Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

power ceiling. But keep revving in the same gear, and the engine goes to 12,800 rpm before it really runs out of poke - an acceptable amount of overrev, though the motor doesn't rev as high as the Honda or Suzuki everything happens 500 rpm further down the rev scale. The Cagiva also doesn't pick up revs as fast as the japanese bikes, perhaps because of crankshaft inertia, or porting: it did last year, in midrange, but Cagiva has spread everything out more now, so the delivery is smoother but it takes more time to build to peak revs. They'll want to work on that for next season, as well as perhaps obtaining more power in midrange, to improve acceleration - you wouldn't ever call a modern works 500 slow, but the Italian bike's acceleration feels a bit more leisurely than the Honda or Suzuki. Top speed felt good, though, and watching Lawson and Schwantz in combat at Assen, it was evident the Cagiva had'more pace than the Suzuki on ultimate top end, as well as coming out of tight turns'like the chicane a little better, thanks to the improved, low down power. One bad habit the Bombardone motor sucks you into easily and which I caught myself doing is to be fooled by the lazy-sounding engine into riding it like a Ducati, using a gear too high much of the, time. You have to mentally force yourself to use one ratio lower, so as to maximize the power delivery and get optimum drive out of turns. Sure - it'll pull' okay in a higher gear, but not as fast or as well as if you cog down and use the fat part of the power curve to improve acceleration. Of course, in the wet the fact that the engine is so tractable is a big asset - especially if you have to cut the throttle for a moment as you run over one of the several junior rivers running across the track down a Mugello hillside, then have to get back on the power again to regain momentum. Get brave when you get back on the gas again, and you can wheelstand it in the wet quite comfortably: try that before, with the old 180-degree V-4 engine, and I'd have been on my ear. The Cagiva is fitted with the Tellertdeveloped crs speed-shift system, like the works Aprilias and jochen Schmid's Yamaha on which it was -developed. Having ridden all these bikes, I have to say the Cagiva ,is probably the one that benefits most from the crs shifter, which uses a solenoid to cut out the ignition for a pre-determined fraction of a second when your foot pressure on the gear lever increases, allowing you to upshift with the throttle wide open. You'd expect the little 125 Aprilia or the 250s to benefit most from this, since it allows you to keep the revs high and the power maxed up, whereas on the bigger-engined 500 this shouldn't be so crucial. But in fact the main advantage is the way you can concentrate on the bike's handling and behavior, without even the subconscious distraction of having to work the throttle back and forth to change gear., Sounds weird, I know - but if you ever get the chance to try it yourself, bet you agree. And since with a 170 bhp-plus 500 even a wide, big circuit like Mugelo suddenly becomes very small and narrow, this is a big asset to your mastering the behavioral science of !:U>O GP racingl The traditional notchy Cagiva gearchange is a little better than ~efore, and in fact its rather mechanical action actually helps - you don't WaRt too light a change with the speed shifter system, else you may, ahem, change gear without really meaning to! One amazing statistic which reveals just how wide the power band is on a modern GP 500 is that for Kyalami (and Magny Cours), Lawson geared the Cagiva to use just the five bottom ratios - never sixth. Think that's impressive? Kyalami race-winner Kocinski used only four gears on his YZR500 Yamaha. The '91 Cagiva, set up as Lawson last raced it, felt really light and quicksteering, in spite of extremely conservative steering geometry by modern GP standards, with a 25-degree head angle and no less than 104mm of trail. That gave Eddie the high speed stability he wanted, but not apparently at the cost of heavying up the steering or making the bike understeer. True, I never rode the bike hard on a dry track - but when I came to sample its V592 successor at Mugello, the only real disappointment was how heavy it felt changing directions in anyone of the trio of chicanes. This may be a function of weight distribution rather than steering geometry, but it definitely needs a good heave to lay it from side to side, where the NSR500 Honda for example is much less hard work. As against this, the Cagive is definitely much less twitchy on fast corners than last year's bike, and it also handles 'bumps better - the car-induced ripples