Cagiva

Cagiva is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer. It was founded in 1950 by Giovanni Castiglioni in Varese, originally producing small metal components. Giovanni's sons, Claudio and Gianfranco Castiglioni, went into the motorcycle industry in 1978. The name is a portmanteau derived from the founder's name "Giovanni Castiglioni" and the founding location, i.e. Castiglioni Giovanni Varese.

In its history, Cagiva won races in Dakar and Motocross competitions, as well as in Grand Prix motorcycle racing.

History

In 1978, Cagiva entered the motorcycle business with two racing motorcycles ridden by Gianfranco Bonera and Marco Lucchinelli. In the same year it bought a factory in Varese's frazione of Schiranna from Aermacchi/AMF-Harley-Davidson and went into motorcycle production. By 1979 the company reached an annual production of 40,000 motorbikes, with eight models powered by two-stroke engines ranging from 125 cc to 350 cc.

Many of the Harley-Davidson models were continued in production as Cagivas, and the off-road motorcycle division was improved and expanded, eventually producing its own race-winning WMX series of motocross motorcycles.

In 1983 Cagiva also sourced Ducati four stroke v-twin engines from 350 cc to 1000 cc and entered the big displacement market. Cagiva bought Ducati in 1985, but kept the Ducati brand that was better recognized outside Italy. Ducati motorcycle production continued in Bologna, while the Varese-built Cagiva Ala Azzurra (sold under the name "Alazzurra", "Bluewing") and Elefant were introduced, both featuring Ducati engines.1985-1987 Cagiva Alazzurra Motorcycle Classics article, Jan/Feb 2008

Cagiva continued with strategic buyouts of Moto Morini and Husqvarna in 1987. In 1991 Cagiva also bought the trademarks for the MV Agusta brand.

In 1996, Cagiva accepted the offer by the Texas Pacific Group and sold the Ducati and Moto Morini brands. In 1999 Cagiva Group was restructured for strategic purposes, with MV Agusta becoming the parent company and main brand identity; Cagiva along with Husqvarna thus became MV Agusta's subsidiaries.

In 2000, production of the Cagiva Roadster ended. In 2008, Harley-Davidson bought MV Agusta Motor, the parent company of Cagiva, thereby regaining some control of its old Aermacchi factory.

In October 2009, Harley-Davidson informed that it would put Cagiva up for sale. In the August of the following year, Cagiva was bought back by the son of the founder and former owner Claudio Castiglioni.

In 2012, production of new high engine capacity Mitos ended. Increasingly stringent environmental emission requirements and the concentration of resources on MV Agusta's F3 were cited as reasons. The last few Mito SP525s produced were white in colour, and personally signed by MV Agusta CEO Giovanni Castiglioni, thus ended the legacy of the Mito, alongside the end of the Raptors.

Racing

In the early 1980s, Cagiva began to manufacture dirt bikes and started a massive public relations program with the opening of its North American branch. It hired Ron Turner and Duane Summers to test and develop its bikes. Cagiva motocross bikes were characterized by their fast powerful engines and innovative features, such as the MX line that had only one spring in the front forks with one fork controlling rebound and the other compression.

500cc World Championship

At the end of the 1970s the company began campaigning the Grand Prix motorcycle racing circuit. Randy Mamola was its lead rider from 1988 to 1990, and he achieved Cagiva's first podium result. It would also have some technical assistance from Yamaha. In 1991 it signed former world champion Eddie Lawson to its team. Lawson would claim the company's first victory when he won the 1992 Hungarian Grand Prix. John Kocinski would also win a Grand Prix on a Cagiva GP500 (C594), finishing third in the 1994 world championship.

Dakar Rally

In 1990 and 1994 the Italian rider Edi Orioli won the Dakar Rally on the Ducati-powered Cagiva Elefant.

Year Champion Motorcycle 1990 Edi Orioli Elefant 944 Lucky Explorer 1994 Elefant 944 Marathon

Motocross World Championship 125 cc class Year Champion Motorcycle 1985 Pekka Vehkonen Cagiva WMX 1986 David Strijbos

Motocross World World Constructors champions 125 cc class 1985, 1986, 1987

Italian Speed championship Year Champion Class Motorcycle 1990 Pierfrancesco Chili Open 1991 Marco Papa 1992 1994 Luca Pasini Supermono

Mini Moke

Cagiva bought BMC's design for the Mini Moke, manufacturing them in Portugal using British built engines from 1990 until 1993. Intending to transfer production to the Bologna factory early in 1995, the tooling for the Moke was transferred to Italy late in 1993, but production never restarted.

