The Italian-Japanese-British-Swiss-Kiwi Connection
The Italian-Japanese-British-Swiss-Kiwi Connection
ROUNDUP
V-Six Superbike: With Gilera, a classic name in Italian motorcycles, now under the corporate umbrella of Piaggio, plans are afoot to return the old-line firm to the status of a world player in the motorcycle field. Step one, recently announced, will be the development of new models.
But Güera could take an even greater leap up the status ladder if step two reaches production. That would be a streetbike powered by a narrow-angle, lOOOcc V-Six engine. Mounted transversely, the engine could be narrower than an acrossthe-frame Four. The bike would be an expensive model built in small numbers with high levels of performance for a demanding clientele. Will it happen? Lucio Masut, of Piaggio, says he intends that it will. Time will tell.
Green Meanies Revisited: Retro-bikes have hit Japan full-force, with bornagain versions of the classic models built by the Big Four in the l 970s all the rage. However, in some cases it's proving necessary to call on the expertise of chassis manufacturers in Europe to recreate the finished object. Britain's Steve and Lester Harris are currently building a batch of 20 street-legal versions of the legendary “Green Meanie" Kawasaki H2R racers for Japanese enthusiast Ichiro Ohno, who plans to market the bikes in Japan for about S 1 8,000 a copy. For those with short memories, the FI2R was a limitedproduction, air-cooled, two-stroke, three-cylinder F750 racer built in the early '70s using the engine from the 750cc H2 roadster as a basis. It was raced by many famous riders, including Gary Nixon. Yvon DuHamel and Paul Smart.
Blindingly fast, but possessed of extremely fickle handling and reliability, the H2R earned many famous race victories but was never sold as a roadbike. Ohno plans to change all that, though, and so far has obtained 16 H2 engines rebuilt with modern improvements such as one-piece crankshafts, while the
Harrises are sanitizing the racer's bodywork for street use. Construction of the first of these race-replicas is planned to begin soon.
A V-Twin for Fritz: New Zealand constructor John Britten seems to have made his mark, with independent dyno tests on his lOOOcc, eightvalve, fuel-injected V-Twin showing seven percent more power than a race-kitted 888SP Ducati —that’s more than I 30 horsepower, friends.
Not surprisingly, then, Britten has attracted inquiries from some of Europe’s leading chassis builders, including a firm order for a six-pack of the motors from Switzerland's Fritz Egli, who is designing a chassis around the Britten engine to contest the German Battle of the Twins series. Egli says he plans a street version of the racebike, too. once Britten has fitted an electric starter.
Also interested is Bimota chief engineer Pierluigi Marconi. He’s asked for a price quote on 30 engines. both in road and racing forms. Anyone fora Britten-Tesi?
