International Motorcyclists Tour Club

The New Italian Connection.

Noticing the picture of Phil Howe's Elefant on the cover of the September mag, I fell to musing that, with a few exceptions, Italian machinery does not seem to have found great favour amongst IMTC members over the years True, there was a following of Spadas in the late '70's and early '80's, and the odd Le Mans and Jota, and more recently Monsters, have appeared in the list, but not on the scale that BM's and Pans of the last years. I also heard on the grapevine that John Curtis has acquired an Elefant (did you get some platform soles included in the deal, John?).I even found an Elefant/Hedingham ETH outfit at the recent Hedingham Northern Rally, and very sporting it looked too when we had a run over to Oliver's Mount for a few leisurely laps before the traditional afternoon tea. I, too, had considered an Elefant in early '95 when I bought the Africa Twin, but the plank of wood that you were expected to sit on was even worse than the Honda, and that's saying something, for that was a ¾ hour seat. Lack of a suitable luggage system was also a concern, something which may have been addressed by Givi by now. This was at the time that Spy was reviewing, in depth, in MCS, a series of so called large trail bikes, and in which, from memory, he placed the Elefant first and the Honda second in his assessment tables. He eventually bought one and ran it for about 35, 000 miles with satisfaction. I had plumped for the Honda, which, with a Corbin seat and plus 4 inch Acrybre screen, proved to be a good touring machine even if the back end did look like a lorry when equipped with Givis fitted outside the large silencer. (Thoughts of Scott lorries and Lawrie Triumphs which were equally broad in the beam in pre Triumph luggage days). About a year after getting the XRV, a picture of a Gran Canyon prototype appeared in the press, which was probably intended to be the successor to the Elephant, but due to Cagiva's financial problems imports fell away, and nothing more was heard. The memory lingered though, for it was a super looking bit of tackle, so Italian. Now a regular gripe in the press is from the 28 inch inside leg brigade, and how they can't get their tippy toes down, but little is heard from the other extreme, the 33 inch in-seam genus, who needs a bit of room to spread it's legs out. (Another thought. seeing Jim Kentish at the NEC Show carrying a hardboard template to test whether the included bent leg angle on various machines was as good as his ageing K ; how eminently Jim and how eminently sensible). So often does the riding position offer inadequate room between the seat and footrests, causing an extremely bent knee and too much weight on the backside. Triumph even manages to get a 33 inch seat height and a cramped footrest position on the Tiger. I wonder who rides these bikes, they can't all be diminutive Belgian Paris Dakar pros surely. Adjustable riding positions were available many years ago, and although some manufacturers pay lip service to the idea today the range of adjustment is very limited, and the all important footrest adjustment seems to be universally absent. On my 1964 R69S both rider and pillion footrests were on serrated mounts which allowed 360 degrees of rotational adjustment, which meant you could move them up, down, forward and back, by about an inch and a half. (The Denfeld seat was another matter though). My old 100 GS, with a built up seat and K-series footrests (lower by about an inch than the standard trail pegs) gives a relaxed riding position which shows up the Africa Twin's bar/seat/footpeg relationship as less than ideal for me, but having come away from overweight tourers with barn door fairings and barely adequate suspension, I have grown to regard the so called large trail bike, with its long travel suspension, precise handling, upright riding position, and room to be comfortable for long mileages, as my ideal. If they have V twin engine like the XRV, which is as sweet as a nut, so much the better. What does it matter that they have chain drive (fit your Scottoiler and forget the chain), and do not have built in luggage. They are arguably better touring motorcycles than the 'real thing', certainly in the suspension department, and the luggage can often be sorted by Givi whose panniers are way ahead of many OE fitments, and waterproof as well. I had been fancying a change from the Honda after some 3 years, but hadn't found anything except the 1100 GS which looked remotely like fitting the bill. I thought the puke green (aka yellow) one quite attractive, and found details of the Aeroflow screen (expensive but well regarded by GS11 owners on both sides of the pond and in Oz). But I still had doubts. There are many reports in the BM Journal about an awful seat. The seat to footrest dimension is still barely adequate for me, and did I really want another BM with rusty nipples? My local dealer uncharacteristically seemed unable to lend me one for a day to dispel or confirm my doubts. (You might have had a sale this spring if you had got your act together earlier, Mr D.) Then came the article by Alan Cathcart in MCS & L on the Gran Canyon. The revived Cagier, S.p.a., had developed to production the GC904 i.e., and here were Cathcart's impressions from the Italian launch. The looks and design shown in the photos, were for me still delightfully Italian, and whilst it seemed strange for me to be picking up vibes from a man who is no mean racer and usually writes about crotch rockets, he made some significant points which aroused my interest. A riding position suitable for six footers, an upright stance, able to stay with a sport bike on the twisties, seven inches of suspension travel at each end, engine detuned for less power but significantly increased mid range, you have nothing to prove when riding this bike, 100 mph cruising ability if you could stand the fairing, ........it went on and on. The downsides seemed to be restricted to a rather low screen and lack of a centre stand. A phone call to Three Cross and a redirection to Cobb and Jagger in Shipley, located an available demonstrator. On the Friday before the Barbon Hill Climb, Scott and I went over to Shipley to look at the Cagier and the Guzzi Centauro. Whilst I was very impressed by the Cagier, Scott was still unfortunately rather under-whelmed by the Centauro, this being the second time he had ridden the bike, this time with nearly sorted carburation. We had a rather blowy ride up to the Royal Oak at Dacre Banks for a sandwich. I got chastised for using too many revs on a V-twin