Moto Guzzi Fraire Stornello
Known as the ‘Italian Rickman,’ Michele Fraire made his name – and that of others – by making serious motocrossers from standard road machines; this just might be one of them.
It wasn’t until the mid-1960s that motocross really started to gain traction in Italy. The area often credited with being the centre of it all was Piedmont: a largely rural, hilly region bordering France and Switzerland at the foot of the Alps, it provided the ideal terrain for off-roading.
It wasn’t purely the landscape that made Piedmont such a motocross hub, rather it was the area in which the most competitive machines were produced. Piedmont also wasn’t – as you might assume – a buzzing motorcycle manufacturing hub though.
At the time, there was a distinct lack of purposemade off-road machines coming out of the Italian factories, which left aspiring riders needing to modify road bikes to fit their purpose. As competition on the dirt increased, so did the need for better conversions. Realising their own limitations, riders began turning to engineers and mechanics to adapt machines for them; it just so happened that the most skilled and sought after were Piedmontese.
One of these men was Michele Fraire, who ran a Moto Guzzi dealership in the medieval town of Saluzzo.
Fraire started his working life in 1947, at the age of 12, in a motorcycle workshop. By the early 1950s, the young man had started his own business and in a short time became a Moto Guzzi franchise dealer.
Alongside his talent with the tools, Fraire was a keen rider and decided to try his hand at motocross. He set about preparing one of his own bikes, a four-speed 125cc Moto Guzzi Stornello Sport, in his spare time, for the 175cc class of the Regional Championships.
Iteration 1.0
The modifications were substantial. A larger cylinder liner and 68.1mm piston were fitted, and the stroke increased by 4mm – by misaligning the axis of the connecting rod – raising engine capacity to 174cc. The combustion chamber was also enlarged from 52 to 62mm, and the valve seats removed and new versions remade in cast iron by Fraire himself. Longer valves and springs were also made – by an engineering firm nearby – and Fraire worked several original camshafts himself until he got one to suit his needs.
The pushrods were ‘shortened’, by inserting bronze bushings into the crankcase, in order for smaller, lighter tappets from a Gilera 200 to be used; thus reducing the problems of reciprocating motion from the standard, heavier versions.
Fraire cut and welded the manifold to turn inwards and upwards, keeping the chosen Dell’Orto UB 24 BS2 carburettor out of the way of the rider’s leg. Inside the manifold was mirror polished, as was the inlet in the head. The exhaust also endured some significant cutting and shaping, to run higher up and inside the frame.
A new, lighter and slimmer aluminum flywheel was sourced and Fraire machined the clutch to accept two extra plates; the work also made the whole primary transmission around 50% narrower. The clutch actuation lever was swapped for one from a Guzzi Ercole three-wheeler, for a more direct pull.
A higher first gear cog was fitted – again, machined specifically for the job – to reduce the big jump in ratios between first and second.
A real frame-up
Obviously, the Stornello’s frame would need some serious strengthening, and the eagle-eyed among you may be able to spot additional, flat sections of steel welded along most sections – though Fraire adapted the original frame for his first model, later iterations used full double cradles built bespoke by Fraire (apparently inspired by Rickman designs), and designed to carry the engine 4cm lower, dropping the centre of gravity.
The swinging arm was also braced, and lengthened by around two centimetres, for additional stability. Additional strengthening was also around the shock absorber mounts too. The Stornello’s seat rails also fell foul of the grinder; shortened and modified to accept a single seat and mudguard.
Speaking of which, Fraire’s first model used glass fibre mudguards. To get the shape he wanted, he apparently cut up a set of Lambretta LD guards and those from a Moto Guzzi Dingo, and used these as the moulds.
Underneath the front guard sat a pair of Ceriani forks, with each tube machined to a slightly wider inside diameter and the springs shimmed until Fraire was
“Alongside his talent with the tools, Fraire was a keen rider and decided to try his hand at motocross.”