on a couple of Mugello sweepers didn't upset it, especially on the last, long turn where you need to get the power on early for maximum drive down the straight. And if I hit the godawful bump exiting the final chicane just wrong with the power wound on hard, the Showa semi-active rear suspension coped brilliantly I'm a believer! For sure, computerized suspension is the way to go in the future. Especially impressive were the Cagiva's dry-weather brakes, a pair of carbon Brembos fitted without shrouds and curiously enough of differential sizes - the left disc is a 280mm rotor, the right one a larger 320mm one! ' Nobody on Cagiva's test staff had any clue why this should be - unless most circuits are right-handed?! - but in , any case the bottom line is that the Italian black brakes work really well, with lots of sensitivity at light lever pressures, and max stop more or less instantly when you squeeze hard. They are also predictable in the sense that they don't gradua~ly over-servo themselves when you use them hard, like at the end of the long main straight at Mugello, where they've had plenty of time to cool off. There's a little servo effect which I reckon would be eliminated if they used a shroud like Honda does to maintain operating temperatures, but the Brembos are far more predictable and effective than the AP brakes on ,the RGV Suzuki I tested a formight beforehand. And they don't lock the front wheel just as you're about to lay the bike into a turn. New for '92 was the LCD rev counter, incorporated in the telemetry system with a quadrant-type sweep to the dial which at least makes it easier to read than the similar but linear-scale tacho I've had to struggle with on the Bimota Tesi for the past couple of. seasons! This is very had to read in sunlight, but the Cagiva's is easier because the spaces between each 1000 rpm get wider as the redline approaches, even if the numbers are too small. to be easily seen. For sure, this is one piece of technology where new is not necessarily better: the oldtype analog tachos where you know just by glancing at the position of the needle how many rpm you're using are easier to get used to, and more legible. The Honda one is the best - perfect. Yet in other ways, Cagiva'is r;tow impressively hard-nosed in the pursuit of GP success. Look at the bodywork: till this season, it worked well, but it had to look beautiful, too. The result was something that tests in the wind tunnel showed could be more aerodynamic, hence the latest less lovely but more efficient design, with a Roman nose Sophia Loren would have been proud of. As my test of their lastest bike convinced me, Cagiva has now learned ,that to beat the japanese at their own game, it's necessary to do it their way - only better! The man who was mainly responsible for bringing about this 'change in philosophy, who fired up the guys who two years ago were down and nearly out, who not only gave Cagiva their self-respect but also that of the GP paddocks and of enthusiasts around the world, is also the man who brought Cagiva to the forefront of 500cc GP racing after 10 long years in the no-hoper wilderness, and the man who did everything he said he intended to do when he signed up to ride for them two years ago , ostrum in the first season, a GP win in the second: Eddie Lawson, the greatest GP rider of his generation. Doug Chandler and Mat Mladin have a hard act to follow next season, as Eddie leaves two wheels for four - just as he always said he was going to. But at least he's left them with a racewinner: the V592 Cagiva. Specifications Cagiva V592 Engine type Water-cooled, 80-degree V-4, crankcase reed-valve, two-stroke with twin Contrarotating crankshafts and electronic powervalve Dimensions 54 x 50.6mm Capacity 498cc Output Over 170 bhp at 11,900 rpm (at gearbox) Carburetion 4 x 36mm Mikuni dualbody/twin-choke with electronic powerjet Ignition ... Kokkusen electronfc programmable digital CDI Gearbox 6-speed extractable Clutch Multiplate dry (7 steell6 fiber) Chassis Fabricated aluminium twinspar in Carpental 7020 alloy Front suspension ..... 43mm Showa inverted telescopic forks Rear suspension Carbon fiber/honeycomb swingarm with single Showa shock and pTogressive linkage Wheelbase 1400mm Head angle 25 0 Trail ro4mm Weight 286 lb. dry Weight distribution 53/47% Front brakes 2 x Brembo carbon discs (I x 320mm, I x 290mm) with fourpiston Brembo calipers Rear brakesl x 190mm Tilfon carbon disc with two-piston Brembo caliper Front wheelltire3. 10/4.80-1 7 Dunlop KR106 radial on 3.50 in. Marchesini rim Rear wheel/tire ... 185/55-17 Dunlop KR108 radial on 6.25 in. Marchesini nm Top speed .. ; 188 mph (Hockenheim)

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