The rocket that was a Rondine…
As the rain pounded on the van roof at 5am, I wondered if anyone entering the car park at Stafford on Saturday would ever get off. needn' t have worried, by 10am the rain slowed and the showground was heaving, the uality and diversity of the bikes on display was darned amazing. Hitherto unseen Lambretta sporty scooters, complete with Dell Orto SSI s held hands with Pristine CBXS; Dave Marsden had his pre-production Z1 in pride of place, totally stunning. ancy summat a bit more eclectic? Steve Grifae th, purveyor of exq uisite 0s/80s race bred exotica had a circa 1921 N. This is a single-cylinder Belgian gem with lots of levers and faded nickel-plated handlebars in wonderful, genuine, barn nd' (and don' t use that term lightly) nick. The little beauty even had shaft drive! To say really fancied this li' l puppy is an understatement, but let' s not go there. Steve is a genuine bloke with many desirable toys and a stack of self-discipline. d want to keep the lot! Returning to sunny Salford, idly scanned one of my favourite little books, amous Racing Motorcycles over a chuggy oggy (cheese n' onion pasty for you lot south of Watford). bought this book when was 14 and still in short pants, it cost me 10 shillings and sixpence. Think about that for a minute using my trusty 0:1 beer/petrol accumulator, that works out at about 15 in Brexit money. must have really wanted that little book! And m drawn to the signiae cantly worn pages with a picture of the 193 0s Rondine. The Rondine or Swift was designed by a pair of visionary talians, Carlo Gianini and Piero Remor in 1923 . t positively bristled with innovation; how about leading-link front forks, water-cooling, supercharger, overhead-cams and (wait for it) four cylinders across the frame? With so much going on it took time to attain results, but in 193 an enclosed version ran for a full hour at 127 mph. My mind is awash with big uestions: tyres, chain, engine internals pistons, crank etc. how the hell did they live through that? But the story had only just started, Gilera bought the rights to the Rondine and with the help of Piero Tarufae they developed it into a one of a kind world beater. The bike lost the supercharger, and the cylinders were no longer horizontal but inclined at 60 degrees. The double overhead cams sat above inlet valves served by a bank of four SSI s where previously there were only two, the exhausts emitting that iconic howl through a set of four pipes and megaphones. How about race heritage? Well the bike won six world championships in eight years and was ridden by all the best riders of the era; Geoff Duke fell off and was pipped by Bob MCI ntyre to the rst TT 100mph lap in 1957 , so not too shabby d say. What do they say about imitation and attery? Compare the spec and the layout with the 500cc MV and it' s impossible to ignore the design clues rst laid down by Gianini and Remor 0 years before. Hmm no surprise when we see Remor' s move to MV just one year before the ire Engine' showed up. Of course MV didn' t simply copy the Gilera as it then was and then stagnate, they improved it in every conceivable respect. n this shape it went head to head with Giacomo Agostini at the helm against Mike Hailwood on the Honda at the TT, surely those mid-60s Senior races were the most magical contests imaginable. With my Aero transistor radio secreted under my desk recall listening to the crackly commentary by Murray Walker as Mike fell off and after kicking the foot-peg and clip-on back straight, and then bumping the Honda (the wrong way hasten to add) back into life, then proceeded to win the race. could imagine someone pulling off that sort of stunt in modern Motogp, except it' s punishable by several Section 47 penalties now. Shame. So, my little much-studied book, the author is one John Grifae th, and as later nd out, he' s the father of Steve, owner of the little N. Well, ll be... et again get to chat to a bloke with a real passion for all things bike related. Will buy the N? m not sure, oh the pressure!