Miscellaneous Cool Italian Bikes

[fastwin]

He's not old enough to remember that one. Lucky stiff!

[ducatiz]

except for that one time 

and then that other time:

[1KDS]

and then that other time:

The Apollo was still only two wide, I think a m said two wide because of this and/or the d16

[Travman]

and that's why i like ducati.  two across is the widest they go.

except for that one time  

When I read this the first time I thought you were making some kind of sexual innuendo joke along the lines of "that's what she said".

[ducatiz]

The Apollo was still only two wide, I think a m said two wide because of this and/or the d16

The cylinders are offset, same width as a parallel twin were one cylinder rotated upward. 

[junior varsity]

yeah, i meant to include v-4's. the apollo and the desmo.

[ducatiz]

yeah, i meant to include v-4's. the apollo and the desmo.

the apollo was such an abortion.  part of me is glad they never got it right and sold them. 

[junior varsity]

we got this phil aynsley book at work that has some really nice pictures of it, also has the ducati boat motors and the forgotten F1 project ducati V8.

[Blue]

Very Nice!

Here is a period review of the bike:

[The Mad King Pepe']

Moto Guzzi.  Anybody know the history?

Guzzi Quattro Cilindri (lit. 4 cylinders).

Moto Guzzi 4 cylinder racer

This page has a bit of info (in French) and lots of photos.

Some more info from this forum (in Italian). As part of their drive to make the bike as aerodynamic as possible, Guzzi decided to drop carbs in favor of indirect mechanical fuel injection (back in 1953!!!).

From these photos, it appears there was also a single cylinder 350cc (later 500cc) bike with a similar (beaked) fairing.

Although I love many of the current and recent bikes Guzzi has made, it saddens me when companies that used to be such innovators end up repeating the same old design. The expression "polished turd" comes to mind.

[ducatiz]

Although I love many of the current and recent bikes Guzzi has made, it saddens me when companies that used to be such innovators end up repeating the same old design. The expression "polished turd" comes to mind.

[zarn02]

^

Well yeah... sometimes the price of doing things differently is that they don't work as well.

But I do agree that it would be neat to see companies throwing out a greater variety of ideas. Though I don't know if you can really say whether current racing governing bodies rules have stifled innovation, they certainly redirect it to different areas. It's been a while since you've seen anybody say "make the beast with two backs it, we'll just add another cylinder or two, and while we're in there make 'em ovals!"

[Raux]

^

Well yeah... sometimes the price of doing things differently is that they don't work as well.

But I do agree that it would be neat to see companies throwing out a greater variety of ideas. Though I don't know if you can really say whether current racing governing bodies rules have stifled innovation, they certainly redirect it to different areas. It's been a while since you've seen anybody say "make the beast with two backs it, we'll just add another cylinder or two, and while we're in there make 'em ovals!"

ooo oval pistons with 2 con rods each

[The Mad King Pepe']

1991 Gilera CX - 125cc 2stroke - single sided swingarms both front and back

Apparently only 500 were made and only 200 of those still survive today. I still wish I could have bought one.

[Speeddog]

Thanks for posting that. 

That bike looks great from the left side.
I remember back to when those came out, I was so disappointed to see the other side.