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/128238
Milan Motorcycle Show Part /I Kawasaki ZZR-X indebted Piagg io in the week afte r th e show by fin an ci er Rob ert o Co lan inno , who is repo rt ed to fav o r a much less rad i c al and m ore ce rta in p ath th an th is curiosi ty , to d e r ive full ben efit fro m the histo ric Gilera name. Na med the F err o (" ste el" in Ita l ian) , this is an 850 cc 90-degree Y t win u si n g the sa m e fue l - injected so hc d ry-su mp e ight -v alve en g in e that was fitted to the Cag iva Rap to r frame to p ro d uc e a prototype Gilera roadst er at a t ime th ree y ear s ago when it ap peared Piagg io was going to merge w ith (or take o ver, depend ing on who 's t ell ing th e tale ) MY Agusta. But instead of the conven t ional m o t o rc y c le gearbox us ed in that abortiv e prototype , the F erro emp loys a fully automatic electroni ca lly o pera t ed gearbo x wh o se fun ction is derived from th e scooters tha t made Pi ag g i o fa mo us - th er e 's no cl utch lever, o nl y a pair of handleba rmounted brak e l ev e rs ( n o foo t brake ) . Is tw ist ' n' go m ot o rc y c ling the way of th e future? You r cal l. Honda foll ow ed a simil ar path wi th the 16 -inch-wheeled SH 125 Tamago (" egg " in Japa nese - one lo o k to ld you w h y ) d es i g ned b y the C e n t ro St ile Honda in Ro m e, the company 's Euro pean base . Un lik e th e Gilera, th is was m ore scoote r than m oto rb ik e, with fu ll y automa tic transmission and the engine acting as a rear swingarm , thus leavin g space in the yolk of the mach in e fo r a lock ab le compa rt ment c apable of swallowing two open -face h e lm et s and a co uple o f we tsu its . Hond a w a s a ctive ly sou n di ng o ut pub l i c o p i n io n at M i l a n t o judge wh eth er th e m ar k et was ripe for such a model - and in case th e answer is ye s, th ere are co nti ng ency pl an s t o start m anu fa c turin g it a co uple of ye ar s fro m no w in th e J apanese co mpany ' s It al ian p la nt at Ch iet i, on the Adr i a ti c Coast , where th e Y -twi n Transalp is curre ntly bu ilt. 34 O CTO BER 29 , 2003 cu e' Kawasak i had it s own tak e on the bike of th e future in th e form o f th e rather bu lb o us-bod ied ZZR-X , a mul tipurpo se showbi k e model with hub ce nter steering, rim d isc bra ke s (as on th e Ghezzi [, Brian Guzzis you ca n already bu y ) , and " monobraccia " hydra ulic- d rive rear en d , capable of being t ransfo rmed into a nyone o f th ree d ifferent kinds of m oto rc y c le wi t h t he h e l p o f stepp er moto rs , according t o yo u r mood of the m om ent. Touring Mode sees the han dlebars and swoo p ily st y led scree n rise u p , w hile t h e foo t rests and brake/gear levers m ove fo rwa rd for a more upright sta nce . H i gh -Sp e ed Tou ring M o d e h a s th e han dl ebars lowered to produce a lower , sportie r riding position. The Sports Mode has the foo tr ests and levers moved backward , and the screen and handl eb ar drop to the ir lowest point, for min i mum drag , thou gh small aerofoi ls th en tu ck o ut from the bodywork to aid aerod ynamic sta b il it y . A future repla cement fo r th e current ZX - 12? Who knows? However, easily the most acclaimed of th e Japanese showbikes at M ilan was the Yamah a MT-03, a minimalist Supermot o -st yl ed sing l e -c y linde r r oadst er pr odu ced b y Yamaha E urope 's established des ign partner G K Design using th e fi v e - valv e eng ine from th e firm 's XT660 t rai lbike, as well as it s frame . Th is is fit ted with co nventional fo rks up front ( t ho u g h t hese m ight c h a n g e to upside -downers if, as expected , th e m od el is given the green lig ht for