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.
According to its plan, Harley-Davidson is going to develop and launch a number of new model lines under the Cagiva name, with the popular Raptor being the first to see the new light, as early as mid-2010. Rumors expect the bike to feature a 140hp, 1125cc liquid-cooled v-twin, likely the Rotax engine that’s also used on the Buell 1125R and the 1125CR.
In addition to the big displacement Raptor, Harley also has plans for smaller motored Cagivas, likely in the 125,650, and 800cc segments. Harley-Davidson is expect to source these motors from BMW and Piaggio. There is also speculation that the Elefant may also be revived. According to the plan, Cagiva will build the Elefant as a dual-purpose machine fitted with either the 1125cc Rotax v-twin, or a different motor of roughly the same capacity but sourced from elsewhere.
In long-term goals, Harley-Davidson would like to see Cagiva produce a full-blown superbike. Fitted with a highly tuned 1200cc version of the Rotax v-twin, with power on par with the competition, Cagiva would aim to compete with BMW, Aprilia, Ducati, and the four Japanese manufacturers in the liter bike segment.
The goals and benchmarks read more like a wish list than an executive plan, but it is good see some progress being made in bringing the unique style and bikes that Cagiva has represented for so long back onto the streets.
Like most good rumors about future bikes, Oberdan Bezzi has drawn up a few concepts to wet out appetites until the real thing is debuted. Enjoy.
Source: Solo Moto
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