School me: Elefant (E900)

[memper]

How does it differ from the M900's of the 90's?
They look seemingly like m900's.
I'm curious bc there are Elefants and Gran Canyons on evilbay now but I know nothing of the performance characteristics.

I will still likely keep my eye out for a V head 900 but I still gotta ask. Sorry for the noob question...

[koko64]

I recently checked out 3 models of Elefant. An '85/86 650, '88 Elf 750 bifaro (twin headlight) & '95 750 AC (last iteration). Got the good oil from some Elefant nuts.
I'll be checking out an '88 monofaro 750LE in Sept.

I was very impressed. I understand why people who have them are crazy about them.
The carbed 900 models from '93/94 are reputedly meant to have 900V motors, but I cant confirm that. If you do, let me know. The Gran Canyon looks a more road biased version with the Elefants more dirt capable. The 90-93 ie bikes and GC have W heads.


Ducatiz knows alot about them and speeddog has a Gran Canyon. I would strengthen the wiring on the Elefants and change the very restrictive mufflers. Brad B has demonstrated how restrictive the airbox is on the GC, even with open lid.

Awesome long distance bikes with good ergos and all rounder capabilities. I want one.

[ducatiz]

The E900 and Elefant 900 are the same bike.

They have W heads only.

I don't feel the E900 is a bonafide offroad bike, it's more of a sports tourer.  More road bias.  The older Elefants (650/old 750) had a much better offroad bias -- long ass forks.

The Gran Canyon is also a sport tourer.  beautiful bike IMHO, also W heads.

They are not Monsters or SS bikes.. They are totally different -- the frame is made by Cagiva and is not a Ducati style trellis.

I'll have a GC one day.

[koko64]

So Falloon's wrong again? I forgot to ask the guy about the W head thing.
The 900AC models had W heads too?
So effectively, all E900s had W heads?

[zooom]

MY 99 Cagiva Gran Canyon has W heads...( which is for sale )

[Raux]

My take on the E900 and GC was they were the godfather of the MTS.

[zooom]

My take on the E900 and GC was they were the godfather of the MTS.

more or less

[ducatiz]

So Falloon's wrong again? I forgot to ask the guy about the W head thing.
The 900AC models had W heads too?
So effectively, all E900s had W heads?

All of the Elefant 900/E900 models that I know of have W heads, but it's possibly they put the V on one.  I have to ask the elefant oracle..

My take on the E900 and GC was they were the godfather of the MTS.

And the Alazzurra was the godfather of the ST

[Raux]

And the Alazzurra was the godfather of the ST

and unfortunately they killed the line after that


i would love to see a Hyper/Diavel motored ST duo revival

[Speeddog]

According to Falloon:

The 900ie had the same heads as the 900SS, but with same cams as E750 and Paso.
It had a 5-speed transmission.
P7 ECU.
'90 model had 300W alternator, '91 got a 350W.
The '91 900 ieGT had a 6-speed.
All the 900's have 19" front wheels, (IMO: fine for the street, fine for hard dirt, hopeless in deep sand).

'93 E900 got Mikuni carbs and engine same as 900SS, and a cat in the muffler.
Showa 45mm USD forks, rear shock now Boge instead of previous Ohlins.
Dual (smaller) front discs.
Lower seat height.
Purportedly stayed the same 'til the end in '95.

[duc_fan]

I have a 2000 Gran Canyon 900.

Biggest issue is finding plastics.  Not impossible, but requires patience.

I have been told the GC900 has 750 heads on it.  It's definitely wheezier than my former 2001 900SS.  The factory rating is something like 10 HP less as well.  A somewhat desirable mod on the GC is to install 900SS heads and a PCIII.  Adds quite a bit more poke, and one user on the Yahoo group has the dyno charts to prove it.

The GC is so-so when taken off pavement.  The Elefant may be better, but I have no FHE with the E900.  I ride mine down 5 miles of gravel to get to the pavement when commuting.  It's okay on that.  I'd have to go *really* slow on any kind of singletrack, and that'd be a risky adventure.  I'd say you can get in about as much trouble as you can on a BMW 1200GS... except the GC is lighter and narrower, which makes it a touch easier to handle.

On pavement, it's a wonderful machine.  It's supremely comfortable (and I'm 6'4").  It handles very nicely.  Mine has Remus Ti cans on it... sounds great.

Hard to compare to other bikes.  It is definitely the predecessor to the original Multi.  Similar ergos and functionality, just less grunt.  IMO, it looks better than the original Multi.  The Multi 1200 is in a whole other league... that's a long-distance power tourer.

[ducatiz]

Yiddische language lesson time!

"mish-mosh"  See below:

According to Falloon:

The 900ie had the same heads as the 900SS, but with same cams as E750 and Paso.
It had a 5-speed transmission.
P7 ECU.
'90 model had 300W alternator, '91 got a 350W.
The '91 900 ieGT had a 6-speed.
All the 900's have 19" front wheels, (IMO: fine for the street, fine for hard dirt, hopeless in deep sand).

'93 E900 got Mikuni carbs and engine same as 900SS, and a cat in the muffler.
Showa 45mm USD forks, rear shock now Boge instead of previous Ohlins.
Dual (smaller) front discs.
Lower seat height.
Purportedly stayed the same 'til the end in '95.

[ducatiz]

and unfortunately they killed the line after that


i would love to see a Hyper/Diavel motored ST duo revival

They killed the line because they sold so few.. the Tre was the last model and i think it was about 400 sold in the last year.  the only people buying them were Ducati owners..  first time buyers of ST type bikes didn't go Ducati, they would get BMWs or Hondas or the venerable B-King

[Raux]

with the new long service interval, it's the perfect time to reintroduce the ST line.

[ducatiz]

with the new long service interval, it's the perfect time to reintroduce the ST line.

Make sure to include the features that pudgy, middle-aged men want, and it might sell better...