Report From Italy
REPORT FROM ITALY
CARLO PERELLI
BERLINER/GUZZI/DUCATI
A group of American dealers, major importer Mike Berliner and his public relations man, Walter K. von Schonfeld, recently visited Italy on a business-pleasure tour. The business consisted of stops at Moto Guzzi and Ducati factories to see new models, and to discuss plans. The pleasure was a trip southward for sightseeing in Florence and Rome.
However, the visits to Mandello del Lario, where Moto Guzzi is situated, and Bologna, where Ducatis are built, were not only for dry, business matters. After having landed at Genoa instead of Milan because of thick fog, and being plagued by the highway ice on the way to Moto Guzzi, the scenery changed to a beautiful, sunlit landscape, mountains with little villages on their slopes reflecting themselves in the blue lake. At Bologna, on the other hand, the party admired ancient statues, -monuments and the two leaning towers, higher and older than the famous Pisa one!
At Mandello del Lario, the Americans found a more powerful version of the Moto Guzzi V-twin, named “Ambassador.” This soon will be on sale in Italy and Europe with only a slight price increase over the superceded model. The Ambassador is credited with 60 bhp, instead of the previous 50. This was achieved partly by overboring the cylinders from 80 to 83 mm. Thus, with stroke remaining at 70 mm, displacement has increased from 703 to 750 cc. And, additional power also is partly because of detail improvements, such as fitting new concentric type 29-mm Dellorto VHB carburetors. Reported top speed now is 112 mph instead of 105, with a time of 14 sec. over the standing-start quarter-mile. Famous designer Lino Tonti, now Moto Guzzi’s technical director, already is thinking of an even more powerful version of the V-twin.
However, Tonti has also developed a completely new 500-cc Single, with a horizontal cylinder in the Mandello del Lario factory tradition.
The next day in Bologna, something larger and something new were to be seen and tested. These were the Mark 3 D and the Scrambler, both of 450 cc displacement, as well as the 500 Twin.
The first two come from the wellknown Ducati line of 250and 350-cc models, created to fill requests in the U.S. and Europe for modern, light, high performance Singles, with good handling, simplicity and low price, as compared with Twins of equivalent capacity. These new Ducatis are intended to offer, particularly in the U.S., a very strong challenge to the “Victor” based 441-cc BSAs.
The bore has been taken to 86 mm, from the 76 mm of the 350-cc models, so, with the 350’s stroke unchanged at 74 mm, capacity is 435.7 cc. Other noticeable modifications include the reinforced frame, with the addition, in particular, of C bent tubes at the sides, just over the swinging arm spindle.
The “Mark 3 D” has the D in its name because it features the unique Ducati desmodromic valve timing gear system, first offered on series roadsters just a year ago with the introduction of the 250 and 350 Mark 3 D models. This system, developed and successfully tested in racing by Ducati’s Fabio Taglioni in the late 1950s, consists of completely positive valve movements. There are rockers not only to open the valves, but also to close them. This system offers such advantages as absence of valve float, employment of larger valves, and increase in compression ratio. Breathing efficiency is thus improved.
Fed by the new 29-mm Dellorto VHB concentric, with a 9.3:1 compression ratio, the engine delivers 27 bhp at 7000 rpm. So, with a dry weight of only 291 lb., and a well-spaced five-speed gearbox, a top speed of 102 mph can be attained (with clip-on bars). Simply by fitting a megaphone and adjusting carburetion accordingly, 9.3 mph are gained, factory testers report. It is possible to reach 8000 rpm and even more with only a slight power drop, and no fear of valve-piston collision damage.
With these features, no wonder the famous factory racer-tester Bruno Spaggiari, aided by ex-rider Franco Farne, is building a 450-cc competition mount, later to be produced in small batches for the privateers, as already has been done with 250 and 350 models.
Other details of the Mark 3 D 450 are that it has battery and coil ignition, wheelbase of 52 in., 2.75-18 front and 3.00-18 rear tires, tank capacity of 3.4 gal., and 7.1-in. front and 6.3-in. rear diameter brake drums. The Scrambler retains the traditional hairpin valve springs. On the desmo, these latter are operated by an sohe system, actuated by a vertical shaft with bevel gears on the right.
With a large air filter and less advanced ignition, the engine delivers 23.5 bhp at 7000 rpm, for a top speed of 87 mph. Other differences, as compared with the desmo, are the smaller 2.8-gal. fuel tank, slightly greater weight at 293 lb., and 3.50-19 front and 4.00-18 rear tires. Final drive ratios are lowered by adoption of a 38-tooth rear sprocket, instead of the 35-tooth unit. The gear box pinion has 12 teeth in both cases.
The new 500 Twin is completely different from the model introduced at the 1965 Daytona Show, then discarded because it was too heavy and too long. For example, the electric starter had been placed, completely enclosed, in front of the crankcase, thus increasing engine length, and therefore wheelbase and overall longitudinal dimensions.
The new model, though it also has an electric starter, five-speed gearbox and four-shoe front brake, weighs less than 400 lb. and is much more compact. Contrary to Ducati tradition, the ohv layout is pushrod-operated, and the tubular frame is of double cradle con figuration. As for power and speed, the figures of 36 bhp and 103 mph are rumored.
As at Gilera, this model also has been prepared in a police version. Although successfully tested over a long period, the factory still hasn't made a decision about series production. Such depends mainly on the attitudes of the Italian government and U.S. buyers.
THE BROTHERS RACING
Since setting out on their own last year, the racing brothers, Francesco and Walter Villa, have enlarged their manu facturing program to appeal particularly to road racers and scramblers.
