The Adventure Motorcycle From The ’90s That Was Ahead Of Its Time

The ‘90s can be considered to be one of the best decades of recent times. It happened at a time when technological breakthroughs were happening at an accelerated rate, and it was before the world was concerned about being politically correct. No, really – the World Wide Web, text messaging, the PlayStation, the Apple iMac, and digital cameras all appeared in the 1990s. The motorcycle world was also innovating, with a number of iconic two-wheelers launched in this decade.

The list includes the Ducati Monster, Harley-Davidson Fat Boy, Suzuki Hayabusa, Yamaha YZF-R1, Honda CBR900RR Fireblade, and Ducati 916. Amidst these were a few truly impressive adventure bikes launched in that decade as well. However, as is the case more times than we expect, it was a small manufacturer that came up with a product that influences adventure bikes to this day. This is the adventure motorcycle from the ‘90s that was ahead of its time.

To give you the most up-to-date and accurate information possible, the data used to compile this article was sourced from authoritative sources such as Cagiva Motorcycles.

The Cagiva Elefant 900 From The ’90s Was Ahead Of Its Time

Launch Year: 1991

The Elefant brand of motorcycles was launched in the mid-1980s, but they were always small-displacement dual-sport motorcycles ranging from 125 cc up. The Cagiva logo itself has an elephant on it, so it made sense that one of its best products would bear the name of the animal in the logo. A 900 cc flagship was designed to compete at the Dakar Rally, widely acknowledged to be the most grueling race of the time – and the most grueling today as well.

It managed to take top spot multiple times at the beginning of the 90s, proving that this marriage of sport bike engine and dual-sport chassis could really work. And this is the same philosophy that today’s performance adventure tourers follow. This is why the Cagiva Elefant 900 is the adventure motorcycle from the ‘90s that was ahead of its time.

Cagiva Elefant 900 Engine

Cagiva owned Ducati at the time, so it decided to source the large Elefant’s engine from the Borgo Panigale manufacturer. A Ducati 900SS’s heart was transplanted into the off-road Elefant chassis, and no punches were pulled. The figures mirrored those of the sport bike’s, at 95 horsepower and 57.5 pound-feet. For the regular road-going bikes, a pair of Mikuni carburetors was pressed into service. It also retained the six-speed gearbox from the Ducati.

This meant that the Elefant 900 was light and powerful, with great torque spread offered by the Desmodromic valvetrain. It also meant that it had the engine service schedule of an old Ducati, but there was no doubt as to the speed of this Cagiva.

Cagiva Elefant 900 Chassis

Simple But Effective

The Elefant 900 has a simple-for-today steel tubular double cradle frame, but it was one of the more sophisticated designs of the time. It was a design that was proven to be a race winner at the Dakar Rally, once in 1990 and another time in 1994. So, it is an extremely capable chassis as well.

Showa inverted front forks suspend the 19-inch front wheel, while a preload-adjustable single rear shock suspends the 17-inch rear wheel. Brembo provides the braking, with 282 mm twin front discs slowed down by a four-piston fixed caliper each. A smaller 240 mm rear disc does braking duty, but surprisingly, it uses the same 4-piston fixed caliper as the fronts. Other things of note are the 5.8-gallon fuel tank and ground clearance of 10.2 inches.

Cagiva Elefant 900 Dimensions

Cagiva Elefant 900 Versions

The Elefant range had bikes with as little as 125 cc, but the Ducati-powered ones had displacements of 350, 650, 750, and 900 cc. The largest of these is what powered the flagship Elefant, of course. The very first 900 cc Elefant was the Elefant 900, i.e., GT, which was a production version of the rally bike. As such, it had Weber fuel injection, Marzocchi front forks, an Öhlins rear shock, and a single front brake disc.

The other two well-known versions are the Elefant 900AC and Elefant E900, both of which have the engine and chassis specs mentioned above. The differences to the Elefant, i.e., 900, are a second front brake disc, the different suspension providers, and the mechanical fuel delivery system. All the Elefant 900s sported a 19-inch front rim, unlike the 650 cc Elefant, which had a 21-inch rim.

Of the three, the Elefant is the most desirable by far, not only because it is the most closely related to the Dakar-winning model, but also because it was a limited-run model: only 1,000 units were put on sale. The Elefant E900 was badged a Ducati for the North American market, so don’t be surprised if you spot a Ducati E900. Today, the Ducati DesertX pays homage to the Elefant in its design, as Ducati sees it as a spiritual successor to the Cagiva.

Differences In Cagiva Elefant Variants

Cagiva Elefant 900 Competition

Some Truly Iconic Names

The Elefant 900 existed during some of the golden years of motorcycles that were based on rally-raid race bikes. The biggest name among the competition was the Honda XRV750 Africa Twin, which was also a multiple Dakar Rally-winning motorcycle. Like the Elefant, there is a spiritual successor to it today in the CRF1100L Africa Twin Adventure Sports ES.

Other names worth noting are Yamaha YZE750T Super Ténéré, the Triumph Tiger 900, and the BMW R 1150 GS. The Yamaha is very similar to the Honda in its approach to the segment, while the Triumph and BMW have a different approach. The Tiger was powered by an inline three-cylinder engine, making it a little heavier and wider, and more suited to touring rather than off-road work.

The BMW hadn’t yet got into its stride as the leader of the segment when it was launched at the end of the ‘90s, but the Round-The-World exploits that were documented on the R 1150 GS ensured that it became a celebrity in its own right.