This Cagiva V593 belongs to huge motorcycle
fan and avid collector, Steve Byrne. The bike holds
a spot at Steve’s bar with Andrew Pitt’s world title
winning ZX-6RR.
Steve’s other 18 bikes live in the garage. Like I said,
Steve is a bike nut.
When he heard that Paul Feeney was selling the V593
that Kocinski won the Australian GP on in 1994, Steve
just had to have it. Naturally, when Steve offered
Rapid a ride we didn’t hesitate in saying yes!
I think this is the first time I’ve felt true fear
from a motorcycle. And I mean fear.
“Just stay relaxed and ride it normally. It’ll just
feel like a superbike, only faster and lighter. And
watch those carbon brakes until they’re up to temp,”
Daryl reassures me in that weird way a surgeon reassures
you before cutting your chest open with a hacksaw,
“Keep an eye on the temperature, too, and watch the
powervalves, they seem to be jamming up a little at
9500rpm.”
The next minute I’m being pushed down pit lane by
Dick Smart – just like the real guys on telly! I let
the clutch out and the V4 fires into life. The racer
comes out in me almost straight away. Every threat
that Pappy has made on my life has been forgotten
and I’ve already got my knee down by turn two. Feeney
must have put soft tyres on for a bit of extra ‘journo’
insurance!
First run down the back straight I short shift and
load the bike up. I hold the throttle open in third
gear to clear it and after a few coughs the digital
tacho suddenly screams past 9500rpm. I can feel my
shoulder joints pulling apart as I shift at 12500rpm
before grabbing the brakes for turn three. They feel
just like normal brakes at the moment. They must be
cool. Out of three I feed the throttle on slowly to
lean the engine out a little and get through that
rough patch at 9000rpm. Again, the engine clears its
throat and I’m struggling to hold on, let alone keep
the front wheel down. Wheelspin, wheelstand, wheelspin,
wheelstand. Faark. This thing hammers. I’ve never
felt acceleration like it. Ever. Not even on a turbo
or a superbike or anything.
I’m
cautious through the two left-handers first
time around but I feed it on a little on the
short straight before turn six, just to get
a feel for the power delivery. Onto the chute
for the first time the engine coughs again but
once it clears the bike explodes in a surge
of acceleration and shifting through the ‘box
via the electronic reverse-pattern quick-shifter
delivers a feeling like no other. Nothing feels
like this, no four-stroke could be this exciting.
The 500 is amazingly quick. |
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I feel like the Cagiva has knocked 10 years off and
I’m 19 and fearless again. I squeeze the Brembo front
brake lever at the end of the straight. One finger
is all it takes but I have this picture in my head
of the rotors suddenly getting up to temperature and
locking the wheel before I can modulate the pressure.
But soon I’m trail-braking into corners with confidence
and I’ve got the hang of feeding the power on progressively
out of the turns. I just can’t believe how much concentration
this bike is sapping from me.
The hoops are up to temperature now and with more
confidence in the tyres I’m pushing the Cagiva further
and further on its side every lap. But I’m more than
aware that I need to stand the bike up as much as
possible before opening the throttle. Make no mistake
– this ain’t no proddie or 600. Wind it on mid-corner
on this thing and I’m going to be flying pretty high.
The chassis is ultra-stiff and the bike is so light.
You’d really have to have an intimate relationship
with the machine and a lot of laps under your belt
to decipher confidence-inspiring feedback from it.
Once you knew the bike, though, it’d be a brilliant
talker. In my short session I’m just relying on my
past experience with slick tyres and knowing how far
to push them at this moderate pace.
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The rear Ohlins
GP-spec shock is predictably stiff and, to be
honest, probably in need of a service after
sitting around for so long – especially with
my 90kgs on it. The front suspension action
is firm but nowhere near what I’d imagined.
In fact the machine is riding the nasty bumps
at Queensland Raceway quite well, with the exception
of getting air over the bumps at the end of
the main straight – the rear kicking me in the
butt like a crazy horse! |
The session is coming to an end and my dream is almost
over, just as I start to get smooth and comfortable.
I put in what I feel are few half decent laps. Not
surprisingly the V593 feels better the faster I go
and on the last lap I do just what Daryl said. I ride
it like I’d ride a normal bike – running into the
turns fast, standing it up and winding it on harder
and taking it right through to 13000rpm – 1000rpm
short of redline. On the last lap I feel like I’m
detached from the world. Like I used to feel when
I was on a hot lap and in my ‘groove’ in my racing
days.
No bike has made me feel like that since I stopped
racing and I don’t think anything else ever will.
I think I’m in love…
I ride back into the pits and hop off the bike feeling
eerily calm and sedate. Steve walks over and hands
me a cold beer. Man. This is the best day of my life.
Cheers to that!
DARYL BEATTIE
“That’s the most fun I’ve had since I retired
in ’97,” declared Beattie as he tried to wipe the
smile off his face after leaving blackies all over
Queensland Raceway on the Cagiva.
“That’s the most laps I’ve done on a track for seven
years. I’ve only done those commentating laps for
Channel 10 at the Australian Grand Prix but as soon
as I left pit lane all the memories of 500GP came
back. Nothing beats a 500.” Admitted Daryl, “I felt
good on the bike and it all started to come back to
me. I remember this bike well and always wondered
what it would be like to ride. It feels similar engine-wise
to the Yamaha I rode in 1994 but it handles better.
