Revitalised in 2014 after acquisition by its present owners, Fantic Motor has steadily built volume year-on-year, with over 16,000 motorcycles and 35,000 e-bikes sold in 2023.
Thirty-eight per cent of them in Italy, including 1550 examples of the Caballero 700, the company's first twin-cylinder model powered by the Yamaha MT-07 motor supplied directly to Fantic by the Japanese manufacturer. This availability came on the back of Fantic purchasing Yamaha's Bologna-based engine subsidiary Motori Minarelli in October 2020, thus turning itself into a proper manufacturer capable of building 100 per cent of its motorcycles in-house.
It's done this while following the same strategy as its much larger Austrian counterpart KTM by focusing on racing, so that in 2023 Fantic Racing won 13 titles, including the J1 Enduro World Championship with Manx rider Jed Etchells, who won 12 of the 14 rounds and finished second in the other two. He also won the Junior Enduro World crown, while Swedish teammate Albin Norrbin won the J2 Enduro World title, and Italy's Kevin Cristino the Youth Enduro World Championship. Britain's Jane Daniells won the Women's World Enduro Championship for the fourth time (twice with Fantic), winning each of the eight rounds, and followed that by finishing her debut Dakar Rally in a remarkable 48th place out of the 96 finishers (from 132 starters) on her Fantic XEF 450 Rally, and in doing so was the top British rider and winner of the Women's Class as the only female finisher. And at the other end of the age scale, 66-year-old Italian off-road legend Franco Picco rode his Fantic to 72nd place out of 124 finishers in the 2022 Dakar, then retired to become team manager for the Italian factory!
Denne historien er fra August 2024-utgaven av Motorcycle Sport & Leisure.
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Denne historien er fra August 2024-utgaven av Motorcycle Sport & Leisure.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Patagonia Expedition 2024
Following an invitational e-mail from Felix Billington, the owner of Magellan Motorcycle Tours, Chris and Dee Finch headed off on a 17-day trip on paved and gravel roads from Puerto Varas, Chile, going all the way down to Ushuaia before finishing in Punta Arenas
Hebridean Road Trip
With a new bike in his ownership, Willie decided a road trip was in order, and chose the Scottish Hebridean islands as his target
The Longest Day Teapot
Last month's write-up saw some jeopardy as the little Suzuki was neither running, nor had an MOT, with less than a week before the Longest Day Challenge...
Back in the Black MV Agusta Hubert Trunkenpolz interview
In November 2022 MV Agusta, wholly owned since 2019 by Russian entrepreneur Timur Sardarov and his family, and Pierer Mobility AG KTM’s parent company) reached an agreement on future strategic cooperation, as a result of which the Austrian firm headed by Stefan Pierer would acquire a 25.10% stake in MV Agusta via its KTM AG subsidiary.
Ready to race and 90% new
If there is one major manufacturer that looks out for a younger audience, it is KTM. For the Austrian factory, its entry-level machinery is every bit as important as its rangetopping flagships or adventure bikes. Remember big or small, a KTM has to be ‘Ready to Race'.
ADVENTURE OASIS
Deep in the heart of central Wales, high up in the Cambrian Mountains, there’s a place where adventure bikes reign supreme
Cardo Packtalk PRO
Those that know me will be all too aware of my inbuilt distrust of any technology that involves more than an on/off switch, and of my inability to deal with such technologies and, recently, I have become very aware of the fact that I need to join the 21st century by learning how to use these modern contrivances.
Scouting for everyone
For 2024, Indian Motorcycle not only launched a new version of their water-cooled Scout, developed over the last three-and-a-half years to replace the bike that was first launched in 2014, but presented no less than five versions, with the 101 Scout being the range-topper.
The Diavel's in the detail
With more power, less weight and better brakes than the previous brilliant V-twin version, It’s a winner
Superhero Sequel
Bigger engine, more power, less weight, and a new look for the 2024 BMW F 900 GS
