INSIDE THE POGGI COLLECTION
The focus is on Yamaha, but there is much else beside. To Bologna…
RACE FIT
What a line-up: Garry Mccoy’s 2002 YZR500; Olivier Jaques’ 2002 YZR500; Carlos Checa’s 2003 YZR-M1; Valentino Rossi’s Assen 2007 YZR-M1 and Norick Abe’s 2002 YZR500. The 2002 YZR/OWL9 was the final 500 GP bike from Yamaha so these examples are particularly noteworthy. Likewise the YZR-M1 was the company’s first 990cc Motogp bike. The ’03 version had an improved chassis and engine management control. The M1 had over 200hp compared with the 500’s 180. 68
GILERA’S 500/4
The post-war, unsupercharged Gilera 500/4 appeared in 1948 and was designed by Pietro Remor before he moved to MV Agusta. It won the Rider’s Championship in 1950, ’52, ’53, ’54, ’55 and ’57. In 1963 the original ’57 bikes were campaigned by the Scuderia Duke team, ridden by Phil Read and others, with limited success. Behind is a Gilera Piuma 500 single.
HALL BY HALL
The Poggi collection has, apart from hundreds of other bikes, the largest collection of Yamahas in Europe. Some 50 odd racing models are on display in Hall 1 including factory YZR500S and YZR M1s. Hall 2 holds many pre-war competition bikes including DKW, Mondial and MV Agusta. Hall 3 displays more post war machines from Rumi, CM, Montesa and Yamaha. Hall 4 curates an impressive line up of Yamaha WSBK machinery plus temporary exhibits. An additional room holds the Minarelli family’s collection.
ANGEL NIETO’S MINARELLI
This is Angel Nieto’s 1981 125cc title winning Minarelli twin. Nieto also won the ’79 title on an earlier version, then with Minarelli passing the design onto Garelli for the 1982 season he won in ’82, ’83 and ’84 on the basically unchanged machine. With only small changes Fausto Gresini then took the title in ’85 and ’86 and Luca Cadalora in ’87. The Constructor’s trophy and certificate accompany the bike.
MIXED RACE
This DKW 125 RM is part German and part Italian. The Italian importer of DKW from 1925 to 1959 was Cav. Bruno Cavani, based in Bologna. His company campaigned many DKWS and in 1956 a 125 RM motor was sent to him. The 125 had finished 4th and 5th at Monza the year before. A chassis based on the 350 RM was constructed but using smaller diameter tubing. Output was 17bhp at 9700rpm and the top speed (with dustbin fairing) was up at 110mph.
ALL THE SMALL THINGS
Hall 2 includes a mezzanine floor that displays about 50 micro motors (under 50cc) from a wide range of manufactures that includes: Atala; Benelli; Ceccato; Cimatti; DEMM; DKW; Ducati; Garelli; Grillo; JLO; Ibis; Imex; Itom; Malanca; Morini; Mondial; MV Agusta; Tomos and Zurcher. A real ‘A to Z’ of this class of motorcycle that was so important in Italy. The Garelli Mosquito for instance was the most successful of the post war ‘clip on’ motors, designed to be attached to a normal pushbike.
FRANKIE CHILI
Pierfrancesco ‘Frankie’ Chili poses with his first racing motorcycle, a Malanca he rode in 1982, during the set up of a special exhibition celebrating his 24 year racing career. The 4th Hall is used for such special events, including being the control point for historic races passing through Bologna. Other events have included go carts and Motogp art exhibitions.
HAGA’S YZF R7
Back in Hall 4 again and this time it’s Noriyouki Haga’s 2000 YZF-R7 OW-02 heading up the row. After a problematic debut of the new design in 1999, Haga had a much more successful time the following year, finishing 2nd to Colin Edwards, with four wins. 2000 was also the R7’s last year as Yamaha withdrew from WSBK at the end of the season.
‘Up on the first floor is a special room housing ten of the Minarelli family’s competition bikes’
50CC LGM
Paolo Marcheselli was working in administration at the University of Modena in 1973 when he began a business in his spare time manufacturing 6-speed gearboxes for privateer Yamaha race bikes (which had 5-speeds). Team Moto LGM was established in Milan with the 6-speed systems swapped for a Yamaha 125 engine and a few boxes of spare parts. Paolo then made the frame etc. In 1975 a disc-valve 50cc engine was introduced. It placed 2nd in the Italian championship with a rider who missed the first races. This ’77 version was the first to use a monocoque chassis.
‘From the 1959 Clubman Racer to the final 500 GP bikes and then YZR M1s in 990 and 800cc flavours…’
FOR THE FULL EFFECT
The full extent of the racing Yamahas in the collection can be seen here. From the company’s first – the 1959 Clubman Racer through a wide selection of air-cooled TD, then water-cooled TZ models, up to the final 500 GP bikes and then YZR-M1S in 990 and 800cc flavours. Mezzanine floor houses amazing collection of 21st century Yamaha 500cc and Motogp bikes.
CARLOS LAVADO’S YZR
Carlos Lavado used two YZR250/OW82S to win the 1986 championship. One without power-valves for dry races, the second (seen here) with power-valves for wet conditions. The OW82 was basically half a OW81 500cc V-4 with the same 60º cylinder angle and the frame structure stressed cooling efficiency. The bike weighed under 100kg and made 75bhp.
UNDER THE SKIN OF…
This 2002 YZR500/OWL9 was the 28th and final version of Yamaha’s 500cc series that began in 1973. This is one of Olivier Jacque’s bikes. Compared with the previous year’s model the motor was moved further forward and higher in the frame and a lighter swingarm was used.
NERIO PANCALDI
Nerio Pancaldi’s story began in 1963 when, as a young man, he began to fabricate a 50cc racing motor for a friend in his spare time – during the day Nerio worked in a banking job. Since then he has modified many old Italian small capacity bikes as well as constructing his own designs. This 75cc single features a 2-valve DOHC desmo head driven by a cascade of gears and a 6-speed gearbox. Among the other 11 other ‘Pancaldi’ bikes on display at Poggi are a water-cooled 125cc gear-driven DOHC parallel twin and another fascinating desmo conversion.
THE MINARELLI ROOM
Up on the first floor is a special room housing ten of the Minarelli family’s competition bikes and dozens of production and prototype motors. The no.3 streamliner set five 175cc world records in 1971 and two more in 1975. The no.1 bike set two 100cc records in 1971 and two in 1973. One prototype motor on display is a 4-stroke 1954 DOHC 175cc unit.
DKW URE
DKW 175cc URE Record set 21 world speed records in 1935. The motor is a splitsingle with a third, large supercharging piston operating at 90º facing forward. The advantage of this system was that the compressed intake mixture could be fed into the intake cylinder after the exhaust piston had closed the exhaust ports.
TWIN ENGINED
For 1969 the Villa brothers built this 250/4, which was basically two of their 125 twins mounted side by side. The air-cooled disc-valve design made 48hp at 11,500rpm. It was debuted at the Nations GP at Imola but was never raced due to the two cylinder limit coming into force for the 1970 season. nd
SUPERCHARGED
The first of DKW’S racing 2-strokes were the 1928 175cc ARE and 250cc ORE singles. They employed a second piston (facing downwards) to ‘supercharge’ the intake mixture (actually to dynamically reduce the volume of the crankcase as the inlet port is opened). This is a 1933 250cc.
YAMAHA’S FIRST…
Yamaha’s first production road racer was the 1959 250cc Clubman Racer (which came to be known as the YDS1R in the ’70s but was never called that by the factory). It evolved into the TD, then TZ racers.