Morbidelli Racers

Morbidelli 50 1969

The first racing Morbidelli was a 60-cc. motorcycle that had been adapted for national racing in the cadet category. There was nothing special about its engine, but Enzo Lazzarini rode the Morbidelli to win races at Castiglion del Lago and Riccione. These victories encouraged industrialist Giancarlo Morbidelli, who was principally responsible for making the motorcycle, to devote himself to his passion for Grand Prix motorcycles. Morbidelli hired racer and technician Franco Ringhini and entrusted the racing part of the business to him. He set aside part of his woodworking machinery plant in Pesaro for Ringhini.

The Morbidelli 50 Grand Prix was created in 1969. Franco Ringhini built it on the basis of the latest technology in conformity with international regulations, which provided for a maximum of six speeds for the transmission and a single cylinder in the 50 class. The first Morbidelli 50 had rotating-disk feed and generated 10 h.p. at 11,500 r.p.m. In a few months its engine was generating 13.5 h.p. at 14,500 r.p.m.
The year that it made its racing debut, the Morbidelli 50 was ridden by Eugenio Lazzarini to win at Piestany, Slovenia. Two years later Alberto leva rode it to win the Italian Senior championship

Motorcycle: Morbidelli 50 Manufacturer: Morbidelli Woodworking
Machinery, Pesaro Type: Racing Year: 1969
Engine: Morbidelli single-cylinder, two-stroke, with rotating-disk distribution. Displacement 50 cc. (40 mm. x 39.8 mm.)
Cooling: Water
Transmission: Six-speed block
Power: 13.5 h.p. at 14,500 r.p.m.
Maximum speed: Over 105 m.p.h.
Chassis: Double cradle, continuous, tubular. Front and rear, telescopic suspension
Brakes: Front, central drum, four shoes, four-cam; rear, central drum

Morbidelli 125 1976

Although the Morbidelli 125 was never put into record racing, the motorcycle holds several world records. It is the only winning motorcycle in the long history of world championship racing that was not built by a motorcycle manufacturer. It is also the only motorcycle that was able to maintain unequaled performance without serious technical problems for two seasons in a row, although it had the same technical features of its rivals— a two-cylinder engine, water-cooled, with rotating-disk distribution and six-speed transmission. In tests, if not on the track, the Morbidelli generated more power (even before the introduction of new international regulations) than any other motorcycle of its class in the field.
The two men who were responsible for the 1970 triumph of the Morbidelli
125 were Franco Ringhini, the technician charged with tuning it, and Gil-berto Parlotti, its racer. The first version of the new Grand Prix stood out because of its slender and elegant line, but there was nothing to indicate that this motorcycle would be a serious threat to the Japanese contenders—Yamaha, Kawasaki, and Suzuki.

Parlotti proved to have the fastest Italian 125. He won the 1970 Czecho-slovakian Grand Prix with the Morbidelli and promised more impressive results for subsequent seasons.
In the first two races of the 1971 season, Parlotti came in second on the Morbidelli 125. Then they disappeared from the scene, but they came back to win that year's Italian Grand Prix.

Parlotti looked like the racer to beat in 1972. Indeed, from the time of the opening race Parlotti with his Morbidelli 125 was the favorite racer in the world championship. He won in West Germany and France and came in second in Austria and third in Italy. Parlotti was way ahead of the field at the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy, but a terrible fall proved fatal.

Parlotti's death was a devastating blow for Giancarlo Morbidelli. In 1972 he entrusted the 125 to Otello Bus-cherini and the following year to Angel Nieto, the great Spanish champion, but he did not produce the expected results with either rider.
On February 28, 1974, Jorg Moller went to Morbidelli to take over from Ringhini. Moller rebuilt the engine on the basis of his experience in Holland with the Van Veen team. (The Dutch importer of Kreidler motorcycles had privately won several world championships in the 50 class.) The new Morbidelli was entrusted to Paolo Pileri and Pier Paolo Bianchi for racing. In 1975 Pileri won the world championship and in 1976 Bianchi won. The vehicle was so successful that Morbidelli  set up a motorcycle factory in partnership with Benelli-Armi.

