Tag Archives: Cagiva

1984 Cagiva C9 Racer through the lens of Phil Aynsley

July 22, 2021 mcnews Leave a comment

1984 Cagiva C9 Racer

With Phil Aynsley

Cagiva began its 500cc Grand Prix efforts in 1978 – with a Suzuki RG500 painted red and silver, after failing to purchase the MV Agusta team when it quit racing at the end of 1976.

1980 saw the introduction of the 1C2, powered by a somewhat modified Yamaha TZ500 motor housed in a Nico Bakker chassis. It wasn’t until the following year that a completely in-house engine design (the rotary-valve in-line C2C) took to the track, still with Virginio Ferrari as the rider – but results proved less than spectacular.

For the 1982 season the newly developed 3C2 used a rotary-valve square four motor similar to Suzuki’s RG500 and the chassis was developed in-house. Jon Ekerold scored the team’s first point with a 10th at Hockenheim.

The C9 was a revamped machine with square section alloy chassis

1983 was a lost year after a new open cradle frame that used the motor as a load bearing member proved to be a failure. The C7 made 132 hp but weight was up by 5 kg to 125 kg.

In 1984 six revamped bikes were built (the C9) for riders Marco Luchinelli and Hervé Moineau, but despite better handling provided by a square section alloy chassis, and a motor that didn’t loose power as the race went on, the best result was a 10th place by Luchinelli in the Yugoslavian GP.

The aerodynamic bodywork was developed in the Aermacchi wind tunnel at Verase. The C9 was the last model to use the square four layout as Cagiva moved to a V4 in 1985 for the C10.

The C9 seen here was sent to the US in ’85 to Reno Leoni’s team for Jimmy Adamo to race. It remained in the US and was restored prior to my photographing it in 2014.

Source: MCNews.com.au

Motorcycle News, News

Cagiva’s C594 500cc GP Racer | With Phil Aynsley

March 11, 2020 mcnews Leave a comment

Cagiva’s final 500cc GP Motorcycle – The C594

With Phil Aynsley

The C594 was the final version of the Cagiva 500cc GP bike, and the best looking GP bike of all time as far as I’m concerned!

Cagiva C594 GP Racer

John Kocinski won the opening round in Australia and had six other podium positions to finish third in the championship for the ’94 season.

Cagiva C594 GP Racer – Ridden by John Kocinski

This is chassis No.4 and is fitted with the aluminium swing arm used for the bulk of the season (a carbon fibre unit was used towards the end).

Cagiva C594 GP Racer with aluminium swingarm

While Cagiva had previously experimented with Ferrari-built carbon fibre frames, 1994 was the first time a composite carbon-alloy frame was used as standard.

The C594 ran a composite carbon-alloy frame as standard

Compared to the C593 it had a more sophisticated engine management system (with three maps) and while slightly down on power it was a far more manageable package.

Engine management was also beefed up on the C594

The 80º twin counter-rotating crankshafts and “big bang” firing order motor was otherwise mostly unchanged.

The powerplant was a big bang 80º twin producing 177 hp

Power on the Cagiva C594 was 177 hp at 12,500 rpm at the rear wheel and dry weight just 130 kg.

The Caviga C594 weighed in at just 130 kg

Source: MCNews.com.au

Motorcycle News, News

MV Agusta plans Elefant adventurer

February 19, 2020 mcnews Leave a comment

MV Agusta has been promising for some time that it will move into new fields such as small-capacity bikes and adventure bikes and now it has a name for the latter – Elefant.

The Italian company has applied for the trademark for Elefant which is Italian for elephant.

It also comes from the famous Cagiva Elefant (pictured above) which won the 1990 Paris-Dakar Rally with Italian rider Edi Orioli and is now in the Ducati museum in Bologna.

Ducati used that bike as the inspiration for their 1100cc Scrambler Desert X concept shown at last year’s EICMA motorcycle show in Milan.

Scrambler Desert X

We expect they will unveil the Desert X later this year.

If MV Agusta is successful with its trademark application, then the Ducati Scrambler 1100 off-road model won’t be called an Elefant.

Elefant history

The whole Cagiva/Elefant/Ducati/MV history is as messy as Italian politics.

Back in the 1990s, Cagiva owned Ducati and MV Agusta and their Elefant was powered by a Ducati engine.

Through a series of strange financial arrangements Cagiva came under MV Agusta’s umbrella.

Both companies were infamously bought by Harley-Davidson and quickly sold back to the son of founder and former owner Claudio Castiglioni in quick succession.

