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/128602
By ALAN CATHCART PHOTOS BY PHIL MASTERS /J1 part from the Honda VFR750, W every single four-cylinder Japanese (or British!) motorcycle that you or I can buy today to ride on the street has transverse, in-line architecture and a DOHC valve gear. It's been that way for most of the last quarter-century, ever since Honda ushered in the era of the Universal Japanese Motorcycle with the single-cam CB750. But the fact of the matter is, the UJM format is actually copied from the Italians - specifically, from Gilera, which intro· duced it to a world that had, to that point, seen only long-wheelbased, lengthwise fours. Gilera won the 1939 European 500cc GP title on the eve of WW2, then in the classic postwar era evolved into the machines which won six world championships for Masetti, Uberati and Geoff Duke - and allowed the Flying Scot, Bob Mcintyre, to make his and Gilera's mark on the history of the Isle of Man IT for all time. On June 5, 1957, Bob Mac and the Gilera 500 Quattro not only won the Golden Jubilee 50th-anniversary Senior IT, but in doing so, broke the magic "Ton" barrier by becoming the first man and machine to officially lap the 37.75 mile Mountain Course at over 100 mph. A Manx milestone, set by Magic Mac on a memorable multi - but made in Italy, not Japan! This story examines that historic bike, which I got the opportunity to ride at the legendary Monza race cir· cuit in Italy, and - in Peter Starr's sidebars· the heroic man who rode it to that important record. STRAIGHT OFF THE TRACK How apt that my chance to ride the ultimate evolution of Bob Mac's milestone multi should come at Gilera's home circuit, Monza: before it was closed in 1993, their Arcore factory was a long stone's throw from the back gate of the Royal Park in which the historic Autodromo is located. Also, the bike I was invited to put through its paces is a true works racer even today, still owned 40 years on by Gilera, even if nowadays, for the time being at least, that's just a badge-engineering scooter division of its giant Piaggio parent. The two men responsible for its painstaking restoration to as-raced condition, Gilera mechanics Nadir Bortolucci and Gianni Villa, were there to fettle the bike for me, as well as for former Scuderia Duke Gilera rider Derek Minter - one of the last to race this very bike in anger back in 1966, who'd been invited to re-acquaint himself with it in its born-again state. Nice. The machine in question, bearing engine number four, is fitted with the white-dolphin fairing of the post- 1957 era, when full streamlining was banned by the FIM. This is how it was raced when Gilera returned to competition in 1963, when, in spite of the zero development that left them otherwise remaining exactly as ridden by Mcintyre and Liberati in 1957, the Gileras were immediately competitive with the MV Agustas that had enjoyed five years of added R&D in At speed at Monza on the Gllera Four, Alan Cathcart makes believe he's another U.K. rider in another era. 'Du're IIwllre Dfthe 6ilerll's exhllust nDte the whDle time gDu're riding it, nDt beclluse it's SD IDUd, but beclluse it's SD musicIII, lindinsistent, just rumbling cDnstllntlg IIwIIg like rDlling thunder behindgDU thrDugh thDse !DurglDriDus Dpen megll£ I was happy, yet surprised. to see that Rod Gould and Phil Read mentioned Bob Mcintyre in their evaluation for the world's greatest rider (eN Issue #50, January 5). There aren't many American road race fans for whom Mcintyre would be a familiar name, so just who was he and why did such successful luminaries select him for their all-time great list? Mcintyre was very well established as a road racer of international renown in 1959 when I first saw him ride. I had saved up my money from a paper route to buy a ticket to Mallory Park for the "Race of the Year: the annual big meeting. I rode my bicycle the 20 miles there and back, which was somewhat daring for a 16-year-old in England at the time. This was the first road race I had seen in person, and the first time the name Robert McGregor Mcintyre became etched in my memory. It was obvious from the first announcement that he was a great favorite of the crowd. He was a tough rider· fast, smooth, soft-spoken and, as I learned via the track's P.A. system, very unassuming. Physically, he was about 5-feet·IO, of stocky build, with excellent body strength and a soft countenance except for his very hard jaw line. You could say he was a Jekyll/Hyde in that his off-racetrack demeanor was friendly and accommodating, while the steely·eyed concentration of a racer took over on the race track. Mcintyre won that contest, the highest-paying single race in Britain at the time, over Bob Anderson and a young Mike Hailwood • all on 500cc Manx Nortons. The motorcycling world in those days was very conservative. The bikes had no identification except for the manufacturer's name on the tank. There were no sponsor's logos, and each rider wore a uniform of black leathers with nothing stitched on ·not even the his name. In some ways this stark, simple picture allowed a spectator to concentrate on the rider's style rather than his livery or showcase. It was Mac's obvious riding ability, his quiet attitude, and the fact that we shared the same birthday that made him a hero in my book. 13 0.& JKe IIlly 'te: Jekyll/Hyde With admirers looking on, Bob Mcintyre dismounts following a '61 victory at Mallory Park. eye I e n e _ S • MARCH 1, 2000 31