Vintage 1980's Cagiva elephant logo factory motocross racer's gear duffle bag

Description

This is not just any swag bag, it has a story to tell and you won't see another one like it anywhere. I picked this up from the man that sold me all the AJS Stormer parts. This is an original
Cagiva factory motocross racer's gear bag with the early elephant logo that incorporates the AMF Harley-Davidson number 1 with Italian flag colors and it's from the eighties vintage. It's kind of like a laundry or duffle bag on steroids, it's cloth lined plastic with a leather sheath over the cords and measures 21" tall x 10" round at the bottom and is very well made. Mike raced a WMX125, a 250 Stormer and a 410 Stormer fairly successfully in the eighties and nineties and had the trophies to prove it. This bag would have been given to Mike by the dealer who sold him the bike or from Cagiva because he won races. Now for some history of the Cagiva marque and the WMX125.
Today, the name Cagiva is probably best remembered in the motocross world for its purchase of the Husqvarna brand in the late eighties. Once the owners of Husqvarna, Ducati, and MV Agusta, Cagiva was a motorcycling powerhouse in the eighties and nineties. Founded by Giovanni Castiglioni in 1950, the Cagiva brand was originally a manufacturer of small metal components. The name “Cagiva” was derived from a combination of the founder’s name and the town in which it originated – Varese, Italy (
CA
stiglioni
GI
ovanni and
Va
rese). It was not until 1978 that Cagiva expanded into motorcycle production. At the time, American motorcycle manufacturer AMF-Harley Davidson had a substantial motorcycle production facility in Varese building small two-strokes for sale under the Harley banner. Seeing an opportunity to expand their business, Castiglioni’s two sons Claudio and Gianfranco decided to diversify the company’s offerings by acquiring the AMF-Harley-Davidson
/Aermacchi factory and starting to build motorcycles.
Initially, the new Cavigas were nothing more than re-badged AMF-Harleys, but eventually, the Italians began producing unique machines of their own.
While early Cagiva motocross machines were slightly odd in appearance, their motor performance was never in question. The Italians knew how to make horsepower and the machines were never lacking for forward thrust. In America, they remained little more than a curiosity, occasionally showing up in magazine tests and the odd USGP. At the time, most US riders had fallen out of love with the machines of Europe and in love with the machines of Japan. Cagiva may have been great, but few American riders had an opportunity to experience their uniquely Italian flair.
In 1985, Cagiva finally broke into the motocross mainstream by winning the 1985 125 World Motocross title with Finland’s Pekka Vehkonen piloting. This was the first win of the 125 World Title by a non-Japanese brand since the series was started in 1975. In addition to Vehkonen’s victory, the brand scored a third overall in the championship standings with Italy’s Corrado Maddii rounding out the 1985 125 podium. In a mere seven years, Cagiva had gone from a producer of rehashed Harley street bikes to the winners of one of the most prestigious motocross series in the world.
While the WMX 125 was certainly different than the Japanese machines in many ways, it was not behind them in terms of technology. The 124.6cc two-stroke motor was as up-to-date as anything in the class in 1986. The motor featured a 56mm x 50.6mm bore and stroke and 11.0:1 compression ratio from its single-ring piston. Internally, the ’86 cylinder featured all-new porting and the same high-tech Nikasil liner as the new Hondas.  Like the Japanese 125s, the WMX featured a variable-exhaust valve designed to broaden power. This Italian version of a “power valve” was coined the “Cagiva Torque-increase System” (CTS) and featured a sliding guillotine-valve that varied the exhaust port timing based on engine rpm. For 1986, the CTS featured a redesigned mechanism for smoother engagement.
On the intake side, Cagiva kept things close to home with an Italian-built 36mm Dell’Orto carburetor. The intake remained a conventional cylinder-reed design but new reeds for ’86 promised quicker response. The ignition duties were handled by an electronic Motoplat unit that featured an auto advance. Completing the motor changes for 1986 were a redesigned pipe and silencer that were tuned to work with the new motor’s porting profile.
In the chassis department, the new 1986 WMX featured an all-new 4130 chrome-moly single downtube frame. Unlike many Japanese bikes of its time, the Cagiva’s frame featured a fully removable subframe that made servicing easier. Complementing the new frame was redesigned bodywork that slimmed and flattened the pilot’s compartment. The new tank featured a lower center of gravity to aid handling and a lower profile on top to aid rider movement. A redesigned saddle carried much farther up the tank and featured a slightly softer (but still very hard) seat foam for improved rider comfort. Finishing off the rider compartment was a set of trick Renthal alloy bars (nearly twenty years before the Japanese machines would receive this feature) and European-spec Domino levers.
On the suspension end, the Cagiva featured high-end European components both front and rear. Up front, the WMX featured a very unique set of 42mm conventional Marzocchi forks that delivered 11.8" overall travel. These forks allowed for both compression and rebound adjustability, a feature that wasn't shared by any of the Japanese machines in 1986. In a nod to the SFF forks that would come three decades later, the WMX’s forks featured a single spring on one side with compression damping being handled by one fork and rebound being handled by the other.
On the rear, the WMX featured a version of a rising rate single shock suspension system that Cagiva called soft damp. This bottom link design was similar to what was found on bikes like Honda’s CR125R and featured a premium Swedish Öhlins damper. The shock offered 12.2 inches of travel with adjustments for compression and rebound damping. For 1986, new valving was changed to improve performance.