The Black Queen
The Black Queen
LETTER FROM Europe
Anyone who thinks that Husqvarna is a company incapable of surprises obviously was not at the recent Milan motorcycle show. Seen in the Husqvarna display, amidst the 501 four-stroke and the usual two-stroke Singles, was the Proof 2-000, a jet-black bike that was dubbed "The Black Queen" by most onlookers.
But is not the monochromatic paint job that makes this bike in teresting. Rather, it is the engine, a liquid-cooled two-stroke parallelTwin displacing 800cc. The engine is based on the 1000cc Twin that finished second in the World Sidecar MX series this year. That bike produced 120 horsepower, but the Proof is claimed to pump out "only" about 80 horses-sufficient, one would think, for a bike that has a claimed weight of 302 pounds.
Roger An~ersson. Husqvarna~s R&D Director, claims the Proof is a project bike that has been `~assem bled to test some new concepts in design. performance and styling. Even though the 800cc engine pro duces tremendous power. it is ac tually quite easy to ride in tricky conditions."
Unfortunately, Andersson also said that as yet. Husqvarna has no plans to produce the bike in spite of strong customer interest. This superHusky is likely to be a works prod uct-development racer, and any production-if. in fact, the bike ever reaches that stage-would be some time in the future, not at the present. So far, the bike has scarcely been run, and 1986 will serve as a test year for The Black Queen.
Harried Harris chassis
Britain~s Harris concern is at the mercy of a buying frenzy. Specialist chassis manufacturers are so jammed with orders fbr existing
Street and new race designs. that development on new road bikes has slowed considerably. Designer Steve Harris, who heads up the 25-man company with brother Lester. must
be the most prolific chassis designer in the business today. Already this year he's produced one-off or urn ited-series frames to house the Ya maha FZ750, Norton Challenge, Ducati 750. Kawasaki Ninja. Suzuki GSX-R750, Rotax 250 tandemTwin and Ducati Mule engines. He has also updated existing designs for everything from UJM Fours to a single-cylinder Honda roadracer. The backbone of the brothers' busi ness. however, is still the Magnum 2 range of street chassis kits for small er-capacity Japanese Fours. That line is now augmented by the bike known as the "British Bimota," the Magnum 3.
First unveiled a year ago. the Magnum 3 accepts Kawasaki GPzl lOOand Suzuki GSI 100 en gines. although other power units can easily be used. Pressure of other work means that the hike has only recently completed proving tests and is now available to the public. The Magnum 3 features a twin-
loop steel chassis in Reynolds 53 1 chrome-moly tubing. i 6-inch Dymag wheels front and rear, a 40mm Forcella Italia fork with adjustable preload and damping. and a White Power rear shock with full rising-rate progressive linkage. Brembo disc brakes are fined, but with Lockheed calipers at the front. The chassis kit, which costs from $2200 on up. includes a full fairing and a single seat, with an optional dual seat.
Short subjects
While still recovering from a pe riod of "controlled administration" after running into financial diffi culties, the Italian Fantic factory has received a welcome boost: This year's World Trials Champion ship was won by Frenchman Thierry Michaud aboard the Fantic 301 powered by the company's own en gine. Put alongside Cagiva's 125cc World MX title, and the use by Denmark's Eric Gunderseri of an Italian GM engine to regain the World Speedway title this fat!, it marks an encouraging upsurge in Italian fortunes in off-road competition.
Seen on Italian roads during extensive road tests: an all-new, 500cc flat-twin boxer bike. No, not the much-rumored. new-generation BMW, but a new four-stroke. from the Czech Jawa factory. complete with shaft drive. Launch is expected in 1987. -Alan cathcartAS..~
