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Driving report: CR&S DUU

Muscle bike with an American engine and an Italian look

A fat American engine in a hot Italo outfit: The CR is based on this knitting pattern in Milan&S DUU, which MOTORRAD correspondent Alan Cathcart was allowed to test exclusively.

Deep babbling from fat tailpipes, bulging fenders, screeching tires – a martial appearance. No other car conveys the idea of ​​the muscle car better than the AC Cobra, this minimalist combination of a large-capacity Ami V8 with a light, sporty chassis based on the European chassis philosophy.

This extroverted mix of old and new world inspired the designers of the CR&S. Their power twin DUU – which means nothing other than due, i.e. two in the Milanese dialect – is fired by an engine that could hardly be more American, namely the almost two-liter, air-cooled bumper V2 from S&S, which bears its name X-Wedge because of the wedge-shaped combustion chambers.

As the CR&S founder Roberto Crepaldi saw this engine in spring 2009 at the Custom Show in Padua, the idea of ​​a crisp V2 roadster was instantly born. The prototype made its debut at the Milan trade fair in November of the same year. And now the spectacular muscle bike is going in small series. 200 pieces are to be put on the keel for the coming model year, 196 of which have already been pre-ordered.

I.At the center of the DUU is the mighty V-Twin. The X-Wedge engine isn’t just a Harley clone, it’s a completely new design. For the first time it has different suspension points than the Harley model, a cylinder angle of 56.25 instead of the 45 degrees cemented by Harley. And it complies with the American EPA emissions regulations, which made it popular in the custom bike scene.

Driving report: CR&S DUU

Muscle bike with an American engine and an Italian look

Edge

Showmaster: In the stand, the radical, clear aesthetics inspire, but the mixture of archaic American V2 and modern Italo chassis also drives spectacularly.

The comfort range of the Ami-V2 is between 1500 and 3500 revolutions. It turns up to 6000, but there is no reason for that. Because there is always plenty of torque, and at 160 km / h in the last, fifth gear, the instrument cluster shows only 3000 revolutions. The smooth throttle response and the cultivated run make the drive very civilized – until you flip the throttle grip once. Then the tremendous thrust hits you, then the DUU gets angry – quite angry. To stab through the traffic on the streets around Milan is a special experience. One twist of the handlebars and you zap past any vehicle, at any speed, at any speed.

But the DUU is also a veritable curve predator. Certainly it cannot compete with an Aprilia Tuono in handling, but with a wheelbase of one and a half meters, two liters of displacement and 245 kilograms of dry weight, nobody expects that either. But the DUU remains stable and neutrally on course at all times and can therefore be maneuvered extremely elegantly through tricky combinations of curves, especially since the handy Pirelli Diablo Rosso II builds a lot of confidence. So from time to time the side stand pulls a groove into the asphalt to the left. And although there is actually no real tank surface, you keep your knees in good contact with the machine. All add-on parts are presented at a high level, this applies to the Brembo brakes as well as the Sachs spring elements. The CR wanted a Cobra on two wheels&S-makers build – and this is definitely what the DUU represents, a tingly synthesis of Italian style and American elemental force.

Company information, technical data

CR&S.

The proud bosses: Giovanni Cabassi, Giorgio Sarti and Roberto Crepaldi.

The makers

Cafe Racers & Superbikes, that means the abbreviation CR&S. The company was founded in Milan in 1992, and today it belongs to three passionate motorcycle freaks and established business people. Roberto Crepaldi previously traded with Ferrari, Bentley and Jaguar, later he imported Harley and Triumph until each company took the import into their own hands. Giorgio Sarti owns the most complete Bimota collection including rare racing machines. And every year Giovanni Cabassi takes part in the record attempts on the salt lake in Bonneville. The first complete motorcycle from CR&S was the VUN with a Rotax single cylinder, 100 of which have been built so far. Whether VUN or DUU, every motorcycle can be individually configured by the future owner. There are currently eleven dealers in Europe, in Germany the machines are sold through Urban Motor (www.urban-motor.de).

Technical specifications

Data: Two-cylinder 56.25-degree V-engine, air-cooled, two valves each, three camshafts below, bumpers, rocker arms, injection, Ø 52.4 mm, multi-disc oil bath clutch, primary drive via duplex chain, five- speed gearbox, displacement 1916 cm³, bore x stroke 104.8 x 111.1 mm, compression 9.7: 1, 71 kW (97 PS), 158 Nm, central tubular frame and single-sided swing arm made of stainless steel, Sachs fork and strut, wheelbase 1576 mm, steering head angle 65, 5 degrees, dry weight 245 kg, tank capacity 14 liters, price from 22,600 euros.

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