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BOCCARDO AERO Going nowhere in a hurry

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MOST PEOPLE BUY AND RIDE motorcycles simply because of their very high fun factor. But every so often we hear from those of an entirely pragmatic bent, asking, "Why are bikes so thirsty? Why are they so expensive? Why are they so costly to insure? Why do manufacturers concentrate on performance at the expense of allaround usability?"

Those questions have occurred to a motorcycling visionary named Louis-Marie Boccardo. In answer to them, he's producing, from a small factory in France, what may be the ideal bike for riders oriented more toward utility than toward performance.

Meet the Boccardo 1200 Aero Diesel. Why a diesel? Economical, reliable and long-lived, it's the perfect powerplant for a motorcycling pragmatist.

Boccardo uses the French-built PSA engine, an all-alloy. 1360cc, liquid-cooled inline-Four that is both light and compact. The engine's size permits it to be positioned longitudinally in the Boccardo's chrome-moly tubular steel frame without making the resulting motorcycle too long. And it keeps the Boccardo's claimed dry weight down to a manageable 555 pounds. Provided you accept that it's never going to accelerate like a ZX-1 1, the 59-horsepower Boccardo offers relaxed and long-legged cruising of a type that only a Gold Wing or a Harley tourer can offer.

Starting requires the ritual of switching on the ignition and waiting six seconds for the glow-plug electrodes to heat up. When the relay has clicked to turn them off, you can twist the key. and the engine starts. Its distinctive diesel rumble is heavily muted, but there’s no mistaking the sound when you’re astride the bike.

And once underway, the smooth power delivery of the extremely flexible engine and the widely spaced five-speed transmission make for relaxed, stately cruising for the man w ho has no need to go anywhere in a hurry.

Unfortunately, the Boccardo's chassis needs improvement before it can match the engine’s confident, lazy performance. The bike is far too low, and ground clearance is hopelessly inadequate. The 40mm Paioli fork is underdamped and undersprung, so bumpy corners are taken with the front end pogoing and the footpeg scraping. The rear suspension, controlled by a single Fournales shock, is better, and the Brembo brakes work very well.

Its suspension problems aside, the Boccardo makes sense in an oddball sort of way. a view reinforced by the bike’s extraordinary fuel economy.

It posted 103 miles per gallon at 55 mph in French homologation tests.

The bike’s price—the equivalent of about $ 1 1.500—and its extremely limited production mean that it probably never will be seen outside Europe. Still, if you’re one of those motorcycling utilitarians, it’s got to be tempting. —Alan Cathcart