Aermacchi replica?

Rat400F

Been Around the Block
After searching around I realize my dream of riding a real Aermacchi down the road is most likely not going to happen. Most of the ones I've found don't have titles and were never titled for road use. So I started thinking why not build a replica?
My first question is what reasonably available, street legal bike would be similar to this frame and engine configuration?
I'd like it to accelerate fast and have a top speed of at least 110 mph.
Groene_Cafe_Racer.jpg


I actually want to build this one but the picture shows the bike naked.

3276537695_d55dd9e3ba_o.jpg
 
i am pretty sure i have seen replica body work at glass from the past. it sure looks like the green bike has a more modern front end. i think it could be doable nonetheless.

later,

ryan
 
The Green one is from some company that made kits about 5 years ago and have since been out of business, I think. There site hasn't been updated since 2004.
http://www.aermacchi-racing.com/

My guess is they used some forks that were being made by somewhere else in the early 2000's and that's why they look more modern
 
The top one appears to be a Rickman Metisse set up with screwed up forks and butt ugly wheels (Honda Bros?) The second one is a two stroke twin raced by various people including Walter Villa who I think won a world championship on one. Heres a photo of a replica built from bits by a guy in England. Very handsome bike but he spent big bucks on things like replica brakes, AlaDoro frame etcl.


img266co2.jpg

By weslake at 2008-10-31
 
Rat400F said:
After searching around I realize my dream of riding a real Aermacchi down the road is most likely not going to happen. Most of the ones I've found don't have titles and were never titled for road use. So I started thinking why not build a replica?
My first question is what reasonably available, street legal bike would be similar to this frame and engine configuration?
I'd like it to accelerate fast and have a top speed of at least 110 mph.
Groene_Cafe_Racer.jpg


I actually want to build this one but the picture shows the bike naked.

3276537695_d55dd9e3ba_o.jpg

From my understanding the street version of this bike was called the Sprint. Basically the same bike but with a little higher compression and a slightly larger carb. These Sprints are fairly easy to come by.

Dave
 
I've seen the sprints for sale but never in my area and only once in awhile do they turn up.
 
CUB based replica - from Motocicli Veloci Milano customer gallery - "MINI ALA D'ORO" -

http://www.motocicliveloci.it/images/amici/DSC01414%20(760%20x%20570).jpg

Well, ME on the other hand, I'd rather do it the other way 'round! A plus-sized DAX made from an Aermacchi Ala D'Oro 408cc or Guzzi Nuevo Falcone 500cc horizontal single-cylinder engine! Rims in 3.00x16" Borrani (from my avatar pic, front wheel from my lil' GRRRL'z "KZ440LOL" - I've got rims & hubs for a spare set! Good substitute for the lil' 8" or 10" MONKEY style wheels - got the right "Clown Shoes" look, with Buell Blast upgrade spec tires, 110/70-16 & 140/70-16 - just needs a custom frame in skeletal alloy parts, alloy bottle for gas tank etc - all wrapped up in carbon fibre for one solid lump of a DAX shaped frame - adult size of course - USD fork mimics the MONKEY style USD fork, and top it all off with one of them BMW sheep-skin seat covers - HUGE, king & queen style - and some 1" diameter or Renthal 1.5" if possible - APE-HANGER handlebars!!! Yeah - an adult-sized, highway capable, MEGADAX!!!!

Can I get an AMEN?

-S.
 
What's really really sexy in the O.P.'s post's pics, from the "Harley Davidson" Aermacchi racer - are the CAMPAGNOLO HYDROCONICO rims!

Somebody should make some REPLICA rims like that!

I doubt very much that PMV or Technomagnesio replicas of the original "Campy" rims, ever came in a DRUM version of the rear wheel. However - if anybody out there had an old rear drum version, I'd feel awfully tempted to trade 'em for a rear DISC wheel from the new production. Then try and fudge together some of the hydraulic conical disc/drum brakes which are so commonplace on light aircraft, see if some of 'em could fit inside of the cast housing of the old Campagnolo rear drum mag wheel. I'd bet it could work. Get the wheel scanned for micro-cracks, I'd have no problem riding it.

I suppose there are a few "COPIES" out there - the Kawa GPZ305 has some rather skinny five-spoke alloy rims, with a rear drum - albeit really TINY.

