A suitable candidate: the Moto Guzzi Stornello

The bike – or rather bikes – on which Michele Fraire based his off-road special was the Moto Guzzi Stornello (Starling).

It was designed by Giulio Cesare Carcano (the man responsible for Guzzi’s famous 500cc ‘Otto Cilindri’ V8 GP machine) as a response to, of all things, the Fiat 500; just like the Mini did in the UK, Fiat’s Cinquecento was taking a big bite out of the motorcycle market.

Budgets were tight, but Carcano still managed to give the Stornello a ‘proper’ motorcycle set-up. Specification started with a dual-downtube, open-cradle steel frame, with twin shock absorbers and swinging arm at the rear, and telescopic forks up front. It ran on full-size 17-inch wheels; brakes were single-leading-shoe front and rear running in 5¼in drums.

Power came from an ironbarrelled, 123cc, four-stroke single, which had two valves in its light alloy head. An 18mm Dell’Orto carburettor gave it fuel, a wet-sump provided the oil.

Output was around seven horsepower at 7200rpm and this drove through a four-speed transmission. Sparks and six-volt lighting were provided by a flywheel magneto.

The little Starling was sprightly with a claimed 63mph top speed, and was frugal too, returning around 100mpg.

In 1962, there was an 8.5 horsepower ‘Sport’ version, as shown, featuring a new cylinder head with revised valve angles in a hemispherical combustion chamber, centrifugal oil filter, higher compression and a larger 20mm Dell’Orto carb, and clip-on handlebars, a bum-stop seat and alloy rims.

A Regolarita off-road competition model was also introduced that year. It made even more power – 12bhp – and wore a high-level exhaust, braced highrise bars and a single seat.

A 160cc version came in 1968, but facing serious competition from more modern and more powerful Japanese competitors, it was revised again with more power and a five-speed transmission. It would continue in this form until Moto Guzzi’s acquisition by Alejandro de Tomaso in 1973.