Xispa is Haven sent!
By TMX Archives on 2nd Oct 08
THE Xispa has landed!Virtually a year to the day since the original prototype was launched, the first pre-production Xispa trials model, a 250cc model, has landed in Britain and official dealer Haven Trialsport has bagged it! Basis of the Xispa, which is being built in Gerona, Spain, is a simple steel perimeter-style chassis constructed of oval-section steel tubing into which is slotted an equally simple two-stroke motor which is fed fuel through a 28mm flat-slide OKO carburettor. The bike has been fired-up since its arrival and early signs are that it is a very smooth, quiet, torquey, rider-friendly power unit. The clutch is hydraulically operated and consequently light in operation.
Suspension is interesting and is sure to be the subject of much discussion amongst trials fans as, up front, is a pair of forks (and triple-clamps) designed and manufactured in-house, while at the rear is a linkless single-shock system which, again, keeps in with the keep-it-simple philosophy. The vertical, centrally positioned suspension unit is a Paioli, supplied to similar spec to that used on the Beta REV3 – just as Beta revert to a link design on their own new EVO model. Xispa has managed to keep it very neat at the back and the shock position has not impeded either airbox or exhaust.
Fuel tank is plastic, with a neat, flush-mounted filler, seat height is fashionably low and the rear guard features the high-kicking tail pretty much as used by everyone else! A couple of neat touches which would normally be classed as ‘extras' are the exhaust and fork guards which come as standard.
The final production-ready Xispas will be available, we are told, at the end of October and they will be produced in 125, 250 and 280cc capacities. There's sure to be a scrabble for test rides!
The price, for all three models, has been pegged at a tempting £3,195.