W
eed eaters and a few
kids' motocross bikes
are pretty much the only
places where you can still find
50cc two-stroke engines these
days, but just a few years ago,
these tiny motorcycles had a
big presence in motorcycle road
racing, both here in the USA and
overseas. While Spanish road
racer Ángel Nieto was winning
World Championships on small-
bore two-stroke motorcycles, a
contingent of Californians were
engaged in their own tiddler
technology war, both in the ga
-
rage and on the racetrack.
In April of
1976, Cycle News
took an in-depth look at the state
of 50cc road racing, which was ex
-
periencing a surge of sorts in Cali-
fornia's AFM series. Minicycle rac-
ers from the 1970s will remember
the brand
ItalJet, which produced
some very speedy mini motocross
machines. In 1975, California road
racing hot shoe Rudy Galindo rode
one to the AFM Championship
in that class. Just one year later,
however, the ItalJets were middle-
of-the-packers, thanks to some
garage-engineered configurations
that were squeezing every pretty
pony out of other brands of these
diminutive machines.
This class was attracting
some heavy hitters from the mo
-
torcycle world. Roger Davis was
a dealer racing
consultant for
Yamaha International, special-
izing in working with Yamaha's
snowmobile dealers who were
involved
in competition.
"His garage at home in La
Mirada, California," wrote CN,
"is stuffed with machinery built
with the best secrets Davis could
absorb in the Yamaha racing
department."
Davis' 50cc motor was a five-
speed engine with a special GYT
(Genuine Yamaha Technology)
cylinder that "was not generally
available in this country.
"Davis built the bike's CDI
unit from both snowmobile and
motorcycle parts. The carburetor
is a side-change main jet model
CNII ARCHIVES
P132
BY KENT TAYLOR
WHEN 50cc
MOTORCYCLES WERE BIG
Yes, at one time, 50cc
motorcycle racing was the
happening thing.
Angel Nieto won
the 50cc World
Championship
in 1976 on a
Bultaco.