Models

Racing motorcycles Model Engine Years Notes ImageHD Cagiva RR250 HD CAGIVA RR250 Registro Storico Cagiva article, 2020(1979)Suzuki/Cagiva 500 GP SUZUKI/CAGIVA 500 GP Registro Storico Cagiva article, 2020(1979)1C2CAGIVA 1C2 500 GP Registro Storico Cagiva article, 2020(1980)2C2CAGIVA 2C2 500 GP Registro Storico Cagiva article, 2020(1981)3C2CAGIVA 3C2 500 GP Registro Storico Cagiva article, 2020(1982)4C3 CAGIVA 4C3 (C7) 500 gp Registro Storico Cagiva article, 2020(1983)C9CAGIVA C9 500 GP Registro Storico Cagiva article, 2020(1984)C10CAGIVA C10V 85 500 GP Registro Storico Cagiva article, 2020(1985–1986–1987)C587(1987)125 GPCAGIVA 125, la casa varesina nel Motomondiale non solo nella classe 500 www.italiaonroad.it article, novembre, 2021(1988)C588(1988)C589(1989)C590(1990)C591(1991)C592(1992)C593(1993)C594(1994)F4(1995–1996)prototype, Ferrari engineMito Mk II SP()The first bike of Valentino RossiElefant 750 Elf-Ligier CAGIVA 750 ELF LIGIER " Official Proto " Registro Storico Cagiva article, 2020Dakar 1985 | La Cagiva Elefant, 1st 750 according to Giampaolo Marinoni www.parisdakar.it article, 20 October 2020748,1 cc, 90° L-twin, 4-stroke engine, SOHC, desmodromic 2-valves, air-cooled-Oil cooling(1985)Ducati Pantah engine. Cagiva team to Dakar 1985: Hubert Auriol, Giampaolo Marinoni and Gilles Picard Elefant 850 Lucky Explorer The Cagiva Elefant of Giampaolo Marinoni www.parisdakar.it article, 4 May 2015Cagiva Elefant 850 1987 www.parisdakar.it article, 4 May 2015 cc, 90° L-twin, 4-stroke engine, SOHC, desmodromic 2-valves, air-cooled-Oil cooling(1986–1987)Ducati engine. Cagiva team to Dakar 1987: Hubert Auriol, Alessandro De Petri, Gilles Picard and Franco Gualdi.Elefant 900 Lucky Explorer  cc, 90° L-twin, 4-stroke engine, SOHC, desmodromic 2-valves, air-cooled-Oil cooling(1988–1989)Ducati engine. Cagiva team to Dakar 1988: Serge Bacou, Alessandro De Petri, Gilles Picard and Franco Gualdi. Cagiva team to Dakar 1989: Edi Orioli, Alessandro De Petri, Gilles Picard and Claudio Terruzzi.Elefant 944 Lucky Explorer 943,8 cc, 90° L-twin, 4-stroke engine, SOHC, desmodromic 2-valves, air-cooled-Oil coolingElefant Paris–Dakar ‘90 www.cagivaelefant.it article, 2003 (1990–1991)Ducati engine. Cagiva team to Dakar 1990: Edi Orioli, Alessandro De Petri and Jordi Arcarons.Elefant 904 Lucky Explorer  cc, 90° L-twin, 4-stroke engine, SOHC, desmodromic 2-valves, air-cooled-Oil cooling(1992)Ducati engine. Cagiva team to Paris–Cape Town 1992: Danny Laporte, Jordi Arcarons, Marc Morales, Edi Orioli and Davide Trolli.Elefant 944 Marathon Cagiva elephant Marathon Dakar 1994 www.parisdakar.it article, 9 February 2017 cc, 90° L-twin, 4-stroke engine, SOHC, desmodromic 2-valves, air-cooled-Oil cooling(1994–1995–1996–1997)Ducati engine

