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
Ap rilia h as t w o , r em emb er ! - d o es d eliv er tin gl es to y ou r han ds after a lo ng , hard highway bl at , but th e vibes ar en 't excessive, merely notew o rth y . It c an be no co inci de nce t ha t, instead of the all -m etal peg s you 'd exp ect on a Eurosports twin lik e this - especial ly o ne bear ing the Ca fe Race r t ag ! th e Vo xan ' s foo trests h a v e a t h i ck rubb er pad ato p t he m , whi ch helps prev ent m o st of t he tingl es to uchi ng yo ur toes, at th e ex pe nse of mak ing yo u r t o es w o b ble a round a b i t o n t he m w hen you ha ng off th e sid e to m ax out turn sp eed . And t h a t h ap p en s quite r ea d il y , beca us e th e Voxan chass is de l iv er s ace han dling, fully up to th e expect at ions created by it s Ch evall ier GP linea g e, eve n if t he l on g i sh 1455mm w he elbase and c onserv at iv e st eer ing geo m et ry ( 2 4 .7- de g ree hea d an gl e, 98m m of trail) are ai med at giving the b ike stability in fast turns, rathe r than ag ili ty in slo w ones . Still , it can be no co inci denc e that these are almost the sa me statistics that Ho nd a emp loys o n th e VT R 1ODD, a bike whose ha n dling the Voxan most resembles , even if the French bike doesn 't seem qu ite as n a r r o w and nimb l e . I t 's c lo se , though - you j ust have to work a li tt le harder at changes o f direction, using yo ur legs and body weig ht to flip the Cafe Racer f r o m si d e t o side i n a series of be nds , and work the Michelin Pilot tires t o best adva ntage: it li k es wi de, swee pi ng tu rn s rath er than slow , t ig ht ones . Rid e qua lity from th e und erslung WP shoc k o n st a n dard se tting s i s (Above) The author at spe e d on the Voun 1000 Cafe Racer. A Brit on a French bike. What is the world co ming to? (Rig ht) The heart and soul of the Voxan is its 72-degree V-twin. adeq u a te ra t h er t ha n ex c ep t i on a l , with fi rm spring ing th at doesn't und u ly comp ro mi se th e b ik e ' s beh av i o r over rou gh surfac es , but wi ll h a v e yo u w is hi ng t hat t he ve ry '6 0s sea t paddi ng was a li ttle m ore generou s very per iod , if occa siona lly u ncom fo rt ab le: you get an ap t rem inder of what it was like to 'ride by th e seat of yo ur pants .' That A c e Ca fe rounded seat hump re m o ves t o provid e spa ce fo r a pas senger, b y the way , th ou g h you need to pu ll out t he toolkit, find t he ri g ht A ll en k ey and und o t h ree bo lt s to do so , ra th er than just fli p it off like o n an Aprilia Fa lco, and the re are minimal h andg rip s m o lded into th e sea t bas e f or th e perched -o n pillion . T he WP shock is adjustable fo r preload and re bou nd da mpi ng , so d iali ng in the rig ht settings for its 120mm maximum stroke to en sure o pt im um com p lia nce ca n be done if y ou take the time to do so, but the 4 1mm Pa io li fo rks (adjustable for compression and re bound damping , w ith c o n v en i en t new fi ngertip adj usters atop the fork legs) were already set up just right ea ti ng up bu mps even while braking h a rd o n th e ang le, wi th n o si gn of chatter eve n whe n pushed p retty hard o ver th em . And t he Voxan does stee r n ice ly u nd e r b r a king , w h e n th e c u e I e n eVIls • AUG UST 2,2000 31