Cagiva production ended in 2012.

Timur Sardarov

MV Agusta still own the Cagiva brand and new boss Timur Sadarov confirms their plan to resurrect it for electric bicycles and motorcycles.

So their new adventure bike may be branded MV Agusta, not Cagiva.

However, we’re not putting aside for a deposit just yet.

There have been many promises of new models from MV Agusta over the past few troubled financial years but all we’ve seen is limited-edition variants of ageing models.

Now that they have a new Russian boss and Russian money they may move forward with new models. But don’t hold your breath!

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Motorcycle News, News

Cagiva online to return as electric

January 31, 2020 mcnews Leave a comment

Since 2018, MV Agusta has been working on reviving the Cagiva name, but with an electric motor, and now new boss Timur Sardarov (pictured above) confirms it is still part of their plan.

“Cagiva production will resume next year, at the latest in early 2021, and will be dedicated to electric urban mobility,” he told Italian site Motociclismo.

The interview is unclear about what the electric vehicle will be: scooter, motorcycle, e-bike?

“But we will not make scooters, they will be motorcycles,” says Timur who took over from Giovanni Castiglioni last year.

Cagiva V-Raptor

Then he seems to contradict himself.

“Easy to drive and below 4kW, because at the moment no-one who produces beyond this threshold can generate profits.

“In six or seven years, it will probably be possible to reach the profit with vehicles equivalent to 350cc.”

Cagiva return

Giovanni when he was still boss in 2018

When I met with MV Agusta boss Giovanni Castiglioni in July 2018, he talked about the electric Cagiva project and said he believed in the potential of electric bikes.

“There is a market for high-performing light bikes and that’s how the Cagiva electric bike project started,” he told me.

“From my pure personal experience, the torque, power and throttle response is great. You can have fun and you don’t scare the cows and the deers. It’s actually enjoyable.”

He said Cagiva electric bikes would start with 80km of range and reach 320km in the next five years with a range of bikes from commuters to off-road.

But he also said MV would not go into electric bikes because there is no market for high-performing electric street bikes.

John Kocinski’s Cagiva V594

“People think the electric bike is for losers and the reality is it is not.

“But at the moment, its potential is in cities for short-range commuting from home to the office or for short trips.

“We don’t yet live in a world where you can live with an electric car. I would like to buy a Tesla, but only for driving from home to the office. I travel a lot by car and I can’t start my journey by doing a flight plan like in a plane.

“The charging infrastructure needs to improve first.”

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

MotoGP, Motorcycle News, Motorcycle Racing, News

Randy Mamola’s Cagiva C589 Racer

December 26, 2019 mcnews Leave a comment

With Phil Aynsley

The Cagiva brothers began their quest for 500cc World Championship glory in 1978 with a modified RG500 Suzuki as the base machine. This was followed at the final race of the 1980 season with the C1 – a bike built around a much modified Yamaha TZ500 motor.

Cagiva Randy Mamola PA CagivaC — Randy Mamola’s Cagiva C589 Racer from 1989

It wasn’t until 1981 that a completely in-house design appeared, the 2C2. It featured a transverse four-cylinder motor (outside cylinders reversed) with four disc-valves mounted above the gearbox and driven by toothed belts.

1982 saw the troublesome straight four dropped mid season for a new square-four design and resulted the team’s first top ten finish – by Jon Ekerold at Hockenheim.

1985 saw the introduction of Cagiva’s first V4 design in the C10. The 90 degree motor used twin crankshafts and was housed in a frame similar to the Yamaha’s Deltabox. The V-angle was reduced to 58 degrees for 1987’s C587 which enabled the whole bike to be more compact. Didier De Radigues scored a fourth place finish in the Brazilian GP.

The team’s first podium came in 1988 with the C588 at Spa with Randy Mamola. He also had three other top ten places. The bike featured a ‘banana’ swingarm together with a stronger frame, more compact motor and a new ‘one piece’ bodywork design by Massimo Tamburini.

The C589 seen here continued with Tamburini’s sealed bodywork (foreshadowed by his Ducati Paso design), but the chassis employed a horizontal rear shock absorber layout which proved to be a mistake as it compromised both the steering geometry and weight distribution making it difficult for the riders to get the motor’s higher power output to the ground.

As a result Mamola finished the season in 18th and spent most of the season pulling spectacular wheelies to entertain the crowd (his best result was seventh in Yugoslavia).

The Cagiva C589 had a dry weight of 122kg and made 150hp at 12,000rpm.