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/128624
Voxan 1000 Cafe Racer they wer e sweeping the s treets after the all -n ight party that had celebr ate d the upset vi c tory of Les Bleus. In doing so , th e y we re unknow ingly clearing th e way for yet another con fron tati on between Fr a nc e and Ita ly , th is time in the world of mot or cy cling. For he re I was in the home of Voxan (s ee sid ebar), to get a n insider update on th e Fre nc h com pany - o ne that's set to c hallenge th e m ig ht of Ita ly - B Y A LA N C A T HCA RT P HOT OS BY K EL E D GE t was th e m o rn ing after the n ight before - the night th e Fren ch soccer team upset Italy in the Euro 2000 fina l, aft er drawing e ven with a shock goal in the fourth m inute of ove rtime. In th e town of Issoire , h a lf a n hou r s ou th of Mic heli n's headqua rt e rs at Clermont -Ferrand in c e nt ral Fr an ce , I 30 A U GUST 2 , 2000' c ue I e n eVIl's and , in certai n nich e sectors , Ja pa n on two wheels in coming ye a rs. And to u nderline tha t, I h ad th e keys in m y hand to th e latest mode l fro m La Be lle F r an c e ' s o n ly b ik e builder: th e Voxa n Cafe Ra cer, n ew conte nde r in the sportbike a re na a nd a d irect co m petitor for th e likes of the Ap rilia Fa lc o and Du c at i 900SS o n o ne ha nd, and Honda VTRI 000 a nd S uzuki TLl 0 00 on the other. For Voxan to stamp th e Cafe Racer tag on their half-fa ired sportbike with its ultra-distinctive styling is a bit like ca lling a Peugeot 10 6 a Mini o r a Ja pa nese cruiser a Hog . Yet, there's no denyi ng Voxa n 's in -house s ty list , Stepha ne Va ldant , h a s c a pt ure d the soul of th e Si xt ie s c rossed wit h the s pirit of th e Se venties in his strippe do ut sty leb ike ' s n e o -r e tr o d e s ign , in whi ch th e h andso me 72- de g ree Vtw in motor pla ys a full pa rt in cr eatin g a Ga ll ic g o-b ike t h a t is 't re s Britis h '. Ba c k to th e F ut ur e? Ye s , a nd no : wh ile d eli ve rin g 2 000 -year p e rfor m an c e a n d t e chn ic al s oph ist ic at ion , on e loo k a t th e Cafe Ra c er is e no ug h t o s tart th e images ro lling o n yo ur mind : Be a tles , S to ne s a nd Psyc h ed e li c Ro c k . S li c k e d back hai r, e s p re sso c o ffee in th e c u p , J et hel met o n yo ur h e a d a nd bl ue jeans tucked int o your boots . It s peaks of the Ac e Cafe , the Bu s y Be e , t he Chelsea B r id g e Mob a nd all the other meccas of cafe racing ' 6 0 s s tyle . Life was simpler then , in the cafe racing da ys . S ling a leg over the Voxan , a nd there a re more cues fo r the m e m o ry ba nks - but from a di ffere nt era, wit h th e tall 81 0m m seat height and d ropped c1ip -o ns mo u nted beneath the upper triple c la m p of the inverted Pa ioli forks, combining w ith the h igh-set footpegs and un yie lding seat pad to de liver a stretched out riding stance that is more ' 9 0 s th an ' 6 0 s . But it does have the benefit of loading up the fro nt wheel of the bike - boasting a 48.5/ 51 .5 % rearw ards weigh t bias wit h yo u r bo d y we ight , in o rde r to pr ovid e add e d front gri p. Curiou s ly, the re s u lt isn 't undu ly hard o n you r wr ists , th ou g h t he low c1ip-ons do fo ul the ta nk sh ro ud at full lock on what is a rather wide 23 . I -foot turning circle , and after the third or fourth time y o u t rap your r ig h t thumb behind the handlebar , y ou start to wish they'd taken c a re of th is deta il. Then you thumb th e starter button , a nd all is fo rgive n - because the close-co up led lilt fro m th e 72deg ree V-tw in e ng ine 's q u ite fru ity ex ha u s ts is quit e a d dic tive , a n d very d isti nc tive , much m or e s o t han the more mu ted s ound of the even n ar r o w e r - an g le 60 -degree Ap rilia V-t wi n moto r is, compared to the 9 0 -d e g re e V-twi ns o f Du c a t i, Ho nda o r Suzuk i. It gi ves th e Fre nc h b ike p e rs o n a lity th a t sets it a pa r t fr om a ny t hi n g else in th e marketplace . How ev er , it a lso produ ces qui te notic eable vib ra t ion , m o re so tha n I reme m be r from the sim ilarly-eng ine d Roadste r I rod e a cou ple of ye ars ag o , al beit still just this side of bein g intru sive and unacceptable . Th e absence of any b a lan c e s haft o n t he solidly mo unted n arrow-a ng le motor - t he