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The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

Vun Rotax Single by Cafe Racers and Superbikes

By Paul Crowe

Vun single cylinder motorcycle by Cafe Racers and Superbikes

What would you think of a 297 pound, single cylinder hand built motorcycle? What would you think if it was $20,000? Crazy? Desirable? Both? The Vun, built by Cafe Racers and Superbikes of Italy is, perhaps, all of those things but ordinary would never apply.

I had never heard of this small company or the motorcycle they offer but Performance Bikes had a feature on it and it’s quite a bike. The perfect item for the purist who wants a very high quality hand built and obviously very rare and collectible bike. Is it practical for daily use? It could be, because it’s designed for the type of riding most riders actually encounter on a daily basis, 90 mph or less. It’s light and agile and probably a lot of fun to ride.

Power comes from a 652cc 4 valve, fuel injected, Rotax Bombardier single with a standard version (Euro 3) at 54 hp or tuned up version at 68 hp which they say is not certified for road use. Though a bit under powered compared to a 600cc inline 4, they go out of their way to talk about power to weight ratios which, considering the bike is 297 pounds, could be quite favorable.

The $20k price tag is a bit harder to swallow but if you ride bicycles, you know you can buy a bike for a couple hundred dollars or you can buy a bike for many thousands, the weight, components and materials used make all the difference. The same applies here, light weight, high end components and materials and, according to their web site, 11,000 possible configurations for the finished motorcycle. Chances are, if you buy one, yours will be the only one ever made just like it.

It’s available throughout Europe and according to the US web site, undergoing EPA/DOT certification for sale here. The actual price for a U.S. spec version isn’t stated, nor is the actual configuration. I rather doubt there will be a rush of orders but I would imagine there are probably a few well heeled bikers who will ante up the required cash.

It’s a very nice bike and I like the concept but is there a market? We’ll see.

More images and links below:

Vun single cylinder motorcycle by Cafe Racers and Superbikes

Vun single cylinder motorcycle by Cafe Racers and Superbikes

Link: Cafe Racers and Superbikes via PB July 2007

Link: CR&S US web site

Posted on June 25, 2007 Filed Under: Motorcycle Builders, Motorcycle Business, Motorcycle Design


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Comments

  1. Matt in NC says

    June 25, 2007 at 9:09 am

    Looks like quite a bit of technology, not to mention performance, that you don’t get with an HD clone custom at 2-3 time the price. I certainly still can’t afford it, but it makes more sense to me than some OCC or JJ bike.

  2. Trey says

    June 25, 2007 at 9:10 am

    Way kewl!

    Trey

  3. Clive M Sanders says

    June 25, 2007 at 10:28 am

    It looks tiny.

  4. Mayakovski says

    June 25, 2007 at 11:00 am

    NICE!!!!

  5. Divine says

    June 25, 2007 at 2:16 pm

    Now we are talking… I like!

  6. Hugo says

    June 25, 2007 at 2:54 pm

    Now if they would install the new KTM 690 engine they can loose some more pounds and have 65hp….street legal

  7. todd says

    June 25, 2007 at 3:05 pm

    54 HP is plenty for real world riding.

    -todd

  8. mark says

    June 25, 2007 at 3:10 pm

    Nice — I’m all for a single-cylinder cafe racer. Unfortunately the price is way too high.

    –mark

  9. Clive M Sanders says

    June 25, 2007 at 3:23 pm

    Two things… 1) were really bending the parameters of the term “cafe racer” here. And 2) where the HELL do they get off charging 20 grand for this thing? Componentry looks mild.. single disk front brakes… two pots.. they are probably brembo but so are mine.. and i have two. and i also have 2 cylinders. and my bike cost less than half that much. I also have a SSS and USD forks. Perhaps this bike is lighter than mine, but thats the only advantage i see.

    If this bike sells hot over the hypermotard ill be suprised.

