Cagiva River 600
Claudio Casticlioni is not a man who does things by half, Well actually he does only own half of Cagiva (the other 50% is owned by his brother), Despite bearing the virtual solo spokesman but when it comes to the business be comes in a full 100%-er the sort of blok that is first in and last out, He know every person in the factory by name, and oversees and gets involved in the minutest detail of every bike big or small, So when Casticlioni decide to buy a hotel he doesn't just acquire any little bijou rest-house nor even a multi-story Holiday Inn; no Castiglioni has to buy a bloody castle, built on its own mountain 300 metres higher than the surrounding lombardian town of Varese and with its own permanently stationed caribineiri van at the top. The Palace hotel in Varese cost him £20m and its bedrooms are bigger than my house. The basically W16 derived single cylinder 600cc four-stroke motor (with bal-a n c e shaft) may have its limitations, but the chassis at least is impressive. Steel, rather than the more expensive if lighter option of alloy, the twin spar frame uses the engine as a stressed member whilst generously sized 40mm Marzocchi inverted forks, assisted by a rising rate Boge rear shock (adjustable for preload only) hold up either end. Stopping is governed by a Brembo four-piston caliper squeezing a healthily sized 320mm rotor whilst the rear makes do with a 230mm platter. Wheels are attractive three-spoke cast alloy items measuring 17 inches in diameter front and back carrying Pirelli MT75 cross-ply tyres. The motor itseif, though whilst not boasting enviable peak power, is instead aimed for torque and flexibility to keep new and old riders alike contented, and whilst the super-square dimensions of its internals suggest a revvy nature, compression ratio is an almost At first glance (some say second third and fourth glance) the appearance of the River is very much in the mould (literally) of the Revere (the name itself is but a mere two vowels out of place). The frame dominates the Cagiva even more so than the latter, however, and as a result of the exposure of the mill's heavy fining by the absence of any fully-enclosed plastic, the bike retains an almost classical look and despite its budget slot, the neatly Apart from the stylish looks, the sound on start-up suggests ability but once underway, the typical single bark counts for nothing. There is immediate punch in the lower part of the rev range but remaining in the lower gears brings little benefit and the river dries up almost as fast as this early momentum has been gained and frankly urging it to perform beyond five grand is futile. True, the very short stroke will send the crank spinning to giddier heights but swapping to a higher ratio is the only option to continue any respectable forward motion and the delivery drops like a stone soon after the peak. As such, a rev counter is hardly necessary and not surprisingly, Cagiva don't fit one. Relieving this dull state B^Hfe of affairs at the first set of bends, though, is the rolling chassis. More than able to master the piddling power, the setup offers impressive roadholding with what appears to be a fairly steep head angle for this conservatively The tyres fitted, I have to say, were not of the inspirational kind, however, and both side and general grip were comparatively lacking - I lost the front on a couple of downhill sections where gravity made up for the engine's lack of ponies. Fortunately, the feedback from the fork gave warning of impending doom and backing off brought things back into line immediately. Apart from a lack of outright grip, the tyres were also vague which is a shame as the quality of the exceptional running gear could not be realised. The springing at both ends is much firmer the The cruelty I was subjecting the engine to now made me feel sympathetic as neither the over-revving nor the massive induction roar as a consequence were having the same effect on the sound of the tyres as they accelerated (or rather didn't...) on the road. A pause for thought and a revised policy of reducing the rpm before each change through the crunchy box immediately brought benefit. Bearing in mind the fragility of some large pistoned singles it was a better idea anyway and riding the torque as opposed to abusing the limiter rekindled the punchy, instantaneous delivery. It does need to be kept spinning to some degree, though and tapping the gear change regularly maintains the pace, despite the deliberate feel required on the lever. Accepting at last the the design of the river and becoming one of its intended users rather than trying to dominate it, does bring lighter relief. For town work it's really a very useful tool and in direct comparison to its competitors scores over the Honda for its immediacy and over the Diversion for its extra style. However, with the Divvy being probably the dullest of the dull that isn't too hard and though the thumper's top end falls short of the tingler's, stability is altogether better. It will indeed nudge the ton as the company predicted it would but like the constant revving I indulged in earlier, feels so uncomfortable at this pace that knocking it back to 80-85% is a better option. The screen, too, is a little underdeveloped to encourage three figure antics and again reminds the pilot that such attempts at chasing glory would be better spent on another marque altogether and you're only left pondering the irony of the clock enscribed aphorism 'Time flies when you're riding'. NOT. TECHNICAL There's little doubt that for a company that builds bikes like the Mito and Elephant, the River is hardly going to be a burning ambition. In fact, it's rumoured that the bike all came about by accident and was originally the brainchild of the German importer who, fan of the Ducati Supermono as he was, relished the prospect of an altogether simpler and more economical single with which to tap the more utiltarian end of the German consumer market. More to the point, he also fancied going singles racing but couldn't afford one of Bologna's hand-built specials. So he played around with the Cagiva T500RE enduro motor, eventually slotting it into a Mito frame and when the bike turned up at the company's main factory in Varese, the management were impressed. Again, the idea wasn't taken up right away but soon developed past the point where the Mito chassis was dumped and a bespoke frame built for it -albeit extremely similar to the original. Source Witch Bike 2000 |
1995年Cagiva River 600
2013/8/8 11:47:00