Petite Café
Petite Café
You don’t have to be Miles Davis to appreciate John Zainer’s jazzy giant slayer
MARK CERNICKY
CAPTAIN CHAOS—COMPLETE WITH FULL LEATHERS, MOTOcross boots and carbon-fiber helmet—was pretty surprised when I got the holeshot away from the red light on this tiny bike. He and his unbaffled ZX-14 blasted by squirreling around on one wheel. I looked over at the next light: He was already seriously crouched, clutch in, waiting for the green.
Once again, brraAAAAAP! across the intersection, Mito leading. This time, Captain Chaos went past with his back arched, leaned over the bars and dragging the toes of his Tech 8s on the ground behind. I thought, this is it...he’s going to loop it!
Luckily, the human-wheelie-bar technique worked and he made it but skulked away at the next left, while I continued canyonward on that crispy cold morning, warmed by an inner hyena giggle.
He had no way of knowing this petite café racer began its journey in Germany as a limited-edition 2007 Cagiva Mito 125cc two-stroke but had been converted to Honda CRF450X power.
“When I first saw the Mito, I was so impressed with all its components,” said Mito-morpher John Zainer. “Its 4-inchwide, 150mm-by17-inch Pirelli-shod rear wheel, 40mm Marzocchi fork, Brembo brake and strong beam frame... this is a 125?”
In that moment of inspiration, retired music teacher and jazz pianist Zainer purchased the precious Cagiva brandnew from a Stuttgart showroom while on tour. But he sold the bike’s twostroke powerplant right back to the dealer before air-freighting the remainder, as parts, back to Los Angeles.
Stateside, Zainer researched all makes of 450cc engines before buying a brandnew 2008 Honda CRF450X complete motor, including carburetor, to the tune of $4700. He really liked the fact that the engine and transmission oils are separately contained, and that there’s a stator to charge a battery and power lights. During the 14 months that followed, the piano player kept busy intertwining the
Honda enduro wiring with the original Mito harness to make sure all the blinking lights of his 450 satisfied roadlegal regs. He consulted with long-time friend Works Performance’s Gilles Vaillancourt— a recent inductee to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame—for engine-placement advice. Engine installation required engineering quarter-inch-thick aluminum plates to position the motor as far forward as possible while also trying to achieve perfect countershaftsprocket placement. It was a tight fit, Zainer explains: “There is only four millimeters between the curved Cagiva radiator and the Honda cylinder head. And losing one of the CRF-X’s radiators required modifying the water pump and coolant-
return piping.”
More fancy phalange-ing fabbed an aluminum plenum to connect the Honda carburetor to the Cagiva’s existing airbox. Zainer also arranged a trick mechanism that makes use of the original Cagiva choke lever to activate the CRF-X enrichment circuit for coldmorning electric starts.
The only remaining language barrier was with the tachometer—all those rrrolling R’s don’t talk at all. Which meant trusting the vibes instead of the tach: At 100 kph indicated (62 mph), they’re almost hand-numbing; at 120 kph (75 mph), the Mito goes smooth at the grips and shivers the frame rails between the knees. But all this was only noticeable during straight stretches of highway, really.
“Catching cars in canyon corners, you don’t feel like you have to burn gas and haul ass past— you just don’t brake.”
The 450 Mito isn’t super fast, so you just keep the throttle open longer. Catching cars in canyon corners, you don’t feel like you have to burn gas and haul ass past—you just don’t brake. Its light, nimble handling characteristics are like nothing else (except perhaps a 125) and allow its rider to carry what would otherwise be unsettling entry speeds. Well-damped Marzocchi suspension seldom bottoms but does transmit every little surface imperfection; Botts dots feel like whoops. Two-lanes of the tight and twistiest never felt so wide; weighing in at less than 285 pounds, the Mito turns as easily as shifting your eyes to look where you want to be. Staying on line relies on keeping your orbs focused on the rough canyon road.
On the ride back to stately CW Manor from my 100-mile test loop, I confess to splitting traffic like no big bike’s business. The Cagiva’s narrow bars and short stature put us past most cars at belowmirror height. In precise perspective, the Mito seriously is an almost exact 7/s-scale offspring of the Ducati 996.
It’s a dream ride, really, for anybody from a 16-year-old kid to a 76-year-old, 145-pound pianist. Zainer couldn’t be happier with his Honda CRF450Xpowered Cagiva Mito composition— music to soothe the savage beast and keep Captain Chaos at bay. U
