Zaeta motorcycles are coming to Canada.
Zaeta’s hardly a household name here, but there’s been buzz about them in the motorcycle scene for a few years. They’re made in Italy, the brainchild of company founder Paolo Chiaia with inspiration from Graziano Rossi – Valentino’s father.
They’re designed to to be dual-purpose machines, but not in the way you’d think of a KLR650 or a DR-Z400. Instead of trail work, they’re intended to be able to handle flat track duties as well as street use. They’re raced successfully in Europe, and they’ll be hitting the Ontario flat track scene in coming weeks. Former champ Braden Vallee will be racing the bikes.
The Zaeta machines will be distributed by Motorsports Canada Ltd. As far as we know, they’re only bringing two bikes into Canada – the 530DT ($23,500 plus freight, PDI, taxes, etc) and the 530SE (no price available). They’re based around a 530 cc liquid-cooled single cylinder motor, which is supposed to make 55 hp @ 8,000 rpm and 38 ft/lb of torque at 6,600 rpm. There’s a 320 mm disc brake in front and back, and the bikes roll on a 19-inch front wheel and 17-inch rear wheel.
They have an aluminum open cradle frame, 11 litres of fuel capacity, and as far as we can figure, they weigh 115 kg wet. The DT model has 43mm adjustable Showa forks and Ohlins adjustable rear shock; the SE model has Ohlins USD shocks up front, but the same rear suspension.
Want more details? Check out their website here. It seems Motorsports Canada Ltd. is actually the new North American distributor for these machines, which could turn out to be a coup for the company if the bikes take off in popularity in the US, where flat track racing is much bigger than it is in Canada.
55HP @ 115 kg? Can you say ‘wheelie’? Sure. I knew you could.
They’re marketing these as the perfect motorcycle for the anti-establishment rebel, or something like that, so subtlety isn’t what they’re about. They sure look fun. I first saw these in a magazine about 2-3 years ago and thought “those will never come to Canada.” Looks like I was wrong.
These look to be absolutely stupid fun. Good luck hanging on to your license on one of these. LOL
Pretty tough/disingenuous to be an “anti-establishment rebel” at $23,000 per.
More like a cool toy for very well heeled enthusiasts.