EUROPEAN BIKE GUIDE
FOR REASONS KNOWN TO SOMEONE, but not myself, we tend to split up old bikes into British, Japanese and European camps. For some, the one camp will do, but like most of us, I like ‘em all, and for various different reasons.
The thought of Italian twins growling away underneath you, their stable handling romping through twisting valley roads, or German boxers eating miles like Pacman with the munchies, and Eastern European bikes getting under your skin and into your heart, their ring-a-ding singing voice accompanying each ride and ever-friendly owners pleased to see you...
European bikes offer all that a British bike could, often for less money. But they could prove an issue when needing parts, so if you like the idea of a certain model, chat to the owners clubs. All the clubs I speak to are only too happy to help, whether large or small.
Don’t forget, also, that a lot of European bikes were small – but that doesn’t mean they’re not fun! Italians, Spanish and others make cracking trials bikes that don’t cost the earth, often share engines or parts, and make superb, lightweight off-roaders.
Maria loves her Benelli 125 Enduro, which was also badged a Moto Guzzi and has a Motobi engine. I love the charm of the MZs, CZs and Jawas that the Eastern Bloc turned out, and don’t start me on my love of BMWs…
We have missed many 125s and mopeds out as there are just so many! But if you feel that certain ones deserve to be in future guides, please let us know.
Prices are included as a rough marker – owners will think figures are too low, those wanting to buy will think they are too high – it’s just a rough idea. For now, enjoy the guide and we hope to open some eyes to models you may take a shine to.
Enjoy,
MATT
Aermacchi
Aermacchi began life as an aircraft manufacturer at Varese in northern Italy before the start of the First World War and turned to motorcycle production after the Second World War, producing small capacity motorcycles for the Italian market. In 1960, Harley-Davidson bought half of Aermacchi’s motorcycle division as it searched for a source of small capacity bikes.
Aermacchi remained largely independent until 1973, when H-D bought the rest of the company and produced a range of two-stroke singles.
This was before selling out to Cagiva, who used the leftover H-D/Aermacchi range to establish its foothold in the Italian market, with motorcycles continuing to be made at Varese.
Chimera
172cc OHV single || 300lb || 60mph || 1956-1960
A delightful period piece, the Chimera saw Aermacchi adopt full enclosure with more success than the British, and the bike has a distinctly 1950s space-age look. Only a few hundred were made, and more have been imported from Italy as classics than were ever brought in officially.
Prices low £3500 || high £6000
SS/SST/SX 125/175/250/350
124/174/242/341 cc two-stroke single || 280lb || 70-90mph || 1974-1982
A range of rorty two-stroke singles badged as Harley-Davidson and sold alongside Sportsters and Electra Glides.
Aprilia
Not especially popular, the singles were good-looking little machines with a fair turn of speed and good handling – but suffered badly from poor quality control and an indifferent finish, rusting quickly. Parts are scarce, but a good one will turn heads, with the trail bike versions the best bet if you can find one. Aermacchi also made a tiddler X90 version
Prices low £1000 || high £3500
Aprilia was established in 1960 as a bicycle factory, and by 1975 was producing a range of machines with motors from Motori Morini Franco, Sachs, Rotax and Hiro. Aprilia really reached public attention when it took on major Japanese teams with 125 and 250cc Rotax two-stroke twins, winning both GP championships in 1994.
The 1980s saw a wide range of two-stroke trail bikes and some ugly two-stroke US custom-style variants, alongside a range of sporty two-stroke street racers.
In the late 1980s it made the Tuareg Adventure sports bike with a Rotax single engine, which was a bit too tall, and the more practical Pegaso also with a Rotax engine, which was later fitted with the same motor BMW chose for its F650.
Moto 6.5
649cc OHC single || 300lb || 95mph || 1995-2002
A real oddity, the Moto was styled by Phillipe Starck, designer of the famous orange squeezer. Intended for city streets, the Moto 6.5 had a lower seat than the street/trail Pegaso, finding few buyers, being altogether too odd. Curiously, after being heavily discounted to clear stocks, it became briefly popular with London dispatch riders, who promptly thrashed it to death but proved that as city bike it was a practical proposition. Body work panels will be hard to find.
Prices low £1000 || high £2500
250/350cc Sprint
249/344cc ohv single || 320lb || 90mph || 1960-1974
The first Harley-Davidson branded Aermacchis, the Sprint and subsequent versions are nice little bikes with a spine frame and a laid-down four-stroke engine similar to that used in the Moto Guzzi Falcone.
The engine was derived from the 175 Chimera and stroked in 1969 in a less attractive cradle frame to create the 350.
Never officially imported to the UK, with most of the production going to the US, these are now making their way back across the Atlantic.
Prices low £2500 || high £6000
Benelli
The Benelli story began in Pesaro with a 75cc two-stroke, produced in 1920. The following year it built a motorcycle with a 98cc powerplant. Benelli then built race-winning competition bikes throughout the 1920s and 1930s, winning a TT in 1939. The factory was bombed in the Second World War but Benelli returned and by 1962 employed 550 people, producing some 300 motorcycles a day.
Taken over in the early 1970s by Argentinian Alejondro de Tomaso, who also owned Moto Guzzi and his own sports car brand, the factory turned out a range of four-stroke fours, heavily based on Honda’s CB range, before going out of production in the mid-1980s. Benelli has returned several times with small production runs of high performance machines and was more recently bought by a Chinese company, making inroads in the Chinese and Indian markets.
250 Quattro
231cc ohc 4 275lb || 90 mph || 1974-1979
Sold alongside the 2C, the Quattro has
