Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Voxan 1000 Cafe Racer pa ce . Do so , and you find it d o esn 't , th ough it s capabl e han d lin g , and th e pa yoff y o u g et fo r inves ti ng a lit t le rid ing effort in ma k ing it t urn more t igh tly, m e an s th is is the kin d of b ike yo u go look in g fo r twis t ing c o u n try la n e s a board, rather than nat -out h ighway bla sts. It's okay at those too , thanks to the su rprising degree of wind prote c tion fr om the Cafe Rac er ' s well shap ed but s emi-vest ig ial s c reen , wh ich deflects e no ug h a ir ov er a s ix foot ride r's helmet to make 125 mph cru ising at lea st t olerable , if n o t ex a ctly e njo ya b le -. best I s a w wa s an indi cated 140 mph , with a no the r 1200 rpm in hand , and the Voxan was s u pe r-s ta b le a n d not ha rd to ho ld o n to at th at s peed - in spite of t he min im ali st bodywork. But wh at rea lly gives yo u a buzz (figurative ly, as well as lite rally) is the meat y pe rformance of the Vo xa n ' s 72 -deg ree V-twin m oto r, he re delive ring 10 8 hp a t the rear wheel at 8 200 rp m in Frenc h -m a rk et 100 hp gu is e (don 't ask !) . T ha t ' s aroun d 2 0 -b ra k e le s s than could be coaxed out of it q uite comfortably b y rema p ping the Marelli EFI a nd fitting lum pier ca ms , but while that's exactly what Th ie rry He n rie tt e is d o in g wit h h is Voxan pow e re d Bo xer VB1 S uperbi k e , t he Caf e Ra c er ' s pres ent o u tp ut - and t h e way it's d eliv er ed - is idea lly suited to an enthus ias t s po rts m od e l like this . Th e b e st co m p lime nt I ca n p a y the French b ike is that it' s th e firs t Mar elli- injected motorcycl e I've yet ridden wh ich is as p erfectl y mapped (Above) The Yoxan uses a 41mm Pa ioll fork and 320mm Brembo brakes. (Right) The chassis is a bit d ifferent. Ditto f o r the underslung WP shock. weight transfer from the rearwards bias (wh ich presumably helps to load up the rear end under acceleration ) comes into its own , and combines with the riding position to make the front Michelin stick well as you tra il brake into an apex . However, m or e bit e from the b ig 320mm fro nt Brembo s would h a ve been appreciated . It fee ls lik e it co u ld do w ith a d iffer ent pad choice, to giv e more response with o u t h a vi ng to squ e e ze a s ha rd as yo u must for a ha rd s to p - thoug h th e fa ct both br ake and cl u t c h levers are adjust abl e ( a s are the hand lebar an d footp eg p osi ti on s ) all o ws y o u to o b t a in max imum lev er a g e wh en n e ed ed . St ill , th e Voxan pa ckag e fe els c a p a b le and as sur ed to r ide hard , with ex c ep t ionall y lig ht and responsive steering at low speeds - so much so you wond er if the absence of a steering damper is going to make the Cafe Racer all squirrelly once yo u up the 32 A UGUST 2 . 2000' c ue I e neVIl's low down a s a Tr iumph fitted with Sagem EFl , with s e a m le s s roll -on from as low as 20 00 rpm in top gear w ithou t tou c hi ng t h e cl utch leve r, all the wa y to th e 9400 rpm revlimiter: ma kes you fo rgi ve Vo xan fo r go ing Ital ian , rat he r than d ispla ying tradit ion a l Fr ench chauvin is m and opting for th eir compatriot EFI suppliers . This clean response makes light work of riding th e Voxan in traffic or along narrow c o u nt ry road s with a loose surface on p art throttl e - there 's no ne of the tran smiss ion s na tc h up to 5000 revs o r flecci d re spon se from low rpm th at yo u ge t with the Aprilia Falco, nor th e jerky pickup from a closed throttle aft er tra il braking de ep into a turn that's so typ ical of many fuel -injecte d bikes . But th en when yo u get ha rd on the gas a nd d ial up so me revs, the Voxan really del iver s , with p unc hy drive out of tu rns from low down tha t tran slat es into more ser ious top e nd powe r from 5000 rpm upwa rds - all accom pa nied by that g lorious engi ne note whic h intens ifies up high , and is almost as d is tinct ive in the V-twin ca tegory as t h e ne w Be n e lli Tornado is in t he triple class . Midrange roll-on is exceptio nal , with an extra boost of acce le ra tion bet wee n 5000 -7000 rpm with th e he lp of a ve ry nat torque cu rve pe a king at 11 mk g at 6500 rpm. Aid ing a ll th is is a s fine a gearshift as I've ever sa m p le d o n a non -Ja pa nese bi k e , al b ei t w ith a mu ch stiffer clut c h (wh ic h Du cat i woul d b e proud of) t h a n I re me m ber fro m r id ing th e Roadster prototyp e. Neutral is e asy to find when you need it, a nd a well-cho-

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