CR&S Vun Review (finally!!!)
Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 1:55 pm
I’m nursing a hangover after spending most of the night in a Milanese 80’s café / bar and Roberto, the owner of CR&S, is wheeling a couple of bikes out of the back of his van. The mountains are only 20 minutes away and I’ve got a day to play on the Vun.
I’ve been after a go on one of these since he started his company up a few years ago. An ex Ferrari and Aston Martin dealer, Roberto’s passion has always been bikes and his decision to give it all up in favour of making bespoke single cylinder machines is a brave one. More so, when he explains that he sold his private collection of bikes, which included the Britten he used to race and a rotary Norton, to fund the business.
The silver bike is the race version – lighter and more powerful than standard – but my eyes are drawn to the blue and purple ‘standard’ version. The attention to detail and design features are astonishing – being a bit of a bike nerd, I could spend hours starting at the carbon fibre body work, the airbox that flows under the seat and the hand made tank and so on. In fact, the only thing that I could find not to like (and this was being really critical) was the instrument panel which looks as if it should be on a cheap streetfighter.
Pictures taken, it’s time to finish the double espresso and fire up the bikes. It sounds lovely sitting there and I can’t get into my leathers quickly enough. So helmet on and we head towards the mountain.
Claimed power figures for the standard Vun are 65bhp against a feather light weight of 135kg means that even on the main roads it had no problems cruising at illegal speeds – the small cockpit binnacle doing a surprisingly good job. CR&S have mapped their own FI for the single cylinder Rotax engine and the results are impressive. OK, it’s a bit snatchy at low revs (who rides at less than 2,500 rpm anyway?) but faultless at all other throttle openings throughout the rev range.
As we start to reach the mountains, the bike is starting to remind me of my mountain bike - light, manoeuvrable and with a bloody uncomfortable seat. Five minutes later we’re starting to climb and all is forgotten. This is where the bike was designed to be ridden and it’s all starting to make sense. The Pirelli Super Corsa Pros are well and truly up to temperature and I’m beginning to forget this is a £12,000 bike (and that it’s not mine!). The relatively low power output matched to decent suspension (the owner can spec it as they wish but most, like this one, wear Ohlins) and brakes mean that you really can push the bike hard. At first I try a knee out riding style but quickly revert to foot out supermoto style and begin attacking the hairpins.
I’m following Roberto who soon demonstrates his knowledge of the roads and starts to pull a gap on me (he is also riding a tuned version – he claims his tuner in Austria can wring over 80bhp from the 650 single!). I’m pinning it from hairpin to hairpin and I’m giggling like a little kid. After what seems like only a few minutes, we stop and wait for the others to catch up – only a Ducati motard and a Triumph Speed triple are anywhere near us and the boys on their sports bikes look knackered! (Swapping over later in the day to ride an SP2, I know why.)
As the morning goes on and my hangover clears, my thoughts turn to food. So easy to ride is this bike that I don’t really have to concentrate on much more! A lunch stop has us chatting about how good the Vun is in the mountains and how it flattered my ‘average’ riding ability.
All fuelled up and we’re off again! Back down the mountain and after plenty more very late braking moves and huge amounts of giggling, we hit some more flowing roads by the lakes. Again, at anything sub 90mph, the Vun is more than able to hold it’s own against the bigger bikes and is proving to be a joy to ride. A slap in the face comes when we ride back along the main roads to Milan and I again remember how unbearably uncomfortable the seat is and how I have to think carefully about 80mph overtakes.
Back to the hotel and we hit the bar. Everyone agreed that the Vun is a cracking bike and I boldly claim that (money being no object), I’d buy one tomorrow.
I suspect others though would be less generous (only 1 has been sold in the UK to date and around 30 in Europe). As perhaps would I if it actually came to writing out a cheque for £12,000. OK, you’ll own a complete one off bike hand made for you but, when all is said and done, it doesn’t really do anything that a £3k supermoto couldn’t do.
