The Awesome Cagiva Raptor 125

[idleidolidyll]

Can I keep it?

I have to admit, when Triple X Moto in East Tamaki offered me a demo of the Cagiva Raptor 125 while my bike was being serviced, I wasn't expecting much from it.

Sure it looked good but it was 'just' a 15HP 125 2 stroke after all, I wasn't even planning to have a decent ride on it.

"It's not bad actually, as long as you keep it on the pipe" they said as I was handed the keys.

It was a nice Friday and, since I was on holiday anyway, I took it for a spin over West Rd returning through Twilight Rd to my home in Manukau. That first ride confirmed what I expected, it was truly gutless. The chassis seemed stiff enough and it went around corners pretty well but I doubted it would hit 140kph without a massive tailwind.

The next morning I rang the shop to see if my KTM was ready. I wanted to ride this fine weekend. "Unfortunately not" I was told. My bike needed a seal kit and would be ready on Monday.

I reminded them I had the little Cagiva and mentioned that I thought it was over-tyred what with the 150 Dunlop 208 on the back.

"Yeah" was the reply, "Nobody's even gotten close to the edge of the tyre yet"

"Do you mind if I put a few km's on the 125 then?" I asked.

"Not at all" I was told.

"Thanks mate, see you on Monday"

Sue and I had decided that we would go for a ride down to Raglan. She hasn't ridden much lately and her little Buell Blast was looking lonely and abandoned in the garage.

Despite the stop start nature of the ride (keeping in contact with Sue) I was starting to get the hang of the little Raptor. I kept it on the pipe and tried very hard to avoid touching the brilliant front brake. Every time I came out of a corner, I thought to myself "I could have gone faster through there".

We made an unplanned stop halfway to Raglan as a scooter rider had crashed and was being seen to by St Johns Ambulance medics.
Chatting to the guy who called the ambulance, he was surprised when I said the bike was a 125.
"It looks bigger" he said, "It's quite nice isn't it?".

While we waited I strolled around the bike and checked out how the tyres were working. The rubber was still quite smooth and there was still a 15mm chicken strip at the edge of both front and rear tyres but that was a lot closer to the edge than whoever had ridden it before me. I checked the tyre pressures while they were still 'hot' and set them a little lower to try and get some heat into them: 30psi front and 32psi rear seemed a good pressure on the 125kg lightweight.

After the Westpac chopper took the injured scooter rider off to Waikato Hospital, Sue and I headed off. We decided to head off toward Huntly and grab a bite before a lap around Lake Waikari.

I told Sue I'd wait for her at the top end of the lake and started to give the Cagiva the ride it deserved. The Cagiva would give a bit of a head shake occasionally and I had to avoid those damn catseyes (they almost launched the bike on one occasion) but it rewarded me with the biggest grin I've had in years.

[idleidolidyll]

The non adjustable upside down Marzochi forks were OK but could do with a re-valve to suit my weight and riding style (I'm close to 100kg and thought I would be far too heavy for the little machine). The rear shock was a bigger problem and could have done with a heavier spring as well as a re-valve. Both ends would benefit greatly from a tweak by suspension experts Gaudenz Gisler or Robert Taylor. I have no doubt that would improve the road holding and comfort considerably.

I really love this bike! The corner speed is outstanding and it's not a toy: in fact it would sort the men from the boys and teach most riders what good lines really are. It does need a healthy dose of testicular fortitude to get the best from it but if you forget restraint and ride like those guys on tv, you won't be disappointed.

We reached Kaiaua a while later and filled up. The Cagiva used 10 litres of fuel for the 185 kilometres we'd ridden. Pretty good considering that I'd had it "on the pipe" almost constantly.

It was great to ride home on the familiar roads through to Kawakawa Bay and I really felt I was getting the hang of the little sport bike by the time we reached home.

On Sunday I got up to watch the All Blacks bow out of the World Cup. Never mind, the world hadn't ended and the day was perfect for another ride. Sue wasn't keen as she was pretty sore from the previous day. I was keen though and decided to do much the same circuit as yesterday except I'd ride down to Waingarao this time then head up to Huntly and go around the lake again then through Kaiaua and home.