  10. aaron says

    June 25, 2007 at 4:42 pm

    whoa there clive, have I got a deal for you… let’s say your bike went for $9000, would a heavier bike with similar specs costing half as much be that much better than yours? and a heavier bike for half that would be even better, right? would a rusted out 1982 cb900 be the perfect ride, then?

    I think where they get off is in providing a desirable motorcycle that can’t be mistaken for any other on the road today for the price of 2 cookie cutter ones. to compare apples to apples, a bimota is crap (relatively speaking) compared to a 1098 ducati. it goes for more than double the price in this case. (I think the awful welds and “stamped out of ABS bodywork” of the 1098 shows just how far out of their way ducati went to cut costs here.)

    build me anything that is mass produced by an established company, and try to sell it for twice as much. even if you can sell your product, you’ll still go bankrupt. small production numbers cost money, which is why companies like ducati can’t compete on a price point basis. now cut ducati’s production to 2% of it’s current output, and take away the name brand appeal. not a good scenario for building an affordable bike.

    ducati gets a lot of slack because of their racing lineage. a $25,000 999r that just matches a $13,000 japanese sportbike? come on, it looks like a $200,000 999F07 – that’s gotta be worth something, right? the legend of ducati is nearly unparalleled (excluding honda’s rc bikes) but the CR&S comes from an equal heritage – the Britten. the last project john britten was working on before his death was a single cylinder racer with the goal of 100kg, 100hp. the vun was inspired by that project. the founder of CR&S worked with britten and works toward john’s final goal. (but because the internet is messed up right now, i can’t access any sites that will let me cite the extent of their partnership.. so maybe I stand to be corrected on this last point)

    besides, if money was everything, even relatively common makes like guzzi, ducati, aprilia, bmw, and ktm would die off because of the high prices they command. companies that can compete on price, like triumph, would be dead because at one point they were unreasonably priced compared to the competition.

    I expect to have a half assed approximation of the vun when my own project is complete. the parts and materials cost will likely be between four and eight grand. If I charged a reasonable figure for my labor, that would make the bike cost around $25,000. If I had to buy my own software and pay the going shop rates for cnc work, add another five to eight grand. I guess the TIG welder could be written off as an expense, too. wow-that vun thing is a steal! a bargin!

    while I harp on a ducatisti for playing the price card – I might as well conclude with this… price out a ducati supermono. then get back to me on the relative value of the vun.

  11. Sean says

    June 25, 2007 at 4:54 pm

    Not a cafe, but still. Very cool. I can’t help but agree with Clive though, 20 000 yoo ess is a lot to blow on something that looks like it needs a bit of a componentry boost from the start. Actually, come to think of it, it’s designed for the same sort of speeds my recently junked 250 single made, and it actually weighs more (by about 10kg) than my old bike. To put it side by side… 1987 Honda CBX 250 has twin rear shocks and drum brake, next to the Vun Rotax with it’s single rear shock and disc brake. Similar top speeds, I could get my bike to about 150kph before hitting terminal velocity. Right side up forks on both bikes, with single disc and two pot caliper. However I paid 1900 dollars NZ for it, not $26000. Gorgeous, yes, but overpriced for what it is.

  12. chris says

    June 25, 2007 at 8:21 pm

    that frame is a $*#%ing work of art!!! brilliant. only bike like it on the market. i think that commands a bit of a premium. . .

  13. Jeff says

    June 25, 2007 at 8:40 pm

    20 grand ? A sucker is born every minute .

  14. davidabl says

    June 25, 2007 at 9:14 pm

    Unfortunately, the era of the single-cylinder sportsbike ended around
    1962…

  15. GenWaylaid says

    June 25, 2007 at 9:24 pm

    I’m glad to see someone using a Rotax single in a road bike. I’ve been curious about just how that would work.

    If you want an affordable Rotax bike, however, it would have to be produced in significant numbers. The only way that’s likely to happen is if Bombardier, who currently own Rotax, decide to add a street line to their Can-Am brand. Considering the three-wheeler they’re currently bringing into production, that’s not too far-fetched.

