A V-twin engine, also called a V2 engine, is a two-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration.
Aprilia is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer founded immediately after World War II in Noale, Italy by Alberto Beggio. The company started as a manufacturer of bicycles and moved on to manufacture scooters and small-capacity motorcycles. In more recent times Aprilia has produced large sportbikes such as the 1,000 cc V-twin RSV Mille and the V4 RSV4.
Moto Guzzi is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer and the oldest European manufacturer in continuous motorcycle production.
A café racer is a genre of sport motorcycles that originated among British motorcycle enthusiasts of the early 1960s in London. Café racers were standard production bikes that were modified by their owners and optimized for speed and handling for quick rides over short distances. Café racers have since become popular around the world, and some manufacturers produce factory-made models that are available in the showrooms.
MotoCzysz was an American motorcycle company based in Portland, Oregon that intended to compete in MotoGP. The C1 prototype engine was designed with perfect balance not needing a balance shaft. Some of the patented innovations included a slipper clutch with twin clutches, and a unique front suspension. The business also developed a successful electric racing motorcycle, the E1pc.
Miguel Galluzzi is an industrial designer specializing in motorcycle design. Galluzzi currently heads Piaggio's Advanced Design Center (PADC) in Pasadena, California, where he manages the design of the Aprilia, Moto Guzzi, Derbi and Gilera motorcycle brands, working closely with the company's styling headquarters in Italy as well as its research and development centers in China, India and Vietnam.
The 1964 Ducati Berliner 1260 Apollo was a prototype 1,257 cc (76.7 cu in) V4 engine motorcycle producing 100 bhp (75 kW) and capable of over 120 mph (190 km/h). It was never put into production, but did influence other production Ducatis that followed. Both Ducati and their United States distributor, Berliner Motor Corporation, were experiencing declining sales of existing small-capacity single-cylinder models, and sought to create a bike to compete with Harley-Davidson. Berliner Motor was keen to have a model that could win lucrative police motorcycle supply contracts, and that could also sell as a civilian touring bike.
The Moto Guzzi V8, or the Otto motorcycle was designed by Giulio Cesare Carcano specifically for the Moto Guzzi Grand Prix racing team for the 1955 to 1957 seasons. Though following the two-stroke Galbusera V8 of 1938, the Moto Guzzi Otto motorcycle and its engine represent a unique and historically significant engineering milestone.
Bill Lomas was an English Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He was a two-time World Champion and a two-time Isle of Man TT winner. He won the 1955 and 1956 350cc world championship as a member of the Moto Guzzi factory racing team. In the 1956 season, he rode the famous V8 Moto Guzzi Grand Prix race bike. Lomas was also an accomplished trials rider.
Richard H. Dale, known as Dickie Dale, was a Grand Prix motorcycle road racer born in Wyberton near Boston, Lincolnshire, England. In 1945 he was drafted into the RAF and served as a flight mechanic, and bought his first motorcycle, a 1939 AJS Silver Streak, while stationed at RAF Cranwell.
Arthur Frederick Wheeler was an English professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. Wheeler gained a reputation as one of the top privateer racers on the Grand Prix circuit.
Berliner Motor Corporation was the US distributor from the 1950s through the 1980s for several European motorcycle marques, including Ducati, J-Be, Matchless, Moto Guzzi, Norton, Sachs and Zündapp, as well as selling Metzeler tires. Berliner Motor was highly influential as the voice of the huge American market to the motorcycle companies they bought bikes from, and their suggestions, and sometimes forceful demands, guided many decisions in Europe as to which bikes to develop, produce, or discontinue.
Joe Berliner [...] a man endowed with great decision-making power in Borgo Panigale
Lino Tonti was an Italian motorcycle engineer known for designing a number of sport and racing motorcycles in the 1950s and 1960s, and for creating his signature 'Tonti frame' for Moto Guzzi's 1971 V7 Sport, setting his stamp on all Moto Guzzis since.
Motorcyclewheels are made to cope with radial and axial forces. They also provide a way of mounting other critical components such as the brakes, final drive and suspension. Wheels, and anything directly connected to them, are considered to be unsprung mass. Traditionally motorcycles used wire-spoked wheels with inner tubes and pneumatic tyres. Although cast wheels were first used on a motorcycle in 1927, it would not be until the 1970s that mainstream manufacturers would start to introduce cast wheels on their roadgoing motorcycles. Spoked wheels are usually made using steel spokes with steel or aluminium rims. Cast wheels are predominantly made from an aluminium-alloy, but can also be made from more-exotic materials, such as magnesium content alloy or carbon fibre.
A parts bin special is a vehicle constructed from all or mostly pre-designed parts. Often they are made to rapidly take advantage of an emerging market. Vehicles such as the Triumph Spitfire based largely on Triumph Herald parts, was produced, by Triumph, to take advantage of the early 1960s desire for small sports cars. The Ducati 350XL was produced by Ducati to quickly take advantage of a tax break. The Moto Guzzi 1000S is another example.
The MV Agusta 250 Monocilindrica Bialbero was a 250 cc factory racer manufactured by the Italian brand MV Agusta from 1956 to 1959. With this machine 15 GPs, 2 Driver Championships and 2 manufacturers World Championships were won.
The MV Agusta 203 Bialbero and MV Agusta 220 Bialbero were Italian factory racing motorcycles made by MV Agusta to compete in the 1955 250 cc World Motorcycle Racing Championship. The machine won three GPs and with it MV Agusta won that year's 250 cc Constructors Championship.
Magni is an Italian company that builds specialist motorcycles. The company is based in the city of Samarate in the province of Varese. Magni, in addition to building the bikes that bear its name, is also active in the construction of specials to order and a supplier of special parts for the restoration of MV Agusta classic motorcycles.
