Started in 1978 in Northern Italy on the site of the old Harley Davidson Factory by the Castiglioni brothers. Known for stylish Italian designed bikes with engines from other factories. Cagiva had the guts to race against the big Japanese racing teams and even beat them at a few races. A wonderful feat from such a small company. Although we think of it as a small company, Cagiva did own both Ducati and MV Agusta at one time.
Cagiva’s financial history has been unstable, but this did not stop Cagiva from excelling at the 500cc Grand Prix and daring to take on the huge Japanese racing teams – winning a few races in both 1992 & 1993.
Cagiva started with the design of a small 125cc Mito, which was a fast screamer model bike (looked a lot like a mini Ducati 916). Later Cagiva developed two larger trail bikes 750cc and the 900cc Elefant. These bikes were actually powered by a Ducati engine and had some rally success.
In the year 2000, Ducati designer Miguel Galluzzi helped design the Raptor – a stylish naked bike powered by the 1000cc Suzuki TL1000 engine.