Bianchi’s Aquilotto, Bianchina & Falco

With Phil Aynsley

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Following on from the previous column I thought I’d round out the look at Bianchi with some of their post war bikes.

During the 1930s the company started producing trucks but the factory was destroyed by bombing during the war. To re-establish the company, the Aquilotto (Eaglet) clip-on motor was put into production. This 48 cc 2-stroke motor was designed to be attached to a bicycle in much the same way as Ducati’s Cucciolo motor, to provide basic transportation.

A full motorcycle, the 125 cc Bianchina 2T, appeared in 1947 and proved to be a success, also helping the company recover from the destruction of their Milanese factory and the death in 1946 of Edorado Bianchi, the founder of the company.

Lino Toni was employed in 1950, and together with Sandro Colombo, designed a 250 cc parallel twin 4-stroke for GP competition, this proved to be too heavy and was subsequently enlarged to a 350 cc then a 500 cc machine – in which guise it did show some promise.

Several were campaigned by privateers and the design formed the basis of the Paton 500 twin racer. The example seen here was photographed outside the Sammy Miller Museum during its restoration in 2015.

Back on the street a wide range of models were produced in the ‘50s and ‘60s. This Bernia is from around 1963 and had a 125 cc OHV 4-stroke motor. It and the 173 cc Tonale, also a 4-stroke single but with a chain-driven OHC, were two of the best known of the company’s later models.

The Falco moped used a licence built Puch 50 cc 2-stroke motor. An interesting fact is that many small capacity Bianchi two-stroke bikes were sold in the US as Montgomery Ward Riverside models.

The motorcycle part of the company ceased trading in 1967 leaving the original bicycle concern to keep the Bianchi name at the forefront of a different section of the two-wheeled world.

Source: MCNews.com.au

Bianchi Motorcycles

With Phil Aynsley

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So, name a motorcycle manufacturer that started producing its trademark product in 1885 and is still producing it to this day?

Well that would be Bianchi! Of course the said products are bicycles but the company also turned out a range of highly advanced motorcycles from 1897 to 1967. During its long history trucks and cars were also made.

While Edoardo Bianchi’s first, 1897, design was a motorised bicycle, by 1903 leading link forks were fitted and in 1910 a 500 cc single really established the company in the motorcycle field. A variety of designs appeared over the following years including 600, 650 and 741 cc V-twins, side valve and OHV 350 singles and an OHV 175.

By 1925 Bianchi was (like almost every other Italian motorcycle manufacturer) racing. Except those other companies didn’t have Tazio Nuvolari as their rider! He won the 1925 350 cc European Championship (which was a single event at the time), won the Nations GP four years running from ’25-’28 and Circuit Lario five years running (’25-’29).

All on the 350 Bianchi. He famously won the very wet 1925 Nations GP after suffering a major crash while testing an Alfa Romeo only six days previously. Wearing a cushion strapped to his stomach he had to be lifted onto the bike by his mechanics for a push start!

The bike Bianchi used for competition was a DOHC 348 cc single designed by Albino Baldi. In the 1930s he followed the 350 up with an OHC 500 single, then in 1938 a 500 cc supercharged DOHC four (which was not fully developed before the war intervened).

The bike seen here is a 1936 250 cc Super Sport which featured the very advanced, for the time, plunger rear suspension.

Source: MCNews.com.au