Claudio Castiglioni, President of MV Agusta, passed away this morning in Varese, Italy at the age of 64. In a statement from MV Agusta, the company says that Castiglioni succumed from an unnamed illness while attending a clinic in Varese. Over the course of his career, Castiglioni touched such esteemed brands as Ducati, Cagiva, Husqvarna, and of course MV Agusta. His most recent accomplishment was bringing MV back into Italian ownership, in an act of business acumen that saw Harley-Davidson actually pay Castiglioni €20 million to take back the recent refurbished company.

Registering “Elephant” with the United States Patent & Trademark Office, MV Agusta looks poised to make an adventure bike, based off the Cagiva Elefant mark of yore. In its application, MV Agusta cites the use of the trademark for “land vehicles, namely, motorcycles,” which certainly bodes well for those loyal to the old Elefant brand.

The trademarking process began in July of 2009, meaning the Elephant-branded motorcycle was a glimmer in the company’s eye while it was still a part of Harley-Davidson, as was the MV Agusta F3. Granted the trademark in October of 2010, it’s possible that the project has since been disbanded after MV’s divesture from Harley-Davidson. However there are plenty of arguments to suggest MV Agusta would have kept the project alive through its transition of ownership.

In its stock form, the Cagiva Mito is not the most outlandish motorcycle every created. It boasts only a tiny 125cc motor, that makes barely 15hp. But when Simone Barbagallo got his on an unsuspecting Mito, the result was something quite the opposite of ordinary.

Barbagallo has increased the little elephants peak power to 90hp by adding a supercharger and NOS system to the donor bike. Not willing to call it quits, he then proceeded to bore out the motor 200cc’s. With almost no stock part left to be replaced, the result is what Simone calls, the Scorpion Performance, and he’d be willing to part with it for $55,000.

Spanish magazine Solo Moto has gotten word that Harley-Davidson has put together a plan to revive the Cagiva brand. Cagiva, like many Italian marks, has struggled the past years because of poor financing and business management. In its deal to acquire MV Agusta, Harley-Davidson also acquired Cagiva with that hopes that the American company could provide a remedy to these problems, and has recently laid out its plan on how it is going to achieve those goals. Read more about their road map for Cagiva after the jump.