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/912289
VYRUS 986 M2 STRADA FULL TEST P52 by just one look at any of the deconstructed examples of two- wheeled cubist sculpture that the Italian engineer has produced un- der the Vyrus name since found- ing the company in 2003. Like the Richard Rogers- designed Pompidou Art Centre in Paris, which displays its pipes, drains, conduits and air-con ducts on the exterior of its walls for all to see, the series of surreal-looking hub-center Vyrus models, exclu- sively powered until now by Duca- ti desmo V-twin motors in various configurations and capacities, all seem to wear their technology on the outside, in plain view. As the 21st century evolution of the avantgarde Tesi 1D hub-center street bike, of which Bimota built just 417 customer examples dur- ing five short years from 1991 to 1995—that included 51 fitted with the 400cc air-cooled desmodue motor for sale in Japan—each Ducati-engined Vyrus variant rep- resents a technological tour de force that's even more minimalist and certainly more aesthetically appealing than the slab-sided Tesi 1D, whose all-enveloping styl- ing covered up the trick tech its design embodied. But as its designation indi- cates, the new Vyrus 986 M2 represents a sideways step in a completely different direction by Rodorigo. As the first Vyrus model to be powered by a four- cylinder engine (and a Japanese one, too), it's also the first in the firm's 15 years of existence to fea- ture anything other than a Ducati desmo V-twin motor. The chance to ride the Tesi's modern-day successor was too good a chance to miss, espe- cially as this was the first time I'd ever ridden a Vyrus on the street, rather than a racetrack—and par- ticularly since this Honda-engined 600cc street bike is the smallest- capacity Vyrus model that As- canio Rodorigo has yet built. Can less truly be more? Apparently so. Hopping aboard the Vyrus 986 M2 brought the memories of many past Bimota rides flooding back, even if it felt much smaller and more purpose- ful than the bigger, more boat-like Tesi 1D that I raced 25 years ago. Its riding position felt improb- ably comfortable and com- paratively normal, without your hands being too close together as on some other hub-center bikes, thanks to the absence of a "proper" set of forks and the triple-clamps they're harnessed in. The vestigial painted bodywork helped add to the sense of mini- malism, but not at the expense of wind protection—speeds of up to 120 mph, as indicated on the digi- tal speedo on the stock Honda dash, didn't deliver excessive windblast, thanks to the small but effective screen. Yet despite having such a short The looks may not be for everyone, but you cannot deny the exquisite engineering that goes into a Vyrus.