Road Model Engine Years Notes ImageSST 125123,15 cc, Single, Two-stroke engine, Reed valve, Air-cooled engine(1975–1985)SST 175, Single, Two-stroke engine, Reed valve, Air-cooled engine()SST 250243 cc, Single, Two-stroke engine, Reed valve, Air-cooled engine(1975–1985)SST 350341,8 cc, Single, Two-stroke engine, Reed valve, Air-cooled engine(1978–1986)Alazzurra 350 / 350 GT349 cc, 90° L-twin, 4-stroke engine, SOHC, desmodromic 2-valves, air-cooled(1984–1985)Ducati engine (Ducati Pantah)Alazzurra 400 / 400 GT90° L-twin, 4-stroke engine, SOHC, desmodromic 2-valves, air-cooled(1986)Ducati engine (Ducati Pantah)Alazzurra 650 / 650 GT649,5 cc, 90° L-twin, 4-stroke engine, SOHC, desmodromic 2-valves, air-cooled(1984–1986)Ducati engine (Ducati Pantah)Aletta Oro S1 / S2124,63 cc, Single, Two-stroke engine, Reed valve, liquid cooling(1985–1987)Blues124,63 cc, Single, Two-stroke engine, Reed valve, liquid cooling(1987–1993)Freccia C9124,63 cc, Single, Two-stroke engine, Reed valve, liquid cooling(1987)Freccia C10R / C10 Anniversary124,63 cc, Single, Two-stroke engine, Reed valve, liquid cooling(1988)Freccia C12R / C12 SP124,63 cc, Single, Two-stroke engine, Reed valve, liquid cooling(1989–1990)Mito124,63 cc()Mito Mk II124,63 cc()Mito Ev124,63 cc()Mito SP525124,63 cc()SuperCity 125()Roadster 521()Roadster 200()Low Rider 125()Planet124,63 cc, Single, Two-stroke engine, Reed valve, liquid cooling(1997–2003)Mito engineRiver 500()River 600()Raptor 125124,63 cc, Single, Two-stroke engine, Reed valve, liquid cooling(2003–2007)Mito engineRaptor 650645,5 cc, 90° V-twin, 4-stroke engine, DOHC, 4-valves, liquid cooling(2001–2007)Suzuki engine, (SV650)V-Raptor 650645,5 cc, 90° V-twin, 4-stroke engine, DOHC, 4-valves, liquid cooling(2001–2004)Suzuki engine, (SV650)Raptor 1000996 cc, 90° V-twin, 4-stroke engine, DOHC, 4-valves, liquid cooling(2000–2006)Suzuki engine, (TL1000S)V-Raptor 1000996 cc, 90° V-twin, 4-stroke engine, DOHC, 4-valves, liquid cooling(2000–2006)Suzuki engine, (TL1000S)Xtra Raptor 1000996 cc, 90° V-twin, 4-stroke engine, DOHC, 4-valves, liquid cooling(2002–2006)Suzuki engine, (TL1000S)

Off road - enduro - trial Model Engine Years Notes ImageWMX 125124,63 cc, Single, Two-stroke engine, Reed valve, Air-cooled engine-liquid cooling(1980–1991)WMX 200, Single, Two-stroke engine, Reed valve, Air-cooled engine()WMX 250, Single, Two-stroke engine, Reed valve, Air-cooled engine()WMX 500, Single, Two-stroke engine, Reed valve, liquid cooling()WRX 125124,63 cc, Single, Two-stroke engine, Reed valve, Air-cooled engine()DG 350341,9 cc, Single, Two-stroke engine, Reed valve, Air-cooled engine()TR Cresta 350341,9 cc, Single, Two-stroke engine, Reed valve, Air-cooled engine()125 Trial124,5 cc, Single, Two-stroke engine, Reed valve, Air-cooled engine()RX 125 Rally124,63 cc, Single, Two-stroke engine, Reed valve, Air-cooled engine()RX 250 Rally248,36 cc, Single, Two-stroke engine, Reed valve, Air-cooled engine()RX 250248,36 cc, Single, Two-stroke engine, Reed valve, Air-cooled engine()MXR 250248,36 cc, Single, Two-stroke engine, Reed valve, Air-cooled engineMXR 500, Single, Two-stroke engine, Reed valve, Air-cooled engine()

Adventure - dual sport