ADRIATIC CLASSICS
Rimini’s Museo Nazionale del Motociclo, well worth a look
The Museo Nazionale del Motociclo, when it welcomed its first visitors in 1993, was the first Italian motorcycle museum open to the public. It’s the result of three friends – Giuseppe Savoretti, Germano Corvatta and Augusto Zaghini – looking for a way to combine their ever-growing personal collections.
Savoretti explains: “Our garages were full of interesting bikes, real motorcycle history. It was a pity to keep them locked up, and as there was no public motorcycle museum in Italy we decided to bring them together under one roof.”
Today, the collection houses about 250 motorcycles from 55 brands that trace the history of the twowheeled industry.
Exhibits include bikes from Aermacchi, Benelli, BSA, Ducati, Frera, Harley-davidson, Henderson, Innocenti, Moto Guzzi, MV Agusta, Norton, Piaggio, Rudge and Triumph, and include an exotic 1955 ‘Bartali Giro d’italia’, a project of the famous cyclist Gino Bartali who, at the time, was attempting to become a motorcycle manufacturer.
“Our aim is to have a living motorcycle museum,” Giuseppe continues. “Thanks to its location in one of the tourism hotspots of Italy we have passionate, expert visitors from all over the world, and we love to share our passion with them. Most of our bikes are well used, which seems to please people.”
Frera rarities
One of the focal points of the exhibition is the Milanese brand Frera, which was founded in 1905 by German-born Carlo Frera – one of the first Italian motorcycle manufacturers. Important supply contracts with the army helped the company to grow, and in 1914 they started to develop their own engines.
Giuseppe says: “After successfully taking part in the first motorbike races, Frera manufactured special racing machines, such as the 1911 ‘Corsa’ on display in the museum: a 250 four-stroke single with belt final drive and just a rear brake.”
In April 1911, the Motoclub d’italia was founded, and on October 8 of that year the first Italian championship race was held.
After the start in Sesto San Giovanni, near Milan, a 314km circuit through Lecco, Sondrio, Passo dell’aprica, Edolo and Bergamo led to the finish in Crescenzago. Classes were 500cc and 334cc, but the organisers were overwhelmed by the logistics of this circuit and capricious weather conditions that forced many riders to abandon in the mountains.
Milanese rider Mario Acerboni won the 334cc class on a 1911 version of the Frera Corsa with an average speed of 40.429kph.
The first race on a closed circuit in Italy also saw a Frera victory. Held on the 14.6km Orbassanobruino-piossasco-orbassano circuit in October 1911, it was won by Frera rider Enrico Bellorini, at an average speed of 72kph.
Also worthy of note is the museum’s 1924 Frera SS 4V, one of the first four-valve machines in Italy. At the time of its construction, it was claimed to be the fastest machine in the world. The company finally shut up shop in 1936.
Moto Guzzi GTV 500
Another special bike in the museum is a 1947 Moto Guzzi GTV 500 (above) that was owned by the Italian painter Antonio Ligabue. He paid off his debts with paintings and, during his life, collected 11 Moto Guzzis and a BMW, which, after a stroke in 1962, were auctioned to enable the destitute artist, whose works now enjoy the highest recognition, to live in a hospice until his death in 1965.
Bimota prototypes
When Bimota was found in 1973 by Valerio Bianchi, Giuseppe Morri, and Massimo Tamburini, the factory was located in Rimini, so it’s only right that the museum should include some very special machines representing the marque.
Three prototypes of the Bimota Tesi with hub-centre steering by engineers Pierluigi Marconi and Roberto Ugolini are included in the exhibits. Giuseppe says: “The Bimotas were among the first bikes we were given when the museum was still on the main road towards San Marino. Obviously they had no space at the Bimota factory here in Rimini and were looking for a place where they could be safely stored.”
Of particular interest is the first prototype A1 from 1983, with the four-cylinder Honda VF400 V4 engine. The frame is a combination of carbon-fibre, honeycomb aluminium and Kevlar, bonded with a special adhesive used in aviation. The front wheel is guided by a swingarm with hydraulic hubcentre steering. The engine power had been increased from the original 42bhp to 55bhp and the machine had a dry weight of 142kg.
Also exhibited is the 1989 A4 prototype, which has an inline four-cylinder, 121bhp Yamaha FZ750 engine in an aluminium frame, again with hub-centre steering, and a 170kg dry weight.
Finally, the third Tesi features a Honda VF750F engine, and was a step forward in realising the potential for the model’s mass-production.
Alongside is a more conventional Bimota KB1 from 1978, which houses a Kawasaki 1000cc fourcylinder engine producing 82bhp. A total of 827 of these machines were sold, but most of them as frame kits, and only a few completely assembled at Bimota. The Museo Nazionale del Motociclo hosts two vintage shows a year, in Fano and Cesena near Rimini, which serve to keep the museum’s exhibits alive. “The shows help us to bring people together and to pass on the passion for these motorcycles to the next generations,” Giuseppe says. “My sons-in-law and my grandchildren are also involved in the museum and watching my grandson while he tunes his Vespa brings me enormous pleasure!” www.museomotociclo.it
‘BIMOTA HAD NO SPACE AT THE FACTORY AND NEEDED A PLACE TO STORE THE TESIS’