Moto Guzzi Magni
Arturo’s own
In issue 67 we brought you the feature story on the Magni MB2 BMW, the fully-fared version of the boxer twin of which only around 100 were built. That rare machine was imported to Australia by Old Gold Motorcycles in Sydney, but it’s not the only Magni to pass through their hands.
Around four years ago, Bruce Hollow was at Sydney Motor Sports Park taking in the sights of the annual Festival of Speed when he spied a sandwich board sitting outside the pit garage occupied by Steve Leembruggen, boss of Old Gold Motorcycles and a keen Historic racer himself. The board contained photos of bikes currently on offer, plus shots of a few that were being prepared for shipment from Japan. The one that really caught Bruce’s eye was a vivid yellow Magni Moto Guzzi, so he thought about it overnight before talking to Steve the next day. “We just discussed the price and when it would be in Sydney, shook hands and the deal was done”, says Bruce. “Steve was great to deal with, I was happy with the price and everyone said ‘You got a bargain’. In the eighties, there was plenty of money around in Japan and Magni sold quite a few bikes there. I have seen videos of gatherings of social rides from the period with several Magnis in the shots, so there certainly were a few in Japan.” Arturo Magni himself is one of the truly legendary figures in European motorcycling. Born almost
within sight of the famous Monza circuit in Milan, Arturo gained a position in the Gilera race team as a mechanic, working under Ing. Piero Remor, who was in charge of the 500cc 4-cylinder Gileras that would go on to take six championships in the thenpremier 500cc Grand Prix category. When Remor was poached by the rival MV Agusta firm at the end of 1949, Arturo went with him as a mechanic for their new Grand Prix team, for which Remor designed a 500cc four which was rather similar to the Gilera. By 1959 Arturo had risen to become head of the MV racing department, spearheading the company’s competition efforts that would gather a swathe of World Championships in all solo classes from 125cc to 500cc. Arturo remained at MV Agusta until the very end. The Magni brand came about in 1977 basically as a result of the demise of MV Agusta as a producer of motorcycles. MV had been heading in this direction ever since the death of the autocratic Count Domenico Agusta in 1971; the new management folding the illustrious race team, of which Arturo Magni had been such an integral part for decades, at the end of the 1975 season. Magni decided he was too young to retire and set up his own show in Varese with his sons Carlo and Giovanni. Carlo was already in business, making his own magnesium alloy wheels under the EPM brand (Elaborazioni Progettazioni Motociclistiche), and these became standard equipment on much of the new Magni range. At first the business provided bolt-on accessories for existing MVs, but in 1979, a brand new purpose-built chassis was created to take the four-cylinder MV engines. But inevitably, the supply of these engines quickly began to dry up, and, having established a strong demand for his products, Arturo began to look elsewhere for power units. The first of these new models was the Magni Honda MH-1, which was powered by Honda’s 900cc DOHC 4-valve CB900 (Bol d’Or) engine, housed in a modified version of the frame developed for the MV Agusta 4. This continued with the bolted-up and removable front frame down-tubes and cradle, and most were supplied with the standard Honda forks and Comstar alloy wheels. The concept was progressively developed into the MH-2, using the same engine but with EPM wheels, Ceriani front forks, Brembo brakes and restyled bodywork. But again the engine supply became difficult, with Honda moving towards the water-cooled V4s, so after a short dalliance with Suzuki engines, Magni bowed to requests to embrace BMW power, the result being the MB-2. This was well received by enthusiasts in Europe and elsewhere (such as Japan) and led to the idea of more twin cylinder Magnis – the obvious choice for a power unit being from near neighbour Moto Guzzi. It was the beginning of an enduring relationship that began with the two-valve 850 engines in the Magni Le Mans and went on to include the later big bore 1000cc and 1100cc four-valvers. A notable feature of the Moto Guzzi-engined Magnis was its patented “Parallelogrammo” rear end, which was designed to counter the trait peculiar to shaft drive motorcycles of locking up the rear suspension under acceleration, among other things. This system actually had its origins in the rear suspension on the original 500cc MV Agusta Grand Prix racer of 1950 which used shaft drive for two the 1950 and 1951 seasons, as well as the R19 – the 1950 500cc four cylinder road bike that failed to reach series production. On the MV Agustas, the twin rear forks pivoted one above the other, immediately behind the gearbox. The rear ends of the forks on each side were linked by a small plate
A notable feature of the Moto Guzzi-engined Magnis was its patented “Parallelogrammo” rear end, which was designed to counter the trait peculiar to shaft drive motorcycles of locking up the rear suspension under acceleration, among other things.
