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Bianchi was a brand of Italian motorcycle made from 1897 to 1967 by F.I.V. Edoardo Bianchi S.p.A. The company also produced automobiles from 1900 to 1939, and today is a major Italian bicycle manufacturer. Edoardo Bianchi started his bicycle manufacturing business in a small shop on Milan's Via Nirone in 1885. Bianchi was a prominent name in the motorcycle racing world from 1925 to 1930. [1]
Edoardo Bianchi was an Italian motorcycling pioneer who began by building bicycles in 1885. He built a motorised bicycle in 1897, and a car in 1900. In 1903 he fitted engines in the centre of strengthened bicycle frames, and by 1905 also fitted Truffault leading link forks. In 1910 Bianchi built a 498 cc single that was very successful and established the Bianchi motorcycle name. [1]
In 1916 a 650 cc V-twin was made, which was enlarged to 741 cc in 1920. In 1921 a smaller 598 cc V-twin, and a new 498 cc single with all chain drive was released. There was a 348 cc side valve single for 1923, and V-twins of 498 cc and 598 cc. In 1924 a 173 cc overhead valve single was added to the range. [1]
In 1925 a 348 cc overhead valve (OHV) single was introduced. There was also a 348 cc dual overhead cam (DOHC) works racer, designed by Albino Baldi, Bianchi chief engineer, and these were the most successful Italian racing bikes for the next five years. During this time the bike was ridden by such riders as Tazio Nuvolari, Amilcare Moretti, Mario Ghersi, Karl Kodric, Gino Zanchetta and Luigi Arcangeli. [1]
In the 1930s Baldi designed a 498cc ohc single racing bike, which was ridden by such riders as Giordano Aldrighetti, Aldo Pigarini, Terzo Bandini, Dorino Serafini, Guido Cerato and Alberto Ascari. [1] In 1938 a supercharged four cylinder 498 cc DOHC racer was built, but was never fully developed. [1]
| Year | Champion | Motorcycle |
|---|---|---|
| 1925 |  Tazio Nuvolari | |
After World War II Bianchi produced 123 cc and 248 cc ohc single racers, and in the late 1950s released new 248 cc and 348 cc dohc twins, designed by Colombo and Lino Tonti. A few 348 cc engines were over-bored to 498 cc to produce works versions for the 500 cc class races.[ clarify ] [1] In 1946 Edoardo died, and control of the firm passed to his son Giuseppe.
Bianchi production motorcycles included 49cc models, the 75 Gardena, 122 and 173cc two strokes, the 4-stroke 125cc Bianchi Bernina LV, and the Bianchi Tonale, a 173 cc chain driven ohc single. Some 49 cc two stroke engines were built under licence from Puch, and fitted into the innovative Falco, one or two seat moped. This sprightly ride featured a one-piece pressed girder frame and three speed gearbox operated via the left hand twist grip/clutch lever. [1] In 1961, Bob McIntyre rode a Bianchi 350 cc in the Motorcycle Grand Prix World Championships. Motorcycle production ceased in 1967, when all rights passed to Innocenti. [1] Small mopeds made by Bianchi were imported by American retailer Montgomery Ward and sold via catalog under the Riverside captive import brand.
A. J. Stevens & Co. Ltd was a British automobile and motorcycle manufacturer in operation from 1909 to 1931. The company was founded by Joe Stevens in Wolverhampton, England. After the firm was sold, the name continued to be used by Matchless, Associated Motorcycles and Norton-Villiers on four-stroke motorcycles until 1969, and since the name's resale in 1974, on lightweight, two-stroke scramblers and today on small-capacity roadsters and cruisers. The company held 117 motorcycle world records.
An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a type of piston engine in which the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion chamber in the engine block.
A motorcycle engine is an engine that powers a motorcycle. Motorcycle engines are typically two-stroke or four-stroke internal combustion engines, but other engine types, such as Wankels and electric motors, have been used.
The Cotton Motor Company, was a British motorcycle manufacturer of 11a Bristol Road, Gloucester, and was founded by Frank Willoughby Cotton in 1918. F.W. presided over the company until his retirement in 1953. The company was reconstituted as E. Cotton (Motorcycles) Ltd, and traded until 1980. The marque was later resurrected in the late 1990s by a business which manufactured replicas of earlier machines.
