60 :OLD BIKE AUSTRALASIA
within sight of the famous Monza circuit in Milan,
Arturo gained a position in the Gilera race team as
a mechanic, working under Ing. Piero Remor, who
was in charge of the 500cc 4-cylinder Gileras that
would go on to take six championships in the then-
premier 500cc Grand Prix category. When Remor
was poached by the rival MV Agusta firm at the end
of 1949, Arturo went with him as a mechanic for
their new Grand Prix team, for which Remor
designed a 500cc four which was rather similar to
the Gilera. By 1959 Arturo had risen to become
head of the MV racing department, spearheading
the company’s competition efforts that would
gather a swathe of World Championships in all
solo classes from 125cc to 500cc. Arturo remained
at MV Agusta until the very end.
The Magni brand came about in 1977 basically as
a result of the demise of MV Agusta as a producer of
motorcycles. MV had been heading in this direction
ever since the death of the autocratic Count
Domenico Agusta in 1971; the new management
folding the illustrious race team, of which Arturo
Magni had been such an integral part for decades, at
the end of the 1975 season. Magni decided he was
too young to retire and set up his own show in
Varese with his sons Carlo and Giovanni. Carlo was
already in business, making his own magnesium
alloy wheels under the EPM brand (Elaborazioni
Progettazioni Motociclistiche), and these became
standard equipment on much of the new Magni
range. At first the business provided bolt-on
accessories for existing MVs, but in 1979, a brand
new purpose-built chassis was created to take the
four-cylinder MV engines. But inevitably, the supply
of these engines quickly began to dry up, and,
having established a strong demand for his products,
Arturo began to look elsewhere for power units.
The first of these new models was the Magni
Honda MH-1, which was powered by Honda’s 900cc
DOHC 4-valve CB900 (Bol d’Or) engine, housed in a
modified version of the frame developed for the MV
Agusta 4. This continued with the bolted-up and
removable front frame down-tubes and cradle, and
most were supplied with the standard Honda forks
and Comstar alloy wheels. The concept was
progressively developed into the MH-2, using the
same engine but with EPM wheels, Ceriani front
forks, Brembo brakes and restyled bodywork. But
again the engine supply became difficult, with Honda
moving towards the water-cooled V4s, so after a
short dalliance with Suzuki engines, Magni bowed to
requests to embrace BMW power, the result being the
MB-2. This was well received by enthusiasts in Europe
and elsewhere (such as Japan) and led to the idea of
more twin cylinder Magnis – the obvious choice for a
power unit being from near neighbour Moto Guzzi. It
was the beginning of an enduring relationship that
began with the two-valve 850 engines in the Magni
Le Mans and went on to include the later big bore
1000cc and 1100cc four-valvers.
A notable feature of the Moto Guzzi-engined
Magnis was its patented “Parallelogrammo” rear
end, which was designed to counter the trait
peculiar to shaft drive motorcycles of locking up therear suspension under acceleration, among other
things. This system actually had its origins in the
rear suspension on the original 500cc MV Agusta
Grand Prix racer of 1950 which used shaft drive for
two the 1950 and 1951 seasons, as well as the R19- the 1950 500cc four cylinder road bike that failed
to reach series production. On the MV Agustas, the
twin rear forks pivoted one above the other,
immediately behind the gearbox. The rear ends of
the forks on each side were linked by a small plate
MAGNI MOTO GUZZI 1000 ARTURO
A notable feature of the Moto Guzzi-engined Magnis was its
patented “Parallelogrammo” rear end, which was designed to
counter the trait peculiar to shaft drive motorcycles of locking up
the rear suspension under acceleration, among other things.
The works MV Agusta ridden by Les Graham.
Note the ‘Parallelogrammo’ rear suspension.The original 1950 version of the MV
Agusta 500-4 GP racer featuring the
parallel fork rear suspension.