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/126635
...... ..... , 0- < (Bo tto m right) Daniele Agrati. head of Garelli. kept the Moller-designed eng ine in competition when he purchased the team from Minarelli, 84 pistons, each with a single chromed L-ring. The rotary valves are steel a n d feed th e 50: I mixture at the rate of 28 mpg. Krober ignition is fitted , and a hefty water pump sits atop the engine on the right, driven off the gearbox whose six speeds have three alternative sets of ratios which cannot, however, be changed without splitting the engine horizontally. The same exhaust design ' is used for all circuits, and a total dry weight of the engine less carbs is just 50 pounds. A l-t-p la re dry clutch has seven sintered alloy plates, and seven friction ones. I'd expected the engine to have an ultra -narrow powerband, necessitating much abuse of the clutch to keep it on song yet produce the horsepower to win championships. I couldn't have been more wrong. Admittedl y, nothing much happens below 9,000 rpm, except a lot of noise and fum es but nil forward motion. Then th e power starts to pick up till at 10,500 rpm it comes in with a bang - an d you'd better be ready when it does , for much to my surprise this little 172 pound racer actually pulled a wheeli e on its simi lar-weight rid er. I was so surprised I a lmost fell orr -you don 't expect a l25cc bike to start pawing the air like a circus horse-but com ing out onto th e straight leading down to Monza's Parab o lica it would lift the front wheel ever y la p as I accel erated hard while still leaned over. No wonder a small steering damper is fitted to the left stanchion. Once the Garelli'sin thepowerband he perfectly-matched geanaoOS'rome< • into their ow n , zipping you up to the 14,500 rpm maximum before the next sweet upward change. I used the clutch for downward changes on ly, but still managed to miss a couple of cogs coming out of the Pa ra bol ica when my oversize foot failed to function as it should have. ' Maximum torque occurs at 13,800, so with so much pulling power and such a wide powerband it's little wonder that th e Garelli has the legs of the opposition. It may be fast , it may be powerful, but it's very eas y to ride. During 1982, Jan Thiel concentrated on making the bikes reliable with a new crankshaft, improving air penetration, and increasing low end torque matched to new gear ratios. The chassis received little attention apart from the addition of a nt i-d ive, so it 's a tribute to Mijwaart that it handles as superbl y well as it does . Once aga in m y expectations were false ; I'd been anticipating a nervous, twitch y little bike which my every breath would send skittering in a different direction . After a handful of laps ihad as much confidence on the Garelli as if I was on on e of my own racers, thanks to th e com binatio n of the stiff chassis a nd sticky, skinny Mi chelin slicks. Surprisingly, the bike's still fitt ed with old-sty le rear suspension , featuring twin Bitubo gas u ni ts suspending a fabrica ted alloy swingarm with eccentric adjusters, Even on Monza 's bumps th e ride seemed adequate, without beingexceptional , and when 1. mentioned it to '''Jan ,," hi et' on : m~' .return he .nodded ' T his head , "Monoshock rear suspension isn 't really necessary yet with a light bike like a 125," he ave rred. "Though we might try it soon and if we do it won't be a canti lever like the MBA and Sanvanero: that's all wrong. Bu t what we'd really like to experiment with are some 16" wheels - we've been asking the tire companies for them since 1976, but still no sign of them in our sizesl That would help us reduce the frontal area still more," As the curtain lifts for another Grand Prix season, a ll indications are that the Carelli team will once again dominate their chosen class wit h a bike tha t is u nquestiona bly pound-for-pound the most effective Grand Prix racer of its era. And with their 50cc design only missing out on the riddler by one place last season, Da ni ele Agrati may have cause for double celebration come September. •