The ride was fantastic! I felt like a GP rider, albeit at much saner speeds. Once I'd stopped riding it like a big bike, the little rocket really rewarded me and I must say I haven't had that much fun for ages! I even managed to catch up to a few big bikes returning from the Coromandel on my way through to Kawakawa Bay. I passed them under brakes and then easily left them behind in the tight corners and traffic between there and Kaiaua. I wondered what they thought as the little 2 stroke screamed by sounding like a turbine at full noise.

By the end of the weekend I still hadn't scrubbed off the last bit of chicken strip but there’s only about 5mm of it left. This bike is a blast! It's not that I hadn't ridden little bikes before: I have a 350 Ducati single after all. I guess you could say this amazing little bike reminded me just what fun you can have with a great handling lightweight bike regardless of horsepower.

Sure it had a few faults, the non adjustable suspension needs some work, the mirrors give a great view of your elbows and I ran
out of fuel on Sunday without the fuel warning light ever coming on. That said though, I love the Cagiva and if I had a few bucks spare at the moment I'd give serious consideration to buying one. I'd even be happy to take it out with my usual riding buddies and their big sport bikes. I love a challenge but frankly I reckon this bike would open some eyes and would certainly not embarrass itself in such company.

Cruising at 100-120kph is no problem at all and for around town users, the bike is smooth enough if not powerful off the pipe as well. At speed, even a 184cm tall guy like me can tuck into the tank cutouts and with my bum pushed back into the back of the wide comfy seat, it wasn’t hard to get out of the wind.

Looking on the internet I see that de-restricting the smallest Raptor unleashes all it’s 30HP. I truly believe that, with that power and the suspension tweaks mentioned earlier, this bike would embarrass far bigger sport bikes on those roads I love the best.

There's room in my garage.......can I keep it please?! Hell, I might even go on a diet to so I can do justice to it!

[deanohit]

Nice one mate, looks like a fun bike. Although the big gap between the frame and tank sticks out like the dogs nuts.

[idleidolidyll]

Nice one mate, looks like a fun bike. Although the big gap between the frame and tank sticks out like the dogs nuts.

There's a huge space under there. Looks like enough room to put a helmet. I wish they'd made it a little smaller and added a bit more gas space. I ran out at 205km going hard most of the time. I'd like to be able to get 250km minumum however hard I was going.
Luckily, even though I ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere, there was a friendly farmer nearby who gave me 2 litres of gas: enough to reach Mercer.

You get used to the strange gap under the tank but it could be made to look a lot better without it.

[Coyote]

Very interesting. The Aprilia RS125 might be a bike worth test riding then

[deanohit]

I think the gap is there cause they use the same tank and tail off the 650 Raptor and suddenly you've got a 125 single insted of a 650 vtwin between the rails, they could have done something betterand like you say made the tank bigger. Would love to have a go on the derestricted version. 30hp an 125kg dry sounds like alot of fun.

[idleidolidyll]

Very interesting. The Aprilia RS125 might be a bike worth test riding then

Hell yes but depending on what you'd do with it.
When I worked at AMPS we had one RS125 owner come in every 2 weeks or so to help get his bike running properly. He only used it around town and never got on the pipe.
Spark plugs fouled and carbon buildup inside the cylinder were the result.

The RS125 is no fun at all around town (I've ridden it) but for a fun bike out of town, it's terrific.

The Cagiva Raptor works fine off the pipe as well unlike the RS125 and that makes it a better bike in the city. The gearing of the Raptor is also a lot lower.

[Brainfade]

How would You go about de-restricting this Raptor?
I'm thinking of getting one, they look like fun!

[idleidolidyll]

How would You go about de-restricting this Raptor?
I'm thinking of getting one, they look like fun!

There are web sites with the details around.
Just google "derestrict Raptor 125" and you'll find them.
The most restrictive thing seems to be the exhaust but perhaps both exhaust and carb may need work or changing.
The Cagiva Mito gets 30+ HP and the Raptor uses the same motor but with restrictions. Obviously it can be given that extra HP.

Good luck, it's a fantastic little bike.

[Brainfade]

Thanks for that idleidolidyll, do You think it would affect the warranty?, de-restricting it I mean, Thanks

[idleidolidyll]

Thanks for that idleidolidyll, do You think it would affect the warranty?, de-restricting it I mean, Thanks

If you get the bike shop to do the work it probably won't. If you're in Auckland I recommend Triple X Moto in East Tamaki very highly and you can talk to Wayne Gillard or Stephen Briggs about what you want to do in person.

Good luck and kick arse with that cool bike!