Quick Ride

QUICK RIDE

ROUNDUP

MAGNI CLASSIC A new, old-world motorcycle

ARTURO MAGNI. ARCHITECT of world championship roadrace titles for MV Agusta during his 25-year reign as that team's manager and chief mechanic, has carved out a niche as builder of what is generally accepted to be the finest aftermarket chassis kit available for the Moto Guzzi V-Twin motor.

Though MV racers and Guzzi roadbikes would seem to represent opposite poles of the technical sphere. they do have one important thing in common: Both have shaft drive, with all its benefits and prob lems. Magni resolved those prob lems by producing a parallelogram rear end instead of a conventional swingarm. The source of this in spiration was his 1950 prototype 500cc four-cylinder M.V streetbike, which featured an identical rear-end design. In their small factory at Samarate. Italy, Magni and his son, Giovanni, proved the viability of this idea by applying it to their repli racer-like Magni Guzzi. But Magni ran into some customer resistance to that bike's very modern styling, so he has countered those sentiments with the Magni Guzzi Classic, a traditional café racer with styling based unashamedly on MV racers of the 5Os.

A quick spin on one of the bikes confirmed not only the effectiveness of the parallelogram rear end, but also the superb handling over smooth surfaces of the Magni chassis. This is based upon a duplex frame made from 32mm chromemoly tubing and modeled after that of the works MV Agusta racers, in turn derived from the legendary Norton Featherbed frame. The way the Magni tracks through fast corners is a testament to its heritage, as well as to the essentially conservative steering geometry, with a 59.4-inch wheelbase, 4.7 inches of trail and a 28-degree steering-head angle. And if you shut the throttle in the middle of a corner the parallelogram rear end eliminates the pogostick effect you would otherwise get from a shafty. Gear changing is smoother, too, though the bike is a handful over rough roads and it doesn’t much like meeting a bump when cranked over in a fast turn.

Braking is excellent, thanks to twin, cast-iron Brembos up front, though the rear disc is best ignored if you don’t want to get the rear end hopping under hard braking.

Magni is supplied with engine units direct from Guzzi and he installs them into the chassis as received, but with his own exhaust pipes and carburetor jetting. In this form, the Classic retails in Italy for about $7500.

The Magni Guzzi Classic is effectively a styling exercise, a satisfying combination of old and new in which the engine plays a key part in the bike’s visceral appeal. But more than anything else, this is a real motorcycle.

Alan Cathcart