The Ducati singles were single cylinder motorcycles, made by Ducati from 1950 to 1974. Chief Engineer Fabio Taglioni developed a desmodromic valve system in these years, a system that opens and closes the valves using the camshaft, without the need for valve springs. This valve system has become a trademark feature of Ducati motorcycles.
The L-twin is a naturally aspirated two-cylinder petrol engine by Ducati. It uses a 90-degree layout and 270-degree firing order and is mounted with one cylinder horizontal.
The Ducati Pantah is an Italian motorcycle with a 90° V-twin engine, produced between 1980 and 1986.
Motosacoche was founded in 1899, by Henri and Armand Dufaux, in Geneva, Switzerland. Motosacoche was once the biggest Swiss motorcycle manufacturer, known also for its MAG engines, used by other European motorcycle manufacturers.
Rex, Rex Motorcycles, Rex-Acme, was a car and motorcycle company which began in Birmingham, England in 1900. Rex soon merged with a Coventry maker of bicycles and cars named Allard and then later in 1922 the company merged with Coventry's 'Acme' motorcycle company forming 'Rex Acme'. The company existed until 1933, and, in its heyday, was considered one of the greatest names in the British motorcycle industry.
FN is a Belgian company established in 1889 to make arms and ammunition, and from 1901 to 1967 was also a motorcycle manufacturer. FN manufactured one of the world's first four-cylinder motorcycles, was famous for the use of shaft drive in all models from 1903 to 1923, achieved success in sprint and long-distance motorcycle racing, and after 1945, also in motocross.
The 50 cc class was the ultra-lightweight class in Grand Prix motorcycle racing, and formed part of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) World Championships from 1962 until 1983; when the class was replaced by 80 cc.
Victoria was a bicycle manufacturer in Nürnberg, Germany that made motorcycles from about 1901 until 1966. It should not be confused with a lesser-known, unrelated Victoria Motorcycle Company in Glasgow, Scotland that made motorcycles between 1902 and 1928.
The Norton International or Cammy Norton is a Norton Motors Ltd overhead cam (OHC) motorcycle built between 1931 and 1957.
BSA motorcycles were made by the Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited (BSA), which was a major British industrial combine, a group of businesses manufacturing military and sporting firearms; bicycles; motorcycles; cars; buses and bodies; steel; iron castings; hand, power, and machine tools; coal cleaning and handling plants; sintered metals; and hard chrome process.
Bridgestone motorcycles were a division of the Bridgestone Tire Co. of Kyōbashi, Tokyo, Japan that produced mopeds and motorcycles from 1952 to 1970. Initially producing power assisted bicycles, the division moved on to producing mopeds and then motorcycles. The motorcycles were technologically advanced and powered by two-stroke engines. The high technical specification resulted in the machines being more expensive compared to other manufacturers models. Production was stopped in 1970 to protect the supply of tyres to other manufacturers.
The Ducati 350 Mark 3 is a 340 cc (21 cu in) single cylinder bevel drive SOHC motorcycle produced by the Italian manufacturer Ducati from 1968 to 1974. It was one of the first 'wide case' Ducati singles produced. A higher performance version, the Ducati 350 Mark 3D, which used desmodromic valves was also available.
The Ducati Diana, known as the Ducati Daytona in the UK, is a 249 cc (15.2 cu in) single cylinder bevel drive SOHC motorcycle produced by the Italian manufacturer Ducati from 1961 to 1964. It was the sports version of Ducati's first 250 cc road bike. It was replaced in 1962 by the higher performance Ducati Diana Mark 3 in the US and by the Ducati Mach 1 in Europe in September 1964.
The Ducati Diana Mark 3, also known as the Ducati Diana SuperSport and commonly referred to as the Ducati Mark 3, is a 249 cc (15.2 cu in) single cylinder bevel drive SOHC motorcycle produced by the Italian manufacturer Ducati from 1962 to 1966. It was a higher performance version of the Ducati Diana and sold to the American market only. In 1963, Cycle World described it as "the fastest, and nearly the smoothest, standard motorcycle in the 250cc class". It was replaced in 1967 by the Ducati 250 Mark 3.
The Laverda 350/500 is a series of 345 cc (21.1 cu in) and 497 cc (30.3 cu in) air cooled DOHC 4 stroke parallel twin motorcycles produced by the Italian manufacturer Laverda from 1977 to 1983. The engine was used as the basis of future 650, 650, 668 and 750 cc models. Around 5,000 of these models were produced in total.
