Mondial Piega
Mondial Piega
ITALY 2003
One good turn deserves many others
THERE WAS A TIME WHEN MOTORCYCLING WAS A SPORT of gentlemen. Sometimes it still is, as the story of the new Honda-powered, Italian-built Mondial Piega demonstrates.
The tale begins in 1957, when Soichiro Honda, riding the success of his moped and utility-motorcycle business, turned his visionary attention toward racing, in order to boost his then-young company's image in the international arena. In what was essentially a research trip, Mr. Honda traveled through Europe to visit the most celebrated names in motor cycle racing, among them Italy's Mondial.
Mr. Honda was received with great honor by company owner Count Giuseppe Boselli, who that very year had decided to end Mondial's racing efforts in the face of spiraling costs. When Honda asked to have a closer look at the great Mondial 250cc Grand Prix racer, Count Boselli simply had one packed up and shipped to Japan. While Honda went on to become one of the biggest names in racing, the Count was forced to shut down Mondial a few years after giving Honda his gift.
It has taken more than 30 years to see the Mondial logo on the tank of a production motorcycle again, and thanks to Honda Motor Company's long memory, the new Mondial has a Japanese powerplant, in the form of the RC51's 90degree V-Twin. This is not a minor gesture. Honda has never sold its engines to any specialty manufacturer, not even Bimota, the biggest name in the game until its recent demise.
The new Mondial mixes aggressive styling with a tradi tional frame structure and geometry. Top-quality materials and components are used throughout, and build quality is extremely high. Carbon-fiber was used in the bodywork, and also as a styling element, as the shiny black weave accents the traditional Mondial silver/blue paint scheme.
The aim of the project was to build the lightest, best han dling, most thrilling bike in production today. It had better be, as the price in Europe is a cool $25,000! Production will be limited to 300 Piegas per year. A lower-priced naked version is expected to be unveiled by the end of the year, production of which is projected to be about 600 units per annum.
The RC5 1 powerplant is essentially unchanged, though a larger airbox, Mondia's own 2-1-2 exhaust system and a new ECU with altered advance curves are said to bump output to 140 horsepower at 9800 rpm, with 74 foot-pounds of torque at 8800 revs.
The engine is harnessed in a classic, chromoly steel-tube frame that echoes the tightly triangulated design of Ducatis, but was designed and developed with the assistance of Racing Team Greco, a well-equipped outfit with broad experience in both Grand Prix and Superbike racing, and with a wide variety of bikes. The craftsmanship shines through, with welds so exquisite as to be hardly detectible.
Wheelbase spans 55.9 inches and steering geometry is fairly conservative, a 24-degree/101mm rake and trail combo.
The inverted fork is a newly designed, fully adjustable Paioli unit featuring 46mm titanium-nitride-plated sliders. A link-actuated Öhlins shock works in a braced, carbon-fiberwrapped, chromoly-tube swingarm.
Continuing the Italian-component theme, front brakes are latest-generation racing Brembo Gold units, twin 320mm discs with four-piston, four-pad calipers, while a single 220mm disc with two-piston caliper graces the rear. Five-spoke cast-aluminum wheels come in 3.50/17 front and 5.50/17 rear rim sizes, shod with 120/70 and 180/55 Pirelli Dragon Evo Sport radiais. Optional is a 190/50 rear tire teamed to a 5.75/17 rim. The complete package is said to weigh an incredibly light 395 pounds, ready to go, including a 5.3-gallon fuel load.
My first ride on the Piega (the name means “lean angle” in Italian biker lingo) came at a new racetrack near Adria, south of Venice. The tarmac there is immaculate and the comers are well designed. Here, the Piega, so light, so perfectly balanced and shod with tires that offered grip close to that of racing slicks, gave me what I can only call the ride of my life. It was absolutely spectacular, the handling well ahead of any previous benchmark in the class, yet also fully enjoyable on the road-save for the uncomfortably low clip-ons.
The chassis is so neutral and responsive-yet-stable that it could easily handle a lot more power, given that the Mondialmassaged RC51 motor probably isn’t making more than 125130 bhp at the rear wheel. Even at that level of power, the Piega’s lithe shape allows it to achieve speeds exceeding 175 mph. Due to the light weight, acceleration is fantastic, and on-throttle traction extremely high. Exiting secondand thirdgear comers well heeled over (that Piega name makes sense indeed), I could open the throttle in full confidence, with just the edge of the rear tire biting hard, turning all that torque into a superb off-corner drive.
Feedback is there on comer entrances, as well. Even under hard trail-braking, the precise steering and chassis balance is not upset in the least-if s just accurate, quick and predictable on tum-in with response that borders on telepathic. The chassis imparts a feeling of total control, and available lean angles are breathtaking.
Mondial is already considering a Superbike racing version to bring the name back to top-level competition. The potential is there, if only Honda will lend them a couple of racespec powerplants. Maybe if Mondial asks, Honda will just crate up one or two of Colin Edwards’ spares and ship them over to Italy? -Bruno de Prato
