Letter From Europe
LETTER FROM Europe
ROUNDUP
The Milan Show
Milan ’85 may be the show that marked a turning point in the attitude of the Italian bike industry toward itself. There’s evidence of a new confidence and a renewed willingness to invest in the future. Only time will tell if that confidence is justified, but at Milan it had its outward manifestations in the many new models on show, most of which look to be available for the public sooner rather than later as is usually the case.
Hence the generally bullish air of Milan, and the spate of new models with a noticeable emphasis on the two types of machines that sell best to Italian youth: enduros and customs in both the 350cc range and the 500/750cc versions.
So it was with the two companies currently fighting it out for Italian dominance: Güera and Cagiva. Güera has emerged from the shadow of the giant Piaggio aerospace group that owns Güera and Vespa scooters, to assume major importance with its own fuel-injected, 125cc two-stroke engine. It is a remarkable
technological advance, using a highspeed, precision fuel-pump and offering improved throttle response and fuel consumption, as well as solving many emissions problems. Expect Güera to benefit from this breakthrough before very long, as well as for the Japanese to play catch-up and so assure the twostroke’s future.
But also appearing in the Güera display was its first big four-stroke motorcycle in more than a decade and a half. It’s powered by a stateof-the art, twin-port, single-cylinder, four-valve 500cc engine using short pushrods like the Riley and other sports-car engines of the past, with twin Dell’Orto carbs, one of which has a pumper jet. This 500, according to Güera management, is a fore-
runner of a new street model that is already under development. The belt-drive dohc unit is compact and light, with a five-speed gearbox, an hydraulic clutch and a 2-into-l exhaust. Delivery is expected to begin by the end of’86. That’s the likely time for the launch of any road versions as well.
Meanwhile, Güera launched a new pair of 125cc sportbikes aimed at the booming Italian street market, currently led by Gilera’s own RV125 and Cagiva’s Aletta Oro.
The new machines are the 125KK and KZ, svelte, mini road-rockets with 16-inch Grimeca wheels front and rear clad with Pirelli’s new MT45 Zeta tubeless rubber. Both are fitted with monoshock suspension and reed-valve, two-stroke, single-cylinder engines that produce 26 bhp at 9000 rpm. The fully-faired KK has the fuel tank under the engine ELF-Style, with the 26mm power-jet carb fed by a depression pump working off the swingarm. A top speed of 97 mph is claimed for the KK, and it weighs 251 pounds.
Cagiva, however, went the custom route, with the 650 Indiana powered by the Ducati Pantah engine. With a modified Elefant square-tube steel frame, 18-inch front/1 5-inch rear wheels fitted with Michelin’s new Hi-Tour rubber, and a top speed of over 110 mph, the Indiana will doubtless be a big hit with the James Dean clones now peopling Italian street corners.
Two years ago at Milan, the Indiana might have been the focus of the Cagiva stand, but not this year. Combined together in public for the first time at a major show, the joint Cagiva-Ducati exhibit was stunning. No less than 2 1 new models were on display, headed by the breathaking, Pantah-powered Paso 750 and 350, Cagiva’s riposte to the DB1 Bimota.
With such a confusing array of Ducati road rockets on show, help was needed to identify their place in the market; Cagiva sales director Luigi Giacometti supplied it. “The Ducati factory is now gearing up to full production, and all V-Twins are being produced there except for the Elefant enduro range, which is still assembled at Varese. The Paso is top-of-the-line. The new FI is an improved version of the more classical cantilever-suspensioned 750 FI Ducati already in production, but painted silver-and-red and with revised bodywork to resemble the machine we won the Barcelona 24 Horas with in 1985. It also has specifications close to the racing bike, with wide Marvic wheels, Forcella Italia fork with anti-dive, Brembo discs with four-pot Goldline calipers, racing-type exhaust and many other changes. Finally, we have the Cagiva Alazzurra, which is the more normal, everyday Ducati-engined model now available with or without a full fairing. All these new models will be on sale by no later than June; we have other new models in the pipeline but have deliberately not shown them here in Milan so as not to arouse public interest that we cannot satisfy within a reasonable time. This was a mistake we and many pthers made in the past, and it has cost us sales. What you see here, your readers will be able to buy within six months; otherwise, some of us will be in a lot of trouble with the Castiglionis.”
Of the many new Varese-built Cagivas, the standouts were the new 125cc MX bike, which is an improved copy of Vehkonen’s GP works racer, and an updated Elefant in 350/650 form with several refinements and a works Paris-to-Dakartype blue-and-white color scheme. The Elefant has really caught on all over the world, leading to production shortages and a high profile on the streets of Italy, rivaling even the ubiquitous Yamaha Ténéré.
Because Italian motorcycling is on an upturn in contrast to the worldwide recession almost everywhere else, the Italian manufacturers have succeeded in reversing the Japanese domination of the market in Italy which threatened to drive them to the wall. And in contrast to previous bi-annual shows of the Italian motorcycle industry, there were not only heaps of new models, but an overall increase in the number of exhibitors, and a general air of selfconfidence as well. In the end, that self-confidence may turn out to be well-founded. —Alan Cathcart
