There was a period between the 80s and 90s in which some of the sports bikes that enjoyed considerable success - in some cases becoming real best sellers - were equipped with a very special fairing. The full fairing. An innovation never seen before - and look at the case - born in that extraordinary period of which we often like to talk about in which ideas weren't really lacking and anything and everything was invented in order to distinguish oneself and to progress (sometimes even making mistakes). I like to define this period as a real Renaissance in which an attempt was made to leave behind an archaic technical concept of motorcycles, almost immobile for years, which had lasted for a long time and which by now had shown all its limits.
It's really difficult to put yourself in the shoes of a designer intent on trying to create something new that can work and last over time even in mass production. However, every so often it has happened and it happens that you see something different from all the others appear, as was the case with the sealed fairings.
This type of solution completely wrapped the bike by joining the tank and saddle with the fairing, totally hiding both the frame and the bike's engine from view. The very first time this singular fairing appeared was in 1979 when the French oil company Elf decided to collaborate with Honda in the creation and sponsorship of a motorcycle to enter the world of motorcycle racing. Thus the engineer André De Cortanze was hired, who had gained great experience in the automotive field and above all in Renault F1 (designing the Renault RS01) to build an innovative and futuristic motorcycle with unprecedented technical concepts. This is how the Honda Elf X appeared (where X stands for experimental). This motorcycle covered by dozens of patents for the innovative solutions of the front and rear single-sided arms but also of the "bearing engine" frame, also presented the world for the very first time with an integral fairing, carrying on this solution also on all subsequent evolutions almost up to the end of his adventure in 500gp in 1988.
As is often the case, the progress and developments made on the slopes are taken and brought to the road as well. Thus appeared the first integral fairing on a registered motorcycle. In November 1985, the innovative Ducati Paso 750 designed by the visionary genius Massimo Tamburini was presented at the Milan show.
the slogan spoke clearly "designed from the future" and it is clear that therefore at the time the Paso line had to be perceived as extremely new if not downright futuristic. Despite this, the Paso (which was supposed to be a Sport Tourer) did not achieve the hoped-for success, more than due to its line, perhaps due to the not exactly sublime chassis and various carburetion problems. It was not the same instead for the Cagiva Freccia C9 125cc which was born from the Paso line, indeed it was almost a miniature copy - Ducati in fact belonged to the Cagiva Group - and which instead became a true icon among young people in the mid-80s, developed up to the C12 model it is considered one of the most representative 125s of the time surpassed in fame only by the legendary and stupendous Mito.