in d esign , wi th electric sta rt as standard. downdraft c ylinder heads , eac h with four tit an ium valves and c hai n -d r iv en sohc , an d eithe r a fo u r - o r f ive -sp eed gea r box w ith op tional hyd rauli c o r ca ble ope ra tion of the oil-bath c lut ch . Designed o riginall y for MX, thi s will also power end u ro and Supermoto applications i n Apri lia' s b orn-agai n dirt b ike range, the first of which will ap pear in a ct io n in protot y p e form next yea r , wi th th e custo mer ver sion s going on sale a yea r from now . Aprilia brought more new tech no logy to t he party in the fo rm of the prototype 500c c Leo nardo scooter, fitted with a direct -inject ion twostroke eng in e based on th e D iTech 125cc m oto r a lr eady in produ ct ion, This is th e first tim e this Austral iand ev e loped t e chnology h as bee n appl ied t o a lar g er c ap ac it y eng ine, and Aprilia says the throttle re sponse a nd interme di at e fuelling p roblems s u ffe re d b y B im ota 's 500c c Vdue d irec t -i nj ec tion two -stroke have been co m p let e l y reso lv ed on th e SR5 00 L eonard o , e no u g h t o mak e t h is a lik el y produ ct ion mod e l in th e n ext two ye ars, It w ill co st less to m anufac t ure than th e m o re c o st ly fo u rstroke ma x i-s c oote rs now in fashion while offering improved performanc e (cla im ed t op sp eed is 112 mph ) yet meetin g th e st r ic t new E ur 0 3 rul es d ue t o com e into f or c e in 2007 . Co u ld th e two -stroke be m akin g a c om ebac k ? Wat ch th is space .. .. Aprilia al so j oin ed the limited-edi tion lobby with a 2 00-off Nera version of its new RSV- R, with unpainted carb on b o dy w ork (i n c l u d i n g the fuel n e vv S • OCTOBER 22 , 2003 27