See, normally I've got no stomach for cast/mag wheels. Maybe some DYMAG rims, in the right size and the right application (Buell "Lucifer's Hammer" with 16" front and rear, PERHAPS) - Wire-spoke rims predominate in my day-dream dream-bike fantasies and bike-porn wank sessions, that's why my "CB900K0 Bol Bomber" gets IT'S "Freddie Spencer" replica (aka MIKE BALDWIN, people!) DYMAG replica rims in Super-Akront 3.50x16" & Akront 4.25x18" (40-spoke front and rear) - actually wider than the original 3.0x16 & 4.0x16 - And I've got an equal fascination for COMSTAR rims - and other composite wheels made from hoop-welded extruded alloy rims, maybe even some COMCAST rims if I can find just the right pair....

But the EXCEPTION that makes the rule, are the cast/mag wheels with a FRONT DRUM - I friggin' LOVE 'em. Even the seven-spoke LESTER style ones on MZ's and such-not .... Trying to think of the Italian marque which used 'em.... ANYWAY yeah - the bigger the front drum, the wider the mag rims, the sexier IMHO. So if I had my druthers, if I could find some mag wheels to carve up & weld-widen for a replica set of this type of thing - I'd be keen on a rear drum of the 180mm to 200mm spec, preferably five spoke mag but seven spoke or six spoke would do - Heck I'd use a matched pair front and rear, and just get the rear one weld-widened - I could actually see some XS650 rear mags coming in handy for this type of thing - 'cause there's no cush-drive back there which would need to be milled away. Even the 16" ones could make for some very cool wheels. I figure a milled-down cush could make for the appearance of the cast-in ribs of the original MZ seven-spoke mags. I dunno - I mean, there's not much else I'd wanna DO with this type of thing. I've even used some 19" front disc-type Kawasaki 7-spoke wheels for the base on a swivel chair - and I'm looking around for some more busted up swivel chairs so I can use the REST of my collection! Ha-ha. No - really though.

Well - whatever. It's just remarkable to me that nobody's tried to make a replica of these very specialized wheels. I suppose even the Harley Davidson fans are only embarrassed by the fact that Aermacchi is not only responsible for their only Grand Prix victories, but also for the best and coolest parts that went onto Harleys in the early to mid '70s - like the 2.50x18" rear un-marked Borrani rims from '75 XLH etc, which I'm using for FRONT rims on Honda hubs. VERY choice parts for a Harley, heck for ANY production bike of the period, those were some really nice rims! But yeah - I'm just sayin' - on the one hand, there aren't that many Aermacchi too-smoke TWINS to make "replica" racers from. But you'd think that maybe some of the "Harley" SPRINT owners would be diggin' the "HYDROCONICO" wheels?

It's a friggin' shame. IMHO - if they had made those very same brakes available as a WIRE-SPOKE hub? They would've sold ZILLIONS of the things! They'd probably be making 'em even to this day. Ah, but I guess it wasn't meant to be.

Makes one think though - Gotta wonder whether some of those light aircraft hydraulic conical-disc/drum brake systems could be retro-fitted into some decent-sized 2LS drum hubs??? Would be a VERY interesting replica part.

I suppose there are already the "DROMOBRAKE" hydraulic replicas of Grimeca etc 4LS drums - themselves really more of a replica of the Spanish SANGLAS internal disc systems, from the Sanglas 400 single. A very interesting design, but is capped at the limit of 230mm in the replica Grimeca Dromo-Brake system - the very same diameter of the floating vented rotors in the CBX550F "Faux-Leading-Shoe" drum hubs - But where the DROMO/SANGLAS turns the hub center into ONE disc, the Honda version has TWO (or one, in the CBX400F or MVX250F and such-not, VF400F etc) And it's calipers are floating calipers where each caliper pistons travels twice as far to do the work as twice as many pistons, ergo one could think of the CBX550F's four front pistons as EIGHT pistons, while the DROMO only has the four in total, working opposed on the one disc. Same diameter, "all things being equal" as they say, the Honda version is TWICE the stopping power of the Dromo/Sanglas design. Though apparently the Dromo/Sanglas system does have the ONE ADVANTAGE, in that it's PAD material covers a broader area, to whit more of the "disc's" swept-area is in contact with pad material at any given time. If the hydraulics could support this with enough pressure, it could be all the difference they need!

But the Hydroconico, more to the point, is supposed to be somehow synergistic between drums & discs, and thereby somehow managed to be more powerful than either. The light aircraft engineers wouldn't select this type of brake if there wasn't something to it. Mainly it's about the compact size & being able to fit it internally. Yeah, motorcycle wheels are usually a lot bigger than airplane wheels. However, the typical drum-brake HUB is right about the appropriate diameter to compare the two directly.

