CR&S DUU 2017 — Specifications

Imagining a 1916 cm3 V2 delivering less than 100 horsepower seems like a philosophical gamble in a world obsessed with brute power. CR&S, the Milanese artisan, has nevertheless built its DUU on this disconcerting premise: abundance of displacement is not a promise of explosive performance, but a guarantee of monumental suppleness. This two-valve-per-cylinder twin, air-cooled and fuel-injected, spits out its 95 horsepower at a peaceful 5100 rpm. The essence lies elsewhere, in a torque of 148 Newton meters available from 4300 rpm, a wave of linear and deep thrust that propels the machine without haste. With a stroke of 111.1 millimeters for a bore of 104.8, this engine is built for idling and traction, not for peak rpm.

The chassis of the CR&S DUU embodies this extraordinary personality. Its main structure of large-diameter stainless steel tubes, combined with an inox engine cradle, gives a visceral rigidity and the look of an industrial machine. The wheelbase of 1576 millimeters announces a ship-like stability, confirmed by a wet weight of 264 kilograms. The 48 mm inverted fork and monobrach shock absorber are adjustable, but their calibration initially seems to serve to manage this mass with dignity rather than to carve through tight corners. A seat height of 800 mm makes the beast surprisingly accessible despite its size, an invitation to settle in for a long journey.

Dynamically, the numbers speak for themselves: a top speed capped at 200 km/h, a five-speed transmission, tires in 120 at the front and 190 at the rear. The CR&S DUU was not designed to compete with a BMW R 1250 R or a Ducati Monster 1200 on a circuit. Its floating wave double-disc brakes and radial four-piston calipers at the front are powerful, but they are mainly there to master considerable kinetic energy with precision. Every technical choice seems dictated by a search for coherence and durability, far from the frenzies of the naked bike market.

With its 15.5-liter tank and frugal engine, the DUU can look forward to beautiful ranges. It embodies an almost disappeared niche: that of the uncomplexed large displacement, turned towards the pleasure of quiet riding and the sensation of piloting a unique, almost anachronistic object. It is a motorcycle for the road-trip aesthete who prefers the conversation of a big twin to the clamor of a four-cylinder, for those who measure pleasure in terms of available torque and the singularity of the gesture. A mechanical antidote to the digital age.