Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

u p rat ed SP-2 motor that took Co lin Edwards to the World Superbike title a ye ar ago , a nd th anks t o in -h ou se R&D , has sub stanti all y increased per fo rmance of th e eng ine fro m 140 bhp at th e cra n k t o 14 3 bh p at th e rear wh eel at 10 ,0 00 rp m , d ue to revi sed cy li nde r head portin g, rem apped EFI and an all -n ew exha ust system , co u pled with - for t he first t ime ever o n a Hon da Superbi k e moto r - a d ry slip pe r clutch . Ohl in s sus p en sio n and rad ia l B rembo br ak es are now fitt ed t o th e 18 0 kg b ik e , whi ch h as th e ad ded ben efit of bein g fast er, lighter , MONDIAL PIEGA EVO b etter looking , but a lso le ss c os t l y than be fore, at $ 28 , 12 3 plus tax. It' s ready to st art product ion and will be o n sale in De cember. perce nt in cr ease in production target ed fo r 2 004 m o d el s, head ed by the 57 0/605/620 Su perm ot o m od els current.l y showi ng we ll in raci ng at all leve ls , as we ll as a n ew 450 cc MX bi k e, and espec iall y the firm 's je we l li k e ne w fu e l -Inj ected EN- E 250 cc four-stroke eng ine , d esigned by Gi o va nni Mar ian i an d launched at Milan w ith revers ed cyli n de r f or fo r w ar d facing in t ak e, ultrash ort-stroke 82 x 47.3mm dimensions , and gear-driven soh c fo rmat - in sp ite of which , it revs t o the 13 ,000 rpm rev l imiter, very M O N D IA L RZ NUDA A similar policy surroun ds the new Mo ndia l RZ Nu da lau nched at Mi lan , whi ch retai ls for $ 18 ,7 49 fitted wi th a standa rd Hon da SP-2 m ot o r and o il bath cl utch. (RZ stands for co mpan y f o u n d er Ro berto Zi l etti , w h o w a s smart en o ug h t o reg ister the N uda nam e - a fact which A pril ia is rep uted t o have found o ut the hard way , when it also t ried t o do so! ) . Designed by Fr enc h sty list Thierry Henriett e - c reator o f t he d el e c t.able B ox e r VB 1 Sp ort and Vo xan Scr am bl er , amo ng man y o thers - th e RZ Nud a a lso sports O h li ns su spens ion and rad ia l B r embo brak e s and e m ploys t he same ess enti al tub e f r am e a s t he Pie ga , though h ere m at ch ed t o an al umin u m sw ing arm ra ther than t he sp o rtb i k e ' s ca rbon - she e ted stee l stru c t ure. The first -ever H on d a Vtw in -engined stre etrod, th e Nu d a has a ch irpily aggressive loo k , tha nk s to t he d i st in c t iv e twin projector head lamps (m ay be the same su ppli er as Lav erda? ! ) a n d a l loy ai r -s coo ps flanki ng th e airbox shroud . On e of the m ost d istinctive and accla imed bikes at Milan '03 , th e Nuda looks set to be a sellout if Mondial re ally can g et it into p roduction ne xt March , as VOR 450 SUPERMOTO pro m ised. More c ontro ver sial, if less loved , was the last of t he tr io of new bikes on t he Mondia l sta nd, the St ar Figh t er str eetrod, des ig ned by Massi m o Zan ib on i ar oun d t he Piega run nin g gear as a hal fway h o u se betw een th e Evo and the Nuda , with stac k ed he adl amps fla n ke d by LED trafficators, ultraslim ca fe racer bu ild, but a strang ely unhomogeneous loo k. hi gh for a single-ca m m ot or. Ei ther a fi ve - sp eed g e arb o x f or m oto cr oss guise o r six -spee d fo r end uro c an be h ad . Pr odu ci n g 37 bhp a t 11 ,000 rpm , th e e ng ine w e ig hs a m er e 42 pounds in c ludin g th e elec tric sta rt fit ted as s to ck , th anks t o t h e f a ct the re 's no need for a balanc e sh aft , says M a riani , wh o ' s a lso produ c ed the in evitable 4 50 -600cc V -twin ver- Nic e try , no cig ar. .. . A longs ide Mond ial was the loosely affiliat ed Vor dirt bik e co m pa ny , whi ch di d not in the end mov e into Mondia l' s Mo nza facto ry this summer as w a s o r i g ina ll y proje c ted - th ere was n 't eno ug h spa c e for them bo t h th ere to meet th e in cr eased demand f or thei r pro ducts , ap pa re n t ly. Vo r continues t o grow ap ace , with a 3 0 cue I e n e vv so • O C TO B ER 22 , 2 003 29

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