Motorcycle: Morbidelli 125 Manufacturer: Morbidelli-Benelli-Armi, Pe-
saro Type: Racing Year: 1976
Engine: Morbidelli two-cylinder, two-stroke, with distribution through two rotating disks. Displacement 124.1 cc. (43.9 mm. x 41 mm.)
Cooling: Water
Transmission: Six-speed block
Power: 42 h.p. at 14,000 r.p.m.
Maximum speed: About 150 m.p.h.
Chassis: Double cradle, continuous, tubular. Front and rear, telescopic suspension
Brakes: Front, hydraulic double disk; rear, hydraulic single disk

Morbidelli 250 1976

After winning the world championship in the 125-cc. class, Giancarlo Morbidelli decided to try for a title in the 250-cc. class as well. This was a tough class. In addition to the official Harley-Davidson and the Yamaha, private motorcycles often succeeded in dominating the field, ridden by some of the finest, most daring racers of the Continental Circus.

Morbidelli had always said that he would put the 250 into competition only if the power obtained from the racer on the first bench test was sufficient to give it a good chance of holding its own against the Harley-Davidson, which was the world champion. Jorg Moller soon had enough power for him and the new motorcycle was ready for the first race of the season, which was run at Modena. It was an encouraging debut, since the Morbidelli 250 proved to be fast, but there were mechanical difficulties and tuning problems.

Paolo Pileri and Pier Paolo Bianchi gave promising performances, as well as some performances that were disappointing. Only halfway through the world championship season was the 250 finely enough tuned to guarantee a certain constancy of performance. Pileri rode the Morbidelli to a brilliant second place at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa. It also won the fourth International Trophy at Misano.

Motorcycle: Morbidelli 250 Manufacturer: Morbidelli-Benelli-Armi, Pe-
saro Type: Racing Year: 1976
Engine: Morbidelli two-cylinder, two-stroke, with two-disk rotating distribution. Displacement 249.7 cc. (56 mm. X 50.7 mm.)
Cooling: Water
Transmission: Six-speed block
Power: 64 h.p. at 11,500 r.p.m.
Maximum speed: Over 160 m.p.h.
Chassis: Openwork, tubular. Front, telescopic suspension; rear, telescopic shock absorber, central, mounted vertically
Brakes: Front, hydraulic double disk; rear, hydraulic single disk

Morbidelli 350 1973

Giancarlo Morbidelli had produced fine 50-cc. and 125-cc. Grand Prix motorcycles, and in 1973 he decided to try the 350 class as well. The new vehicle had a two-stroke four-cylinder superimposed engine with four rotating disks for feed.
This was not Morbidelli's first experiment with a 350. The year before the company had built a four-cylinder two-stroke model with transverse inline cylinders that were horizontal to the ground. Two rotating disks and two vertical carburetors provided the feed and it had a very light chassis, open above. The 1972 Morbidelli 350 was never put into the field because of a bureaucratic difficulty: Jawa had already patented a similarly built vehicle.

The Morbidelli 350 of 1973 was built on the basis of technical formu-!as that had already been tested: two independent engine shafts plus a countershaft with the water-cooling

pump. The engine generated surprising power, 95 h.p. at 14,000 r.p.m., which was at least 25 h.p. more than that of any other Grand Prix of comparable displacement. But it soon became clear that the combustion vibrations were so strong that they caused the gears to become seriously damaged. The problem was solved at the price of lowering the horsepower to 65.

Motorcycle: Morbidelli 350 Manufacturer: Morbidelli Woodworking
Machinery, Pesaro Type: Racing Year: 1973
Engine: Morbidelli four-cylinder, superimposed, paired, two-stroke, with distribution through four rotating disks. Displacement 350 cc.
Cooling: Water
Transmission: Six-speed block
Power: 95 h.p. at 14,000 r.p.m.
Maximum speed: Never tested
Chassis: Double cradle, continuous, tubular. Front and rear, telescopic suspension
Brakes: Front, central drum, four shoes, four-cam; rear, central drum, double cam