when pulling away, but I was taken with the way the suspension handled Yorkshire roads, and with the impressions of light weight and slimness ("all I can see of the bike riding behind you is the rear mudguard" ).The engine was certainly torquey despite having only 300 km on it.And....... Cathcart was right, the seat/bars/footpegs relationship might have been designed for me alone. The seat too was better than a Pan, let alone an Africa or Elefant. There looked to be a strong possibility of owning my first Italian bike. Well, can you imagine me on a Monster or a 916? A generous trade value on the Honda was forthcoming, and after mulling it over, I placed my order the following Monday hoping to get a bike through before Varese shut down for a month's holiday. Having topped 4000 km in the first seven weeks, and seeing that the December ish of MCS&L is to contain a road test, I resolved to commit my own thoughts to paper before they become influenced by reading the Spy or whoever has done the test. Styling. A very subjective thing this, but for me the Italian design flair which is manifest in furniture, light fittings, cars, and motorcycles, is very evident in this bike. 'Drop dead gorgeous.' Build quality. The injection moulded plastic components, including the tank with its posey twin fillers, is light weight but of high quality. The weld quality on the alloy swing arm and headstock puts the Japs to shame. Note the extensive use of sleeved braided hoses. There are many good quality Jap components used in the switchgear, levers, throttle housing, Nissin calipers etc. The instrumentation has no gear indicator, which I wouldn't mind, to complement the six speed box, but is otherwise all you need in a compact dash panel which so far has not misted up. The idiot lights are traditionally Italian dim when the sun is out. People delight in telling me scare stories about Ducati engine failures, so I hope it happens within the 2 year unlimited mileage warranty period (come on BMW GB). Ergonomics. The 33 inch high seat is excellent, and is certainly a 2 ½ hour seat, maybe three. The riding position, for me, though unadjustable is first class, by design. The weather protection is, compared to a full touring fairing, somewhat sparse. The standard blind screen is useless, whilst the Cagier flip which fortunately came with my bike and has about one inch of tinted lectern on top of the upper fairing, is better but still inadequate. A trip down to Weymouth to see Brian Wightman at Acrybre again proved to be the answer, and I got covers for the foxey twin projector headlamps as well. (Incidentally, whilst not in the Pan headlamp class these cause me no problems in occasional after dark riding.) Whilst I need a full face helmet, I can now sit happily at 130 kph on the motorway, and occasional excursions into higher speed ranges do not seem to produce much increase in pressure. I have more wind pressure on my shoulders and helmet than behind a touring fairing, but the noisy turbulence is absent, especially when its windy. A case of less is more? Provision for luggage is currently restricted to a solid cast aluminium carrier cum grab rail, which is solid enough to take a 45 litre top box. I understand that Cagier have their own coming up, but I would fit a Givi plate. Meanwhile, 'Charlie on the Road' has sufficed. The main big negative is no centre stand which means an AA job if the tubed Pirelli MT80's (which are tubeless but are fitted on unsealed spoked wheels) pick up a nail, and maintenance is a chore. I notice that the centre stand on the ST2 mounts on internally threaded bosses which also appear on the engine unit in the Cagier, and am hoping that a centre stand will eventually appear. It was an after market job on the Africa Twin also. On the Road. The CG has a compact and lightweight feel which belies its 218 kg dry weight. The engine configuration gives a low centre of gravity, probably not quite as good as an old boxer, but superior to the Triumph triple which carries a similar weight high and feels like it. The steering is relatively slow but the bike feels extremely stable. It twitches a bit on the Thelwall Viaduct when the high wind signs are lit, but is less affected than a Pan or indeed the Africa, both of which have much more side on area to catch the wind. It feels firmer on the road than the Honda, which is a little soft in comparison, but both bikes are very precise. The long travel suspension works well over the local test bumps, is better than my 100 GS, and really puts Pans and K's to shame. The engine has adequate power and bags of midrange which makes the six speed gearbox, carried over from other Ducati applications, unnecessary. I am constantly feeling to make sure that I have changed to sixth and have not settled to a fifth gear cruise. You notice eventually on the rev counter that you have on about 400 rpm more than you should have, but a digital gear indicator a la K series would be nice. Probably a bit effete for the Ities. The good midrange makes for effortless main road cruising and overtaking in any of the top three gears. It will trickle at 30 mph in 6th, and whilst it clearly prefers a few more revs, will pull away cleanly from below 2000 rpm. There is none of the dreadful transmission snatch that affects the Africa below 2, 500 rpm and similarly I believe the Funduro below 3000 rpm. On the road, the engine and exhaust notes are 'satisfying', whilst at tickover the whirrings and clankings of the belts, desmo valve gear, and the dreadfully noisy clutch are a great contrast to the effeminately clinical sound of the XRV. I am not yet convinced by the MT80 Pirellis, which fall off white lines, catseyes, and longitudinal road irregularities easily and occasionally alarmingly. They still appear to merit the 'holzreifen' nickname which the Germans gave to the earlier MT series. Its not bad enough to throw them away, but I shall definitely be exploring alternatives, which shouldn't be too difficult since the front wheel wears a 19 inch tyre not 21 as some other bikes of the type. So that's it really, so far. I am highly delighted with the bike which retails at £6, 999. Its 'moto totale' design objective seems to have been realised, and it is very similar to a GS (BMW) in abilities if not appearance. It is no doubt more able than its rider, but the grin factor is very high. As I said to a GS owner with whom I was chatting at Devils Bridge the other day, I sometimes feel like a teenager with his first new bike. Nice people at the dealer, too. Molto Bene! Barry Arthur.

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