Winners of seven 1 25-cc Italian Se nior Championships and numerous home and foreign events between them, the famous brothers from Modena always have worked around the ma chines they were riding so successfully. In this way they have reaped the benefit from deep and brilliant technical experi ence which has enabled them to start manufacturing their own models. with excellent results. Their intriguing 1 969 program includes a new 50-cc road racer for the new FIM formula, a single-cylin der, six-speed bike with a minimum weight of 133 lb.; series production, 20 units at a time, of a 125-cc road racer; a new 250-cc road racer, particularly promising and exciting; series produc tion of 50-cc trials and scrambles models; limited production of 175and 250-cc trials and scrambles models; and, under license, production for the Italian market of the 175-cc Montesa Cappra GP.
It is particularly interesting to exam ine closely the final version of the 1 25-cc racer, which surely ranks as the best over-the-counter 1 25 available to private riders today. It is worthwhile to recall that the prototype of this 1 25 appeared late in the 1968 season and had a winning debut with Walter riding at Piestany in Czechoslovakia (against a horde of East German two-strokes), followed by Francesco's success on the Vallelunga course at Rome in the last round of the 1968 Italian Senior Championship.
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The first batch of 20 Villas is nearly completed. Some already have reached buyers in the U.S., France, Austria, Switzerland and, of course, Italy.
In designing their compact, low, elegant 125, the Villas already had sought the best compromise between simplicity, sturdiness and high performance, the three qualities mostly required by privateers. For the definitive version, they have further improved the model, bearing in mind privateers’ requirements.
For example, the cylinder now is of high density cast iron instead of chromed alloy. Bore and stroke dimensions have been changed from 56 by 50 mm for 124.5 cc to 54 by 54 mm for 123 cc to make reboring easy. Various oversized pistons can be supplied. The bore and stroke change, according to the builders, has not impaired the performance—30 bhp at 11,200-11,400 rpm at the crankshaft.
The crankshaft itself and its bearings have been reinforced to ensure complete efficiency for a period of 1200 hours under racing conditions. Now they also can withstand safe, but not continuous, over-revving up to 12,000 rpm. Timing and porting also have been slightly changed for improved torque. A short run on the 125 Villa, after an effortless, immediate start, showed a surprising engine tractability, right from “tourist” rpm ranges. Strong pull begins at 8000 rpm, but the engine is at its best from 9000 to 11,200 rpm, quite a wide band for a 125 rotating disc GP engine. Top speed assured by the Villas is 120 mph. Carburetion is through a 30-mm instrument on the right. Fuel, with 6 percent oil added, avoids the complication of an injection pump which the builders consider unnecessary on this type of engine.
At the moment, the machine is delivered with a seven-speed in-unit gearbox, a most efficient, sturdy piece of engineering, requiring no less than two days work by specialist Walter for its careful assembly. When the new FIM formula becomes effective in 1970, it will be reduced to the maximum allowable six ratios without charge, provided the engine is returned to the Villa workshop.
The Villa 125 technical layout is quite simple, featuring a slightly inclined, single-cylinder, water-cooled, rotating-disc two-stroke, with gear primary drive, and tachometer drive and multi-plate clutch on the left. The carburetor, with separate rubber-mounted float chamber, is on the right, as well as the rocker type gear change pedal. The simple, strong double cradle tubular frame weighs only 16.5 lb., including the pivoted arm. It is fitted with Marzocchi GP suspension, specially developed and adjusted for the 125 Villa. At the moment, the front brake is a fourcam Fontana, but soon the brothers Villa will fit a 200by 35-mm twin-cam of their own manufacture, like the single-cam components already gracing the rear wheel. Both these new brakes also will be sold separately, because there is little on the market for racing lightweights. Tires are 2.50-18 front and 2.75-18 rear; weight in running order is a mere 174 lb.
The scrambles and trials models feature orthodox, air-cooled two-stroke engines which so far have proved the best for rough going. The 50-cc unit delivers 8.5 bhp at 9500 rpm in the trials version, and 9 bhp at 10,000 rpm in the scrambles version. Both have flywheel magneto ignition and four-speed gearboxes, but more ratios are to come. Also fitted are 2.50-19 front and
3.0017 rear tires; Marzocchi competition suspension with adjustable rear shock absorbers; a sturdy double cradle frame; and fiberglass tank. Weight of 132 lb. is another notable feature.
The larger models have bore and stroke of 60.2 by 60 mm for 173.5 cc and 72.5 by 60 mm for 248.5 cc. Compression ratio is 12:1 for both. Horsepower figures are 28 bhp at 9000 rpm and 35 at 8000. The Villas employ 32-mm and 35-mm Amal concentric carburetors, double cradle tubular frames, 3.50-19 (or -21) front and
4.0018 rear tires. Weight is 198 lb. for the 175 and 103 lb. for the 250. As these models use the same crankcase as the 125 racer, there is the same inner parts layout, with the difference that ignition is by flywheel magneto, at the crankshaft right end. The gearbox has four ratios for the scrambles models and five for the trials models.
MORE FOURS
While a factory spokesman recently has denied strong rumors circulating in Italy that MV will introduce a large revised version of the 600 Four, something on the lines of the Honda 750 Four, it is understood from reliable sources that both Aermacchi and Laverda are preparing something new in the large displacement field. Incidentally, Laverda has completed careful, detail improvement for its 750 Twin for 1969. This machine now features even better Ceriani front and rear suspension, front fork, gaiters, a light clutch operating mechanism, and a reinforced crankcase. The latter modification was made to meet the increased performances obtainable with the already announced speed kit.
