Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126262
• Th e Morbidelli 125cc at speed . (Inset) Doktor Moeller. Doktor Moeller's ~omputerpredi~ts 48 bhp.2S~~ Morbidelli designer to build road racing Minarellis by Bruno de Prato BOLOGNA ,ITALY , MAY 4 T wo stroke super designer Jeorg .Moeller has . joined forces with Minarelli , ending a succ essf~ll partnership with Morbidelli which led to two road racing World Championships in the 125cc class. Minarell i is th e b iggest of th e Italian . two ' stro ke engi nes manufacturers, builing a number of 50 . 80 , 100 a nd 125cc engi nes used in mopeds. minibikes a nd sma ll endu ros. The Minarellis are sound , simple , purposeful engines; with hardly any mistique about them . There are a couple of en gin es with promising features . (a short stroke 50cc motocross engine and a 125cc unit for motocross as well) , but other engines are better off and more popular for racing. Minarelli has no racing image , but Moeller is going to build one. for them . Doktor Moeller will build a 125cc racer to contend in th e 1978 Grands .Prix , against th e cu rr en tly-d om in a ting Morbidellis and Bul racos. Moell er is no wiza rd , but he has been able to feed into a computer all the data and variables that participate in , the determination of the power output of a given e ngine . Moeller is planning to build a 48 -rear-wheel hor sepower 125c c en gine to smash all opposition . At lea st . this is th e fanta stic a nswer that he rec eived from th e co m p u ter once he fed into it all the data for th e new engi ne . That much pow er is a lrea dy good for a 250 . It isn 't too mu ch to believe that Moell er will be able to ge t a ll of the hors epower he believes possibl e . Before he' bu ilt th e Morbidelli he had planned to get around 43 horsep ower out . of th e design. He ended up with 43.8 . r T he new eng ine has been co nce ived with two main features in mind: outstanding power and outstanding to rque. We are used to reg arding the two th ings as recalcitrat ing partners. Moeller assu res th a t th e new b ike will slingshot out of-the corners like a mini- dragster. The ou te r design will be reminiscent of the . Morbidelli, with . 35"-canted parall el cylind ers, rot ary valve ind uc tion a nd wat er cooli ng . Transfer ports might be six , like in th e officia l works Morbidellis , (p riva te bikes live on four ), and inner measurem ents will rem a in unchanged : bore 44mm , stroke 4lmm. The rota ry va lve ' diagram , port sh ape and com bustion chamber shape will be totally modified from the Mo rbidelli design. Doktor Moell er points out that the Morbidelli h as remained unchanged for three years , and onl y the new Bu ltaco seems to be able to beat it , this year with no Dr. Moell er caring for his engine . Some of th~ basic com ponent s will come from outside Minarelli despite the fact that they a re engine manufacturers. The gearbox' will come from CIMA ; cylind er bores will be Nycasil plated at Mahle , whi ch will supply the pis tons as well : cra nksha ft will be made by Hoekle , in Germany too , with INA silver-plated needle cages. Moell er consider s these as basic steps to relia bility a nd suc cess. The program lau nced b y Minarell i will be strictly for ra cing , since hardly a ny of the technological expe rie nce gather ed will find its way int o the mop ed eng ines th e firm produces. But . th e regul ar product ion will receive some attention from th e su pe r designer. Plans a re a lready esta b lished for th e deve lopment of a new l 25cc morocrosser. It will be a sing le , a ir cooled , (bu t wat er coo ling is in th e plans if needed), from whi ch Moeller expec ts to extra ct 28 horsepower , net., a t th e rear wheel. T ha t would put Moell er well ahead of the competiti on, as usua l. • tzD I!l . Send $3 .9 5 fo r T -Shirt and/o r H ~t . Ind icat e T·Sh in size _sm,_ . med . _Ig._ MCMLXXVII x-lg. 15840 Ventura Blvd•• Encino. Ca. 91 436 DON". .FROZEN OUT. ~ Motorcycle Industry Co unc il Avoid chilly receptions by ri ding quietly. Don't modify your appro ved mufflers. Do n't crank it on where it's going to annoy people. . Ride cool and 'keep public lands open. 17