Cagiva Mito 125 Small Package, Good Thing

CAGIVA MITO 125 Small package, good thing

QUICK RIDE

IN ITALY, WHEN A MOTORCYCLE BEcomes a fashion accessory, its manufacturer has to catch the wave and ride it to the end, kicking out before wipeout stage. And nobody has proved more adept at forecasting, and even creating, the next set of rollers in two-wheeled chic than Aprilia, whose climb to numbers supremacy among Italian manufacturers has been attained almost entirely through domination of the 125cc market. Where Aprilia led, the others have had to follow. Until now. This time, Cagiva has caught the first wave, and everybody else has to worry about its new Mito.

Cagiva, for months, had a fully faired 125cc streetbike under development, but when the bike was shown for the first time, it appeared sons bodywork. Question: Where was the Ferrari-red bodywork the Mito (Italian for “Legend”) so obviously lacked?

Answer: On a slow boat from Taiwan, which is where Cagiva sources an increasing variety of components. This caused Cagiva’s management, fearful of losing a summer’s worth of the crucial 125cc market, to make lemonade out of the lemon by rushing out a “nude” version of the Mito, complete with locally made seat and metal tank. The result failed to dent Aprilia’s market share, but once the properly dressed Mito finally hit the shops late last year, there was no contest: Even kids who weren’t figuring on buying a new bike had to have one, even at its price, the equivalent, in lira, of about $4750.

The Mito is simply the horniestlooking, best-handling, fastest 125 streetbike in the world, capable of no less than 107 mph. What has this got to do with the real world of adult motorcycling? Well, for once, a lot.

With its 54.3-inch wheelbase, the Mito is tailored for normal-sized persons. It is not only very comfortable, even for a 6-foot rider like myself, but amazingly stable for such a quick-handling machine. The 267-pound bike has none of the twitchiness you’d expect from a 125, perhaps because of fairly conservative steering geometry—25.5 degrees of rake, 3.85 inches of trail. Less impressive is the 38mm front fork, which felt too stiff on compression, so that it hopped noticeably over some rough surfaces. No complaint about the Mito’s monster front brake, though, straight oft'the Ducati 851.

But where the Mito really scores over its rivals is in the usability of its little two-stroke engine. There isn’t a lot of power on tap until the revcounter hits 3000 rpm, but past that number, there is vivid acceleration—60 mph in just over 7 seconds from a standing start. By the time the engine finds 1 1,000 rpm, power drops off sharply, but by then you should be doing more than 100 mph in top gear, which is to say, seventh.

Great fun. Even with a price tag nudging $5000, the Mito provides loads of laughs for both teenagers and adults, and that means it probably will achieve its intent of dislodging Aprilia from the numberone spot in the 125cc class. At least, that is, until the next wave hits.

-Alan Catheart