I think this is the first time I’ve felt true fear from a motorcycle. And I mean fear.
“Just stay relaxed and ride it normally. It’ll just feel like a superbike, only faster and lighter. And watch those carbon brakes until they’re up to temp,” Daryl reassures me in that weird way a surgeon reassures you before cutting your chest open with a hacksaw, “Keep an eye on the temperature, too, and watch the powervalves, they seem to be jamming up a little at 9500rpm.”

The next minute I’m being pushed down pit lane by Dick Smart – just like the real guys on telly! I let the clutch out and the V4 fires into life. The racer comes out in me almost straight away. Every threat that Pappy has made on my life has been forgotten and I’ve already got my knee down by turn two. Feeney must have put soft tyres on for a bit of extra ‘journo’ insurance!

First run down the back straight I short shift and load the bike up. I hold the throttle open in third gear to clear it and after a few coughs the digital tacho suddenly screams past 9500rpm. I can feel my shoulder joints pulling apart as I shift at 12500rpm before grabbing the brakes for turn three. They feel just like normal brakes at the moment. They must be cool. Out of three I feed the throttle on slowly to lean the engine out a little and get through that rough patch at 9000rpm. Again, the engine clears its throat and I’m struggling to hold on, let alone keep the front wheel down. Wheelspin, wheelstand, wheelspin, wheelstand. Faark. This thing hammers. I’ve never felt acceleration like it. Ever. Not even on a turbo or a superbike or anything.

I’m cautious through the two left-handers first time around but I feed it on a little on the short straight before turn six, just to get a feel for the power delivery. Onto the chute for the first time the engine coughs again but once it clears the bike explodes in a surge of acceleration and shifting through the ‘box via the electronic reverse-pattern quick-shifter delivers a feeling like no other. Nothing feels like this, no four-stroke could be this exciting. The 500 is amazingly quick.

I feel like the Cagiva has knocked 10 years off and I’m 19 and fearless again. I squeeze the Brembo front brake lever at the end of the straight. One finger is all it takes but I have this picture in my head of the rotors suddenly getting up to temperature and locking the wheel before I can modulate the pressure. But soon I’m trail-braking into corners with confidence and I’ve got the hang of feeding the power on progressively out of the turns. I just can’t believe how much concentration this bike is sapping from me.

The hoops are up to temperature now and with more confidence in the tyres I’m pushing the Cagiva further and further on its side every lap. But I’m more than aware that I need to stand the bike up as much as possible before opening the throttle. Make no mistake – this ain’t no proddie or 600. Wind it on mid-corner on this thing and I’m going to be flying pretty high.

The chassis is ultra-stiff and the bike is so light. You’d really have to have an intimate relationship with the machine and a lot of laps under your belt to decipher confidence-inspiring feedback from it. Once you knew the bike, though, it’d be a brilliant talker. In my short session I’m just relying on my past experience with slick tyres and knowing how far to push them at this moderate pace.

The rear Ohlins GP-spec shock is predictably stiff and, to be honest, probably in need of a service after sitting around for so long – especially with my 90kgs on it. The front suspension action is firm but nowhere near what I’d imagined. In fact the machine is riding the nasty bumps at Queensland Raceway quite well, with the exception of getting air over the bumps at the end of the main straight – the rear kicking me in the butt like a crazy horse!

The session is coming to an end and my dream is almost over, just as I start to get smooth and comfortable. I put in what I feel are few half decent laps. Not surprisingly the V593 feels better the faster I go and on the last lap I do just what Daryl said. I ride it like I’d ride a normal bike – running into the turns fast, standing it up and winding it on harder and taking it right through to 13000rpm – 1000rpm short of redline. On the last lap I feel like I’m detached from the world. Like I used to feel when I was on a hot lap and in my ‘groove’ in my racing days.

No bike has made me feel like that since I stopped racing and I don’t think anything else ever will. I think I’m in love…

I ride back into the pits and hop off the bike feeling eerily calm and sedate. Steve walks over and hands me a cold beer. Man. This is the best day of my life. Cheers to that!

DARYL BEATTIE
“That’s the most fun I’ve had since I retired in ’97,” declared Beattie as he tried to wipe the smile off his face after leaving blackies all over Queensland Raceway on the Cagiva.
“That’s the most laps I’ve done on a track for seven years. I’ve only done those commentating laps for Channel 10 at the Australian Grand Prix but as soon as I left pit lane all the memories of 500GP came back. Nothing beats a 500.” Admitted Daryl, “I felt good on the bike and it all started to come back to me. I remember this bike well and always wondered what it would be like to ride. It feels similar engine-wise to the Yamaha I rode in 1994 but it handles better. It’s really sweet and the carbon brakes are just awesome when you haven’t used them for a long time.

“It feels really good to ride a race bike again. You just can’t beat the way they steer, stop or accelerate. The thing just wants to wheelstand in every gear. Unreal!”

