Whither Voxan?

WHITHER VOXAN?

TWo years ago, the French said we'd have bikes by now. So where are they?

FRANCE IS A NATION INTENSELY conscious of its own history and importance—where laws are made to prevent foreign words and usages from creeping into the language. Imagine, therefore, the position of French motorcycle enthusiasts. A pioneer of motoring at the turn of the century, France evolved a strong, multi-brand domestic motorcycle industry only to lose it all to economic depression and war. Imports from Japan and elsewhere have carried French riders for years, but there exists a powerful motorcycle vacuum that can only be filled by genuinely French machines. French technology is alive and powerful—the French aircraft industry is highly respected, and French F-l engines define the state of that art. Why no motorcycle industry revival?

The missing element has been the sustained economic prosperity that affords investors a chance to risk capital in new business. French motorcycling revived strongly during the 1970s on imported machines, and many fine French racers won champi-

onships in that period. Since then, Europe has emerged once more as a world economic force.

Two-and-a-half years ago, the Voxan motorcycle was announced to the world at the French Grand Prix at Le Mans. At that time, there were suggestions of pneumatic valves in its future, an implied relationship with French F-l engine designs. Since then, the process of recreating an industry has lagged behind promotional promise. The models soon to enter full production are the Roadster and the Cafe Racer, to be followed by the Scrambler, all powered by a liquidcooled, 72-degree, lOOOcc V-Twin limited under French no-fun laws to 100 bhp. Any idea of exportation has been carefully suppressed until production catches up.

As of last summer, the factory was still largely empty. Voxan is not the only manufacturer to discover the difficulty of sourcing equipment and parts of high quality. The company stated that its first machines required 1800 different parts, of which 900 were unique. As some early deliveries of parts did not measure up to required quality standards, there have been returns and adjustments. All this has taken time. Currently, the first work stations are in place and operating, and true production was scheduled to begin by January 21, 2000.

Kevin Cameron