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/707505
FEATURE TAMBURINI T12 MASSIMO P80 website of the completion of two examples of the T12 Massimo, one of which had already been tested by ex-World champion Luca Cadalora at the Modena autodromo, with promising results. This utterly gorgeous farewell design by the Michelangelo of motorcycle design just begged to be viewed up close and per- sonal. So, leaning on my friend- ship with the Tamburini family, I asked Andrea (whom I've known since he was a teenybopper!) if he'd make an exception to the no-visitors rule that has kept the shutters of the designer-chic Tamburini Corse HQ in San Marino firmly down for all but a few lucky members of the press. CADALORA'S CALLING "I t's important to stress that my father was completely responsible for not only the overall concept of the bike, but also the choice of all the components incorpo- rated in it from outside suppliers. All that I have done with my partners is to complete assembly of two prototypes of the T12, and demonstrate its effi- cacy by going to Modena autodromo for Luca Cadalora to test it, as my father had asked him to do before he passed away. First of all, I want to thank Luca for undertak- ing this task—he refused to take a single Euro for doing so, saying that it was an honor to be the one asked to ride it—and also Yamaha with whom he is contractually bound as support for Valentino, for releasing him to make the test. But the most remarkable thing is that in four uninterrupted hours of running, the T12 Mas- simo ran perfectly. Luca commented from the first how light the bike felt, and how easily it steered. As I said before, he didn't make a single change to the rear suspension set- tings which my father had determined two and a half years previously, but worked quite a bit on the front suspension, which he found too stiff for someone like him coming from 250GP, where he likes the front wheel to talk to him. "Pirelli kindly furnished us with tires, and in those four hours he found a softer setting he really liked that suited the tire well." HE USED TO TELL ME THAT THE LIMITATIONS THAT A PERSON FACED IN TERMS OF FUTURE ACHIEVEMENT WERE ONLY AS GREAT AS THOSE THEY PLACED ON THEMSELVES. Andrea Tamburini is an accomplished designer in his own right and now carries on the family legacy. Cadalora hard at work. Who else are you going to trust your 330,000-euro prototype to?