An exclusive club:
A couple of pics of me looking like an excited kid (and a fat bloke all at once!)
I’ve been after a go on one of these since he started his company up a few years ago. An ex Ferrari and Aston Martin dealer, Roberto’s passion has always been bikes and his decision to give it all up in favour of making bespoke single cylinder machines is a brave one. More so, when he explains that he sold his private collection of bikes, which included the Britten he used to race and a rotary Norton, to fund the business.
The silver bike is the race version – lighter and more powerful than standard – but my eyes are drawn to the blue and purple ‘standard’ version. The attention to detail and design features are astonishing – being a bit of a bike nerd, I could spend hours starting at the carbon fibre body work, the airbox that flows under the seat and the hand made tank and so on. In fact, the only thing that I could find not to like (and this was being really critical) was the instrument panel which looks as if it should be on a cheap streetfighter.
Pictures taken, it’s time to finish the double espresso and fire up the bikes. It sounds lovely sitting there and I can’t get into my leathers quickly enough. So helmet on and we head towards the mountain.
Claimed power figures for the standard Vun are 65bhp against a feather light weight of 135kg means that even on the main roads it had no problems cruising at illegal speeds – the small cockpit binnacle doing a surprisingly good job. CR&S have mapped their own FI for the single cylinder Rotax engine and the results are impressive. OK, it’s a bit snatchy at low revs (who rides at less than 2,500 rpm anyway?) but faultless at all other throttle openings throughout the rev range.
As we start to reach the mountains, the bike is starting to remind me of my mountain bike - light, manoeuvrable and with a bloody uncomfortable seat. Five minutes later we’re starting to climb and all is forgotten. This is where the bike was designed to be ridden and it’s all starting to make sense. The Pirelli Super Corsa Pros are well and truly up to temperature and I’m beginning to forget this is a £12,000 bike (and that it’s not mine!). The relatively low power output matched to decent suspension (the owner can spec it as they wish but most, like this one, wear Ohlins) and brakes mean that you really can push the bike hard. At first I try a knee out riding style but quickly revert to foot out supermoto style and begin attacking the hairpins.
I’m following Roberto who soon demonstrates his knowledge of the roads and starts to pull a gap on me (he is also riding a tuned version – he claims his tuner in Austria can wring over 80bhp from the 650 single!). I’m pinning it from hairpin to hairpin and I’m giggling like a little kid. After what seems like only a few minutes, we stop and wait for the others to catch up – only a Ducati motard and a Triumph Speed triple are anywhere near us and the boys on their sports bikes look knackered! (Swapping over later in the day to ride an SP2, I know why.)
As the morning goes on and my hangover clears, my thoughts turn to food. So easy to ride is this bike that I don’t really have to concentrate on much more! A lunch stop has us chatting about how good the Vun is in the mountains and how it flattered my ‘average’ riding ability.
All fuelled up and we’re off again! Back down the mountain and after plenty more very late braking moves and huge amounts of giggling, we hit some more flowing roads by the lakes. Again, at anything sub 90mph, the Vun is more than able to hold it’s own against the bigger bikes and is proving to be a joy to ride. A slap in the face comes when we ride back along the main roads to Milan and I again remember how unbearably uncomfortable the seat is and how I have to think carefully about 80mph overtakes.
Back to the hotel and we hit the bar. Everyone agreed that the Vun is a cracking bike and I boldly claim that (money being no object), I’d buy one tomorrow.
I suspect others though would be less generous (only 1 has been sold in the UK to date and around 30 in Europe). As perhaps would I if it actually came to writing out a cheque for £12,000. OK, you’ll own a complete one off bike hand made for you but, when all is said and done, it doesn’t really do anything that a £3k supermoto couldn’t do.
An exclusive club:
A couple of pics of me looking like an excited kid (and a fat bloke all at once!)
Greetz