pro du cti on , whi ch would take pla ce in it s Italian subsidiary Belgard a' s fa ctory just north of Mon za , wh er e the Bull dog Y-tw in cruise r is pr esentl y built) , wi th t he li gh tw eigh t st eel sw ingarm ope rati ng an Oh li ns sh o c k o ffset t o th e ri ght of th e eng ine cylind er via a ca n tilever li nkage . Th at' s t o m a k e sp ace fo r t he dua l -p ipe u nder -seat e n e vv s exha ust ending in a pair of trian gul ar sh ap ed sil encers brack eting the ultra d i st incti ve LED taillight. Petal front br ak e discs similar to the J ap an esemade o nes in the ne w Kawasak i ZX l OR (rather t h an the finer -look i ng Br ak ing disc s made across the road from Belg ard a and fitt ed to the fir m's Wo rl d Superspo rt R6 racebik es) are employed, but the MT -03 's real high lig ht is the ul trad istincti ve "face" with th e headlamp c onsi sti ng of two na r row str ips, each containing five min i bulbs. Wa y c o o l, way stripped -out , and heading to a Yam ah a dealer near you within th e ne xt three year s, if th e acclaim th e bike ge ne ra ted at Milan is enough to convince Yamaha bos ses. No sign of MuZ at M il an , w ith th e German c om p any 's Malaysian owners pr eferring t o c o n c e n t r a t e on m eeting qu ality target s for th eir dis ' tin c ti ve-Iooking 18 0 -degree par alleltwin 1000S sports model, which k ick started p ro duc ti on in the week of the show. Bu t the ma n resp on sib le for the Edge styling o f t he new Mu Z, Pet er Naum a n n , h ad a nothe r of hi s cre ations on d isp lay at M ilan in the form of the BMW GSl l50 -inspired Touratech TB I 150 Revamp , the product of Germ an Beem er afte rma rket sp ecial ists Tourat ech , wh o offer the clea n-look ing resty ling of the base -level model as a k it cos t ing $3 50 0 ada pt able to a ny ne w-generation B o x e r tw in enduro mod el , inclu di ng th e old e r GS 1 100. Sound s li ke a n affordable wa y to make y o u r t ired o ld trailie look young and fr esh again - on the outside, at least. Du cati st ay ed clea r of th e show b ik e sect o r at M il an ' 0 3, bu t th at d id n 't m ean th er e was n o d esmodrom ic dreamb ik e o n d isp lay , thanks to th e effo rts o f i t s lon g -time col leagues at NCR , based j ust a stone's thro w ac ross Bo logna fro m th e Ducati fact ory . Te am ing wit h not ed design er A ld o Drudi (w ho among ot he r th ings is respon sibl e fo r Yal ent in o Ro ssi 's h e lm et d es i g n s !) and e x o t i c parts sp ecialists Poggipolini , NCR dis p layed the Macchia N era , a wickedlook ing Tes tastre tta 998R-engine d titanium -framed sportrod weighing a bar e l y cr edib l e 2 92 pounds dry, thank s to a hu ge array of carbon and titan iu m p a rt s, inc lud in g th e entire exha ust and squ ar e-ed ged under-seat sile ncers - the chas sis alone weighs a m ere 10 po unds. This is supposedly d es t in ed to be b uilt in very limite d number s of no t more than 20 bik es in all, j f NCR ca n fi nd eno ug h people with deep poc k ets to wr it e checks for th e $ 7 0 ,0 00 asking price , and i s based in term s of c hassis geometry o n a t wo- year-o ld c ustome r Super bik e rac er identica l to the on e th at Fr ank ie Chili reminded us can still be a race-winn er at wo rld level thi s season at Laguna Seca. Fitted w ith t wo eno rmo us rad iat ors, 16 .5- inc h wh eels sho d with hand -cut slic ks , and radial calipe rs grippin g ventil at ed 3 0 5 m m fro nt Br embo di sc s th e same as Neil Hodgson uses on h is titl e -w inning 999 F03 , the Macchia N era was for m any th e m o st delectab le drea m bi k e o f M ilan 200 3 . W ond er how many for tu n a t e people will make their dreams come true...? CN