Italian Boutique Builder Infects Moto2

Vyrus Spreads

This isn’t the first we’ve seen of Italian engineer Asconio Rodorigo’s hub-center-steered sportbikes. Rodorigo spent years at Bimota, where he designed the similar Tesi 2D before departing to found Vyrus and continue further development. The Rimini-based designer’s latest effort is the Vyrus 986 M2, intended as a Moto2 racer.

Theoretically, hub-center steering offers numerous advantages over a traditional telescopic fork, maintaining geometric stability by isolating braking and suspension forces and making dive characteristics more tunable. In addition, increased structural stiffness allows for lighter weight—with the caveat being that weight is unsprung.

Vyrus will reportedly offer its Moto2 platform for $75,000, the same amount as the conventional-forked Suter Moto2 machine. A $35,000 street version will follow.