Clean Cagiva Elefante for sale in MI

[pmillar]

I have no idea if this is a good deal or not, but it's a very clean looking bike based on the pics. If I didn't have a kid in college I might be taking a look (no relation to the seller.  https://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/mcy/5414897503.html

If nothing else, it's pretty cool.

Pete

[Dnaj]

I have one of these. I really like it but some parts are unobtanium.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

I have one of these. I really like it but some parts are unobtanium.

This one?  BTW, I still have the stock seat and a few more parts.

[Guzzistajohn]

I know where one like this is for sale. Not running but it's a great parts bike. It was running when it was parked  (never heard that I know)



I put SEVERAL hundred miles on it, it was a hoot to ride

[Dnaj]

Yes, that one! And I like it! Maybe I should just pay you for shipping the parts tho. Shall we do that? Unless you got something else for me to buy or vice Vera, wink wink

[Dnaj]

You could get the whole enchilada pretty cheap!

No sorry, I was responding to Antietam Cycle. Got my 87 from him. Is your 900 that one near Harrisburg. There was one like that online I think on craigslist, but sorry. I don't need two.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Yes, that one! And I like it! Maybe I should just pay you for shipping the parts tho. Shall we do that? Unless you got something else for me to buy or vice Vera, wink wink

PMed you.

[Sasquatch Jim]

  Wasn't one of those elephant twins made with a 650 Guzzi engines?

[huub]

brilliant bikes,but a nightmare to run on regular basis.
setting the desmo valves means dropping the engine, and you are supposed to do that every 10.000 km.
if you dont , the exhaust valve of the rear cylinder burns.

i had a 900IE as a daily transport, when i got fed up doing the valves i bought a guzzi le mans instead..
not as comfortable , but at least i didnt have to spend my weekends working on the bike.

[leafman60]

Guzzi had its own similar version of this bike but not many were sold.

I owned two of the Ducati-engined Cagiva Elefant 650 bikes and put significant miles on them. It's named from the 1950's founder Giovanni Castiglioni in Varese Italy. CA(Castiglioni) GI (Giovanni), VA ( Varese).

Man, that was a running machine.  You could be going down a dirt road at 50 MPH, grab a handful of throttle and sling a huge rooster tail out back. I had a custom exhaust made for mine with a Supertrapp can out back. The stock suspension was pretty good.

I regularly rode mine in some rough terrain.  I remember trying to cross a 100-foot wide creek once and burying the wheels so deep in the river bed sand that you couldn't see the axles. Ahh, the fun of being young and frivolous.

It is no lightweight machine. We used to joke about why Cagiva used an elephant for the logo and name. But, the power-to-weight ratio is good.

The Elefant was not bad on the road doing long distance jaunts too. I loved it.  Very powerful, nice engine feel, great sound.

I sold mine for several reasons.  Body parts were difficult to find and, with a bike you ride in the woods, having a source of such things is helpful unless you wanna just have a beater bike.

Service was also a PITA.  Also, as Huub says, the rear cylinder, especially the exhaust, was a ROYAL PITA.

The service issue is the primary reason I haven't had a Ducati in years. If not for that, I'd probably still have one.

However, on second thought, I'm not sure about that.  Many of the new Ducati designs feature engines completely covered and obscured with water-cooling plumbing and wiring.  I like to see the motor and the cooling fins.

[motoduck]

Pretty sure this is my old Elefant that I sold to a friend who sold it to the current owner about a decade ago.  He has repainted it which it needed as the tank was getting a bit rough and the plastics were as well.  I know and am friends with the current owner.  He loves the bike but has multiple bike disorder like many of us.  I saw him a year ago or so and I think he bought a really nice R80GS that is kinda taking over from the Cagiva.  I was a Ducati mechanic at the time I had it and I purchased it from a guy I worked with that also was a BMW master tech.  No idea what it might need now as I haven't seen it in quite a while but it was a really fun bike.  Ohlins shock in the rear is stock and I had it rebuilt back in the day.  Supertrap is also stock.  Valve adjustment is a bit trickier than normal 2 valves...you have to remove the rocker pin to get the rockers out of the way to change the shims...later models had a clip that you can pull to mover the rocker over to access the opening shim.  You do not need to drop the engine but it isn't exactly a cake walk.  Valves need to be checked / adjusted every 3K miles on this vintage.  Pretty robust bike if you get it set up right.

Price seems a bit high but due to the rarity, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it if it didn't need sorting. 

Jeff

[leafman60]

Pretty sure this is my old Elefant that I sold to a friend who sold it to the current owner about a decade ago.  He has repainted it which it needed as the tank was getting a bit rough and the plastics were as well.  I know and am friends with the current owner.  He loves the bike but has multiple bike disorder like many of us.  I saw him a year ago or so and I think he bought a really nice R80GS that is kinda taking over from the Cagiva.  I was a Ducati mechanic at the time I had it and I purchased it from a guy I worked with that also was a BMW master tech.  No idea what it might need now as I haven't seen it in quite a while but it was a really fun bike.  Ohlins shock in the rear is stock and I had it rebuilt back in the day.  Supertrap is also stock.  Valve adjustment is a bit trickier than normal 2 valves...you have to remove the rocker pin to get the rockers out of the way to change the shims...later models had a clip that you can pull to mover the rocker over to access the opening shim.  You do not need to drop the engine but it isn't exactly a cake walk.  Valves need to be checked / adjusted every 3K miles on this vintage.  Pretty robust bike if you get it set up right.

Price seems a bit high but due to the rarity, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it if it didn't need sorting. 

Jeff

I never saw a Supertrapp muffler on a stock bike. Both of mine came pristine with very low miles and had the big factory exhaust that weighed a ton.

Also, I agree, I didn't have to drop the motor to do the rear valves but it was a bitch nonetheless.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

I never saw a Supertrapp muffler on a stock bike. Both of mine came pristine with very low miles and had the big factory exhaust that weighed a ton.

The big factory muffler came from the factory with a stack of Supertrapp discs as a spark arrester, at least in the US. It's shown on the sales brochure.