It would certainly be interesting to see whether some of those compact aircraft TIRES could find their way onto a scooter or motorcycle. Actually - wasn't that just what was done with that really crazy dust-bin fairing HENDERSON??? If so, then I'd say it's an idea well worth pursuing! I'm thinking of the more tiny ones though. For a proper SCOOTER-scooter.

The main reason I think of it, is it would be the most direct way to test out the hydroconic disc-drum brakes on a BIKE.

Well - whatever. Whatever their effect as a brake, I'm sure we've already GOT more powerful brakes available.

And as such, the Aermacchi too-smoke twins, with Campagnolo Hydroconic RIMS on 'em, are gonna have to remain a regular fixture in my BIKE-PORN wank sessions.....
 
What the heck was the name of the bike, where the guy built new crank-cases for an Aermacchi TWIN? Not the liquid-cooled two-stroke twin RACER that won Harley Davidson the 350cc Grand Prix title - but rather, it was two 350cc Harley SPRINT heads, the four-stroke Aermacchi single - It strikes ME as about the most awesome sort of Aermacchi out there in the world - He did something different with the crank, IIRC, to where it wasn't the full 700cc's - But when you think about what could be DONE with this type of thing - especially NOW, when everybody and his DAWG is building a 1200cc RD400-derived V6 motor (Seen it recently in "Practical Sportsbike" Magazine? Stuffed into some type of modern crotch-rocket engine, sadly it wasn't done up like a vintage TZ750 which I think would've been waaaaay more interesting!) Seriously, maybe somebody could resurrect THAT whole business model, by putting together a frame a crank-shaft and some center-cases - maybe the crank itself could even be pressed together at your local shop - The potential for grabbing two Ala D'Oro 408cc engines and turning it into an 816cc twin, maybe even stroking the engine a wee bit and gleaning a 900cc twin - WOW wouldn't that be something?

I mean, there were a lot of potential street-bikes which never made it to production -

There was the planned 3rd-generation ENFIELD twin, the Interceptor 750 type of thing - IMHO that's what the factories over in INDIA should be fixated with dredging up from the dead! With the Enfield Interceptor RICKMAN chassis? Oh MY. But yeah - the 3rd-generation engine was supposed to grow upwards to around 900cc's itself.

And then there was the Czech CZ Type 860 air-cooled V4, mid to late '60s Grand Prix racer and legitimate threat to Hailwood on the RC-181 and Agostini on the MV Agusta DOHC-4 and DOHC-3 championship machines - IF it had gotten any decent factory backing at all let alone sponsorship, rather than being the pet project of a few genius engineers.... THAT was also projected as a street-bike in the 800cc's plus category/class. It was raced in various 480 through something like 650cc maybe close to 750cc configurations - the street-bike would've had MASSIVE power if it were a bigger bore version of that thing. IMHO if it had won, early '70s Superbikes might never have been built in the INLINE configuration in the first place - Hence my big idea for a VF1100C/VF1100S Magna/Sabre based homage to it, the "Honda CZ860 Sand-Cast" project....

Yeah, there were some truly awesome single-cylinder Aermacchi racers & race-bred street-bikes, the SOUND they make is such a lovely sloppy-floppy THUMPER sound, just sooo sexy on the eardrums.

And in North America possibly the most common form to encounter were the re-badged HARLEY SPRINT etc - though they might be priced a lil' higher for the Harley badging, so an Aermacchi might be the better, not to mention more HONEST purchase. Oh, but those reproduction FRAMES man - I forget who it is, but the above pictured GREEN bike was a modern re-interpretation of which, that they were selling as a kit or pre-assembled bike. But they ALSO sold something like five or six other replicas of the full on boutique café-racer frame kits that were made, from Rickman and Dresda etc - I dunno who the other frame builders were - Perhaps a Moretti chassis? The guy who built that gorgeous chassis for the Ducati Pantah? NO idea who they were.

One of 'em might have been BIMOTA, but then again IIRC the one "Harley" Bimota "HDB" model, (should've been some type of IRONHEAD thing, IMHO - and then do an Aermacchi AB model!) was actually based around that race engine the liquid-cooled too-smoke two-cylinder thing.

Seriously though - much as the Harley SPRINT is an interesting bike, how much infinitely cooler of a custom could be made with one of those frame kits??? Ugh - I only wish that some frame maker felt the same way about say - the dozen-odd custom frames that were made for the Honda DOHC-4 CB900F/CB1100R/CB1100F etc. Now THAT'S something I would snap up in a HEARTBEAT....

