Italjet Grifon 650 Pre-Production Ride Video
Italjet is about to enter the big bike market with the Grifon 650. The Italian mark is catching a second wind after it’s banruptcy in 2003. The Grifon’s blacked out Italian styling is accented with spoked rims, Giannelli exhaust and Brembo brakes. The Pre-production Grifon looks to be a combination of the Grifon and Bazooka prototypes introduced in late 2005. MCN posted the following video of a test ride…
Italjet is the latest company to outsource the chassis and 650 vTwin engine to South Korean Motorcycle manufacturer Hyosung. This most likely will allow them to hit a lower price point than previous prototypes with outsourced engines. Diamo USA is set to import the Grifon to the United States under the name Italjet USA. Let’s hope we see it spice up the bike meet parking lots some time in the near future.
Diamo GTX650
As small companies continue thier fight for a share of the Big 4′s pie, I came across some information that Diamo USA will import various Italjet scooters including the Dragster to the USA. If you have never seen the Dragster it is very unique in looks and function. It has a single sided swingarm…for the front wheel and a trellis frame. The tail is short like a buell and it has clip-on style handlebars. This scooter should sell very well for Diamo depending on what kind of price they can work out.
After heard this I went to check out the Diamo USA homepage. There is a link to a GTX650. Looks like a full fairing sport bike The picture is very small and it is impossible to pick out any identifying details and there is no description besides “Coming in Fall of 2006!”. Hmmm, fall ’06 came and went. I emailed Diamo and a sales rep replyed saying the GTX650 is not a rebadged Grifon and that the bike probably will not be produced now because of the Italjet deal. If anyone has any information about the GTX650 I would love to hear about what Diamo’s plans were.