    One way a Rotax-powered bike could carve out a unique market niche is to adapt an automatic transmission from one of Bombardier’s ATVs into a light beginner/commuter bike. That certainly seems more realistic than trying to make a superbike motor out of a Rotax single.

  16. aaron says

    June 25, 2007 at 9:54 pm

    unfortunately, most riders of 150hp four cylinders don’t have nearly this much fun. ever heard of supermoto?

  17. Clive M Sanders says

    June 25, 2007 at 10:13 pm

    The frame looks similar to a ducati trellis frame. The difference being the subframe extending underneath the forks to simulate the second head on a 90 degree twin.

  18. aaron says

    June 26, 2007 at 12:43 pm

    I would be really curious to see what lap times would be like on a tight track. as mission raceway the few supermoto guys that decide to mix it up with the 600’s keep up with the fastest (non-salaried) riders. there’s no elite supermono guys up here, but if memory serves me right, the ducati supermono ran at a similar pace to the tz250s that ruled the ama 250 class at the time. while this isn’t the race-only beast that the tigcraft minimono is, it has the benefit of headlights, turnsignals, and the ability to be started without your pitcrew pushing it.

  19. todd says

    June 26, 2007 at 3:05 pm

    Too bad motorcycle magazines killed off the single cylinder road bike.

    The price complaint is valid considering many people want a mass produced bike like this. If KTM or BMW built it it would be $9000. If Cagiva (MV) built it it would be $7000. If Suzuki, Yamaha, Honda, or Kawasaki built it it would be $6000. Yes, the Vun may be worth $20,000 but to whom? And how many “whoms” are there? Who cares how much it costs unless it inspires the above mentioned manufacturers to start building their own versions that we can all afford to own.

    The majority of people who buy new bikes are new riders (broad overstatement to be sure). Those new riders only know what they’ve read in magazines, that the Ninja 1400 is fast and that the Hyabusa is now slow because of it. They can not fathom that a 54HP single is fast too, much faster than just about any car any amount of money can buy. They have never read that 40HP singles routinely lapped the TT at over 100MPH average. They don’t know that the Ninja 250 does over 100, handles better than many more expensive / larger bikes, and is probably just as quick where and how they ride.

    It’s too bad that CR&S feels they have to justify the Vun’s power output. To put it in terms of power to weight ratios is a little misleading: add a 180 lb rider to the equation. Even then this still doesn’t tell you anything of any real importance. When you are riding that 180HP super bike, how much power is it really putting out most of the time? 30HP?

    The DRZ400S (or Husky SMR) is a fast, fun, quick bike. Put a fairing and clip-ons on it and now it’s a terribly underpowered “girl’s” bike, right?

    -todd

  20. mobilus says

    June 26, 2007 at 8:07 pm

    If I were going to spend $20k on a single, I think it would be the Borile.

  21. nic says

    June 26, 2007 at 9:49 pm

    Vun (pron.: VOON) means ONE in Milanese dialect: one cylinder, unique layout, and one goal: passion. It costs a lot of money, it only has 54 ponies, but let’s not forget that this is an hand-made beauty, with all the exclusivity that you might desire and… sharing its frame geometries with a 250cc GP racer, it’s hard to find something faster on a tight twisty road.
    I’d also like to add one personal comment: a couple of years ago, I had the chance to meet Mr C., the heart and brain of CRS Motorcycles, in his workshop outside of Milano. And, although being a very smart businessman, I could see real passion behind his project, not only a vast knowledge and cold calculations. People like him, potentially me (if I had the money!) and many other enthusiasts worldwide are willing to do something NOT-rational for the same reason: passion.

    Paul, may I suggest your readers to check out some Vun-videos on Youtube
    http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=crs+vun&search=Search
    Thanks, Nic

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