And MV up for sale again. Oh well, it's not like we haven't been here before :-/
News report I read said they were dropping MV and Buell - no mention of either being up for sale. So who do you reckon will buy them up?
Erik Buell looks as if he's about to burst into tears in his video message. http://www.buell.com/en_us/
Piaggio for MV shirley, seeing as they own nearly everything else Italian. I wonder if (Franco) Morini will survive? -- +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Pete Fisher at Home: | | Voxan Roadster [ SPACE ! ] Yamaha WR250Z | | Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" | +----------------------------------------------------------------+
Can't blame him, I actually feel sorry for him. Despite my compassion, I always thought that Buells were some of the fugliest bikes to ever see production and should be put out of their misery. I suppose they had some pretty good ideas from an engineer's point of view, but the end result never excited me, to put it mildly. Never ridden one to know what they're really like, mind. Geo P.S.: As for MV, it's been passed around more often than a blunt at a frat party methinks. Maybe BMW shoud buy them as well so they can keep their brand monolithically Bavarian and do all the snazzy sports stuff under a different, yet prestigious badge. They could even call it Bavaresa Meccanica Verghera.
I just noticed your sig and your fantic up for sale .. I dunno what a Fantic Hiro is, I presume it's an Enduro? I used to have Fantic 305, 347, 156 Trials bikes and love 'em. Any pictures, idea of how much you want for it etc etc. if you'd rather email, the 'reply to' addy works ..
I have: I liked it. It juddered gently on the stand at idle but smoothed right out under way. I can't report on handling because I didn't dare test a demo bike any where near its limits [1] but it seemed fine. It was one of the few occasions where I seriously considered buying a new bike. I'm sad that they've gone to the wall, so I'm hoping they can be salvaged. Later, I considered Buells again when I was looking for a track toy, but tales of exploding gearboxes on the models I could afford put me off, so I bought the Aprilia instead: similar sort of thing but doesn't quite sound as nice. More power and more reliability though. [1] OK, my limits.
It's an RC125 Enduro fitted with an air cooled 250 piston-port Hiro engine. It's one of 15 built by Armstrong for works enduro teams. Here's a couple of old pics (very old in the case of the first one - I've owned it for over 20 years) with the big ally tank fitted (which is now bare rather than red) http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30265928&l=9ec2cca73d&id=135707324 6 http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30267116&l=748a63e343&id=135707324 6 This was a few months ago when I took the engine out to get a broken turret on the bottom of the crankcase welded: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30460980&l=81e91ee717&id=135707324 6 And these are from Salisbury Plain a couple of years ago, with the other tank fitted: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30476358&l=0fb092828a&id=135707324 6 http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30262731&l=dccd820fe1&id=135707324 6 It's not an easy bike to ride - the power delivery is insane. You have to snap the throttle shut asap when it hits the power band in the first 3 gears, or make sure you've got the back brake ready. It's the most fun bike I've ever ridden though if you're in the mood, hence the reason I've kept it so long. Price - who knows? I've got someone else waiting for an answer to the same question, so I was going to put on eBay with a stupidly high reserve to get an idea. I know from scouring numerous forums over the years looking for info that the engine is extremely in demand. Whether that makes it valuable or not is a different matter.
Nice .. reminds me of my old PE 175, old school twin-shock enduro, can't beat it for the rush ... Heh, we had a (1980/81 I think) Maico 440 that did the same ... in every gear!! No worries, thanks, must admit it was more general interest in all things Fantic, and I couldn't recall the Hiro tag.
