Wilsons Sandbox

>I would be interested in impressions from any fellow KLR riders >who have or have ridden the Cagiva Gran Canyon.

I thought about this hard enough that I had to hide my checkbook for a while. If you are smart, you'd do the same until the urge to buy one goes away. And don't take a test ride, that's where they hook you up... I'm not good enough off-road rider to be comfortable riding that thing on "real" dirt. Gravel roads, fire roads, etc, sure, but I wouldn't take it on a real trail. OTOH, on paved, badly paved and above mentioned rough surfaces it's plain unbelievable... The engine is lots of tourque, even if the raw numbers of max HP don't seem that impressive for a 900cc twin. It has excellent suspension for road work. It's like a tall sportbike, with long suspension travel a propensity to kill sportbikes on tight twisty roads. But, ask Jack (of the electrically challenged KLR) about parts for his Elefant. The Gran Canyon has been dropped in favor of the Navigator (now *that* would be interesting... , so you can bet that in a couple of years, there will be no parts (except those interchangeable with a Duc's engine) available in the US. The dealers are few and far between, so finding someone who still has parts will be just as hard. It's a great bike to have one of your friends buy, so you borrow it on those rare ocassions it is running... Gustavo

> But, ask Jack (of the electrically challenged KLR) about parts for > his Elefant. The Gran Canyon has been dropped in favor of the > Navigator (now *that* would be interesting... , so you can bet > that in a couple of years, there will be no parts (except those > interchangeable with a Duc's engine) available in the US. The > dealers are few and far between, so finding someone who still has > parts will be just as hard.

this _just_ came up on the boxer airhead list. here is my reply: (title "Why you shouldnt buy a GC"

> > Try a Cagiva Grand Canyon. > Get's you to almost the same place for $8995. > The cycle scribes prefer it to the GS, > but Cagiva doesn't do much advertising. > B. Jan > >

I own a Ducati E900 (and a r80st). I lusted for the grand canyon myself. But there are several problems 1. Ducati no longer supplies the motors to cagiva. this is why they are making the new GC will the tl1000 motor (called the Navigator). This means that the bike (I speak about the North American market only) is _already_ an orphan. A hybrid orphan at that. As the current owner of an orphaned hybrid, i can tell you it is extremely difficult to get parts or find someone to work on it. The engined is "mostly" the same as other ducatis except for stuff like carbs/jetting, airbox, airfilter, front sprocket, etc. the valves are the same size and the pre-fuel inj monsters. knowing all these little details are important. 2. the fit and finish is DEPLORABLE on the GC. the 3 examples I have seen on the showroom floors looked like they werent tied down in the crate when shipped. there were scuffs and paint scratches and body panels did not match up properly (physically). It also looked like all the fasteners were coated in a mild acid soluition, they were so corroded. 3. not a huge dealer network, and on top of that, how many different models does cagiva ship to the US? take away the gran canyon and what have you got left? The navigator (tl1000 gc) and the raptors (tl1000 and sv650 engined ) wont be coming to the states. suzuki wont let them. just my opinions jack

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