It’s really sweet and the carbon brakes are just awesome
when you haven’t used them for a long time.
“It feels really good to ride a race bike
again. You just can’t beat the way they steer,
stop or accelerate. The thing just wants to
wheelstand in every gear. Unreal!”
Daryl says he always knew the Cagiva was
a competitive machine in the right hands,
“The King [Eddie Lawson] did a lot for Cagiva
and Kocinski had some good results on the
bike. There’s no doubt that it had more potential
so it is a shame that this was the last one.”
So any plans for a comeback from Daryl?
“I’ve got a taste for it again now so I’ll
have to talk Mick [Doohan] into coming out
to some ride days with me!”
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DICK SMART
What does a full-time GP mechanic do in his
spare time? Stuff around with old 500GP bikes, that’s
what. Dick Smart (Repsol Honda Technician and Barros’s
main man) was on his summer break when we headed out
to test the bike.
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As a good mate of Daryl and Paul Feeney,
he kindly offered to help out. Dick has a
soft spot for 500s but says he doesn’t really
miss the ‘strokers, “The four-strokes are
better for me because we don’t have to rebuild
the things as often, plus there’s no jetting
to worry about – there are injection specialists
to look after that now.”
Watching someone as experienced as Dick work
on a 500GP bike was great.
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QUICK CHAT WITH JOHN KOCINSKI
Rapid: It has been said that this was the
bike that turned Cagiva from also-rans to almost wins
and if you didn’t take the ride in ’94 Cagiva would
have pulled the pin. What is your take on that?
JK: Yes, it is probably true, but a lot of my greatest
memories have been when I rode for Cagiva. It was
a company of great passion.
Rapid: When you think back on the V593 and the results,
particularly the wins, you achieved on the bike how
do you feel?
JK: It is one of my greatest accomplishments to win
on a machine that no one else other than Eddie Lawson
has won on. It was heartbreaking when Cagiva could
not continue in 1995 because we were so close to having
a machine that could win a World Championship.
Rapid: How much of the work, in development terms,
was already done when you arrived at the team?
JK: Obviously, there had been work done, but it was
far from complete.
Rapid: What were the strengths and weaknesses of the
V593?
JK: The strengths were the agility and steering. The
weakness was the power band.
Rapid: Was this motorcycle capable of winning the
title?
JK: Yes, most definitely
Rapid: Were you keen to stay on for 1995 if the team
had survived?
JK: Absolutely. I loved the team, the engineers, I
had great mechanics. It was just a matter of making
some small improvements to the power delivery and
handling.
Rapid: Daryl Beattie said that overall he rates the
bike well and that both yourself and Eddie Lawson
proved that it is a reasonable motorcycle. But were
you guys over-riding to compensate for lack of performance
or was the bike really that good?
JK: No matter what machine you ride there are always
issues. But definitely in 1994, the machine was the
best it had ever been. I think the results say the
same.
Rapid: What did it for you with 500s – the challenge,
the acceleration, the adrenaline or the fear?
JK: That’s exactly what does it, I think, for everyone.
The challenge, the acceleration, the adrenaline and
fear.
Rapid: Give us one word that sums up the Cagiva.
JK: Passion.
Rapid: Thanks John
JK: No, thank you for the opportunity to answer your
questions regarding the Cagiva. It was one of my favourite
bikes and I enjoyed my time with the company. And
hello to all my Australian fans, thanks for all your
support during my career, I hope everyone is doing
well.
SPECIFICATIONS
1993/1994 CAGIVA V593
Power: 180hp@12600rpm Torque: 75.5ft-lbs]@12000rpm
Dry weight: 130kg Fuel capacity: 21 litres ENGINE
– Type: liquid-cooled 80-degree V4 twin crank two-stroke
Bore x stroke: 56 x 50.6mm Displacement: 498cc Fuel
delivery: two twin-choke 36mm electronic power-jet
flat-slide Mikunis, crankcase reed-valve induction,
pressurised airbox Exhaust: titanium expansion chambers
with carbon-fibre mufflers, electronically controlled
cylindrical power valves Porting: five transfer, three
exhaust Ignition: electronic with programmable advance
curve linked to throttle opening, exhaust powervalve
and carburettor power jet. NGK plugs Other details:
single plain piston ring pistons, needle roller small-end
and roller big-end bearings Primary drive: straight-cut
gear to clutch from right-hand end of lower crank
Clutch: dry multi-plate, seven friction and six steel
plates, six springs Gearbox: six-speed cassette-style,
ten possible ratios for first and fourth, seven for
second and fifth, nine for third and sixth, drum selection,
electronic quick-shift CHASSIS – Frame type: twin-spar
aluminium with adjustable steering angle, carbon-fibre
swingarm Wheelbase: 1390mm Rake: 23 + 1 degree Trail:
95mm Front suspension: fully adjustable inverted carbon-fibre
Ohlins forks Rear suspension: Ohlins fully adjustable
shock Front brake: twin 320mm carbon-carbon rotors
with Brembo four-piston monoblock calipers and Brembo
radial master cylinder and Brembo pads Rear Brake:
single 190mm carbon-carbon rotor with Brembo twin-piston
monoblock caliper and Brembo pads Front wheel: Ferrari
hollow-section carbon-fibre, 3.5 x 17in Rear wheel:
Ferrari hollow-section carbon-fibre, 6.0 x 17in Front
tyre: Michelin slick Rear tyre: Michelin slick
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