Gentlemen, fellow enthusiasts

This is a marvellous thread. When a friend directed me here, I thought "Oh yes, another forum full of bickering posters, bad-temperedly slanging the other contributors." I couldn't have been more wrong. Forging through the 140-odd pages, I have constantly been amazed at the knowledge and erudition displayed and the good humour which prevails, it's a real pleasure to read. On top of that, it has become a body of real historical value, it should really be bottled for posterity. The only regret I have is that it doesn't cover the '20s & '30s, maybe we could start a new thread for that? Just think of those delicious supercharged devices in the Thirties! They are a particular passion of mine. That 20 years was the period when most of the features of modern bikes were invented, it must have been a great time to be in racing. Some terrific engineering went on then.

Anyway, I wondered if some of you could throw any light on the bike in this picture? I saw it originally at the factory but took little notice until I saw and photographed it in the Gallarate museum. All I know is that it is a 350 twin and was an experiment which didn't make it. What else can you all tell me?

Hi Terry,

This is a 350 twin dating from 1957.

It was based on a 300 twin sports bike from 1955 designed, unusually, outside the factory by the Roman designer Gianini. It had an electric starter and was launched at the 1955 Milan Show.

After that, and as a roadster, it disappeared!

However, with the engine bored out to 348cc and put into a new "spaceframe" structure, your racer appeared in 1957. Much testing was done that year, usually by the somewhat inconsistent Ken K, but it never developed the bhp of the "four" and the latter prevailed.

The twin was, I think, run in practice for a few GPs but was never raced.

Ken, of course, also disappeared from Gallarate at the end of 1957 and engaged in deep discussions with his legal advisers, but that's another story!!

True enough, Larry. But what you've politely overlooked is that with an external flywheel on BOTH sides of the engine, the space-frame chassis, Earles-type forks and straight pipes, it'd have to be the ugliest example of a race bike to ever be wheeled out of the Gallarate race shop. What were they thinking ?

Course it was - ugly as sin, but not just from the Gallarate race shop - from any race shop!!!

Dare I suggest that you also have the Colombo/Patrignani book?

Yep, it's a ripper. Mine has Ago's signature in the front, too.