Daryl says he always knew the Cagiva was a competitive machine in the right hands, “The King [Eddie Lawson] did a lot for Cagiva and Kocinski had some good results on the bike. There’s no doubt that it had more potential so it is a shame that this was the last one.”

So any plans for a comeback from Daryl?
“I’ve got a taste for it again now so I’ll have to talk Mick [Doohan] into coming out to some ride days with me!”

DICK SMART
What does a full-time GP mechanic do in his spare time? Stuff around with old 500GP bikes, that’s what. Dick Smart (Repsol Honda Technician and Barros’s main man) was on his summer break when we headed out to test the bike.

As a good mate of Daryl and Paul Feeney, he kindly offered to help out. Dick has a soft spot for 500s but says he doesn’t really miss the ‘strokers, “The four-strokes are better for me because we don’t have to rebuild the things as often, plus there’s no jetting to worry about – there are injection specialists to look after that now.”

Watching someone as experienced as Dick work on a 500GP bike was great.

QUICK CHAT WITH JOHN KOCINSKI
Rapid: It has been said that this was the bike that turned Cagiva from also-rans to almost wins and if you didn’t take the ride in ’94 Cagiva would have pulled the pin. What is your take on that?
JK: Yes, it is probably true, but a lot of my greatest memories have been when I rode for Cagiva. It was a company of great passion.
Rapid: When you think back on the V593 and the results, particularly the wins, you achieved on the bike how do you feel?
JK: It is one of my greatest accomplishments to win on a machine that no one else other than Eddie Lawson has won on. It was heartbreaking when Cagiva could not continue in 1995 because we were so close to having a machine that could win a World Championship.
Rapid: How much of the work, in development terms, was already done when you arrived at the team?
JK: Obviously, there had been work done, but it was far from complete.
Rapid: What were the strengths and weaknesses of the V593?
JK: The strengths were the agility and steering. The weakness was the power band.
Rapid: Was this motorcycle capable of winning the title?
JK: Yes, most definitely
Rapid: Were you keen to stay on for 1995 if the team had survived?
JK: Absolutely. I loved the team, the engineers, I had great mechanics. It was just a matter of making some small improvements to the power delivery and handling.
Rapid: Daryl Beattie said that overall he rates the bike well and that both yourself and Eddie Lawson proved that it is a reasonable motorcycle. But were you guys over-riding to compensate for lack of performance or was the bike really that good?
JK: No matter what machine you ride there are always issues. But definitely in 1994, the machine was the best it had ever been. I think the results say the same.
Rapid: What did it for you with 500s – the challenge, the acceleration, the adrenaline or the fear?
JK: That’s exactly what does it, I think, for everyone. The challenge, the acceleration, the adrenaline and fear.
Rapid: Give us one word that sums up the Cagiva.
JK: Passion.
Rapid: Thanks John
JK: No, thank you for the opportunity to answer your questions regarding the Cagiva. It was one of my favourite bikes and I enjoyed my time with the company. And hello to all my Australian fans, thanks for all your support during my career, I hope everyone is doing well.

SPECIFICATIONS
1993/1994 CAGIVA V593
Power: 180hp@12600rpm Torque: 75.5ft-lbs]@12000rpm Dry weight: 130kg Fuel capacity: 21 litres ENGINE – Type: liquid-cooled 80-degree V4 twin crank two-stroke Bore x stroke: 56 x 50.6mm Displacement: 498cc Fuel delivery: two twin-choke 36mm electronic power-jet flat-slide Mikunis, crankcase reed-valve induction, pressurised airbox Exhaust: titanium expansion chambers with carbon-fibre mufflers, electronically controlled cylindrical power valves Porting: five transfer, three exhaust Ignition: electronic with programmable advance curve linked to throttle opening, exhaust powervalve and carburettor power jet. NGK plugs Other details: single plain piston ring pistons, needle roller small-end and roller big-end bearings Primary drive: straight-cut gear to clutch from right-hand end of lower crank Clutch: dry multi-plate, seven friction and six steel plates, six springs Gearbox: six-speed cassette-style, ten possible ratios for first and fourth, seven for second and fifth, nine for third and sixth, drum selection, electronic quick-shift CHASSIS – Frame type: twin-spar aluminium with adjustable steering angle, carbon-fibre swingarm Wheelbase: 1390mm Rake: 23 + 1 degree Trail: 95mm Front suspension: fully adjustable inverted carbon-fibre Ohlins forks Rear suspension: Ohlins fully adjustable shock Front brake: twin 320mm carbon-carbon rotors with Brembo four-piston monoblock calipers and Brembo radial master cylinder and Brembo pads Rear Brake: single 190mm carbon-carbon rotor with Brembo twin-piston monoblock caliper and Brembo pads Front wheel: Ferrari hollow-section carbon-fibre, 3.5 x 17in Rear wheel: Ferrari hollow-section carbon-fibre, 6.0 x 17in Front tyre: Michelin slick Rear tyre: Michelin slick