that carried the rear axle. In the Italian fashion of the day, the movement was controlled by a vertical spring and friction dampers. The Le Mans was a sales success and was followed in 1987 by the Arturo 1000 and the Classico 1000. Both these followed the traditional styling of the Le Mans with a circular headlight set in a bikini style quarter fairing. The styling certainly appealed to the Japanese, who became the Varese company’s principle export market. In 1989 the Sfida (Challenger) 1000 appeared, further refining the design, and continuing the healthy sales. The Sfida grew to an 1100 by 1995, the first Magni to employ fuel injection. The Magni-Guzzi marriage reached its culmination with the impressive and now highly collectable Magni Australia model – a tribute to the long-time local importer Ted Stolarski from Perth who died in 1994. The Australian used the Daytona engine and transmission in Magni’s frame, which was changed from the twin rear shock design used in the earlier Sfida to a single shock set up with a White Power shock absorber, still employing the Parallelogram system for the swinging arm. Stolarski commissioned Magni to build two bikes for the new BEARS (British, European, American Racing Series) with modified Daytona engines and Magni frames in Australasian racing and at Daytona in USA (painted in patriotic green and yellow with a ‘boxing kangaroo’ on the fairing) with Owen Coles in the saddle in the late 1980s. Magni’s Australia model first appeared in 1993 in 2-valve form. After 75 of these were built, a 4-valve version came on stream in 1998, developing a reputed 102 horsepower and fitted with Weber Marelli fuel ignition. Titled the Australia 98, the frame’s head angle was brought back to 24 degrees and 50 examples were produced. Altogether, around 700 Moto-Guzzi engined Magnis were produced, the bumper years being in 1990 and 1991. Even more could have been built – there was certainly no shortage of willing customers – but the engines were never available in sufficient quantities, or within the promised time frame, while Moto Guzzi was under the ownership of De Tomaso. As the ‘nineties dawned, Arturo began to scale back his involvement in the company, while son Carlo left to pursue other business interests,
leaving Giovanni to run the Magni concern. The Magni company is still in operation and still with Giovanni at the helm, although these days more concerned with restoring existing examples than building new ones. The final production Magni appeared in 1999, fitted with a 1200cc Suzuki Bandit engine. Arturo died on 2nd December, 2015 at the age of 90. Bruce’s Magni is of 1987 vintage with a 949cc two-valve engine in a frame made from chrome moly tubing and featuring ‘Parallelogrammo’ rear suspension which employs two parallel box-section arms which pivot below the triangular intersection of the middle frame tubes, as on Tonti’s original. The aim is to reduce the torque reaction from the in-line crankshaft working with the final drive shaft which is no longer part of the swinging arm itself and incorporates U-joints at each end to reduce binding impeding suspension movement, and according to the bike’s owner, it works. Dimensionally, the frame is similar to the Tonti design, but split in the standard Magni practice just below the steering head instead of on the bottom frame rails – meaning the complete duplex cradle can be removed. The majority of the chassis is in conventional 32mm round tubing, argon arc welded, but the rear sub frame leading to the tops of the suspension units uses flattened tubing to produce an oval section.
After getting quite excited about his latest Moto Guzzi, Bruce had to cool his heels for a while. “There were some delays in getting the bike”, he says, “and when the bike arrived it had no seat, and was fitted with Jingushi mufflers, made in
Japan and super quiet and very eighties style. The mufflers that are on it now are just a standard type that look OK until I can get something better. The problem is that the exhaust pipes themselves are really big diameter, about 52 mm, and nothing I could get here would fit. I am having some especially made by Armours in UK at the moment in stainless steel in a sort of Norton Peashooter style. Hopefully these will be a better fit and stop it popping on the overrun, because there’s not a lot of sealing in the ones that are on it. The standard shocks that go on these look like La Franconi to me from the pictures I have seen. It came with Ohlins rear shocks but they were very old so I put on a pair of IKONs that I had.” As mentioned, the Magni came seat-less, so the job of creating one was entrusted to MJM Custom Seats in Goulburn, NSW, and a nice job it is too. Bruce also has a single seat from the same source which he plans to fit in the future. “When we went to the Victorian Guzzi Rally we went across country through western NSW, and out on the open road, the quicker you go the better it feels. Tucked in behind the fairing it was just great. It’s not a city bike. The engine is from a Mk4 Le Mans, still a 2-valve before they went to 4 valves.” Up front sit 40mm Forcella forks – an unusual design with anti-dive valving cast into the aluminium sliders. Bruce is not convinced that the forks are operating at peak efficiency, and says he will probably get a suspension expert like Terry Hay to set it up correctly. The front end uses the original 28 degree fork angle with Magni’s own milled aluminium fork yokes. Conventional (for the period) Brembo brakes are used at both ends, which Bruce says are ‘adequate’. With its ‘bikini’ fairing, the vivid yellow Arturo looks very much a product of the ‘eighties, and like the fully naked version, the Classic 1000, was offered with a choice of spoked or cast alloy EPM wheels. For now, the Arturo shares its garage with a pair of fellow Mandello models, a 500cc Nuovo Falcone single, and a California, which Bruce says he is “still too young to ride”. It’s certainly a head turner, and when the last few remaining parts are fitted and the front suspension sorted out, it will be a highly functional one as well.