Seriously though - too many vintage Aermacchi survivors going straight into the restorations and static collections - it would be fantastic to see some of 'em come off as DIY Café Racer specials. Even if they're semi modernized with the cast/mag wheels like the green bike pictured above. Not too crazy about those 17" crotch-rocket wheels - on ANYTHING - but picture that thing with some slightly narrower 17" WIRE-SPOKE rims, some WM2 & WM3 vintage Akront valanced/flanged/shouldered rims in 17", with some of those odd-ball 17" bias-ply tires from back in the '70s. Mmmmmmm.......

-S.
 
Fist bike is an Ala D'oro in a Rickman Metisse chassis kit with updated suspension and wheels. The second is a 2 stroke twin as raced by Walter Villa and others as hoof already mentioned. I think they called it an RR250.

Two Aermacchi top ends on a common crankcase was a LINTO made by Lino Toni but don't quote me on the spelling. They were supposedly fast but very fragile. Google is for lots of pictures.

Back to the 250 4 stroke racer, The street bike was the Sprint IIRC with different chassis. You could get a replica Metisse style frame made up and slot a sprint motor into it. If you had a complete, street legal sprint, keet teh motor and steering head and attach new frame tubes.

There were other race frames manufactured in small quantities back in the day and engines came in 250 350 and maybe other sizes. Found this http://flashbackfab.com/how-to-build-a-racer/

The other frame kit that used to be popular was Drixton.

AHRMA racer Chuck Davis built an immaculate replica a few years ago and I think the frame came from the Netherlands and much of the work was done by EV Engineering in MI. I found one picture on his web site.

And after a few minutes I found this site: http://www.aermacchi-racing.com/n click on frame kits for more detail.

Of course if you are interested in the RR250, no need to go to those sites :)
 
Don't have to be an actual Ala D'Oro, like I say. A re-badged "Harley" sprint, maybe even a 250cc and dig up a big-bore kit for it? People are making replica parts for that. And then the replica frame. Build the wheels from scratch, replica bodywork - That's how probably 99% of the "Ala D'Oro" models out there on the road got started. It's not like they're actual works racers, bought out of the lovingly doted on collections, dredged out of mothballs and stuck on the road for some young adrenaline addict to thrash. Gawd, how I WISH. There ought to be a charity organization doing nothing but exactly that.

No seriously though - these days, you see parts from Green-Frame Ducatis like their wheels with the Borrani rims with the correct four-digit NUMBERS stamped on the rim (denoting nothing but that they were drilled to suit the hubs in question, when a MODERN wheel builder like Buchanan's would do the job a thousand times more accurately!) selling for easily TEN TIMES what it would cost to build 'em from scratch from brand new Grimeca hubs and either NOS and/OR new production replica rims. Same deal with vintage 4LS drum hubs - wheels listed for somewhere in the area of TEN GRAND - just the friggin' one front wheel! Meanwhile, that's only talking about a Fontana 210mm drum, practically a 200mm Suzuki 4LS like I've got for the Kid's "KZ440LOL" in real world terms - But you can buy a full-on Magnesium 250mm Fontana with the air-scoop type side-plates, for well under THREE TO FIVE grand, then an additional two-hundred to five-hundred bucks MAX, for the spokes and an NOS rim. Talking like a beat up old used & rusted, clapped-out USED wheel, for more than double the value of the brand new one with stainless spokes & super-accurate rim drilling. As compared to how the vintage rims used to be done - three sizes, for disc hubs and 100mm-ish drums, for 160mm-ish drums, and 200mm-plus sized drums. Cost extra if you're drilling for a conical hub. The four-digit "CORRECT" rims denoted nothing more than that they were made for that specific hub - but it doesn't mean there's anything else different about it. And seriously - them Grimeca DISC hubs are RIDICULOUSLY CHEAP compared to the replica DRUM hubs. Talking like ... people have paid more for HONDA CB750 hubs, from what I've seen happen on eBay.....

But yeah, if you really wanted to do it up right, all you're really looking for is an ENGINE for a donor bike! The rest of it is out there.

Check out MOTOCICLI VELOCI MILANO - IMHO the far better source than even DISCO VOLANTE MOTO - they're both decent sources for vintage race parts. But Veloci seems more oriented toward the Aermacchi Ala D'Oro. They'll even BUILD the damn things for you, have had 'em listed for sale over & over again.

The awesome thing about doing it this way however, is there's nothing being CHOPPED UP as you say. Maybe a couple of beat up old engines that are in desperate need of being rebuilt anyhow - What's the harm in that? I suppose it would leave a bunch of spares left over, one whole transmission and cases, at least - But that's the cost of rebuilding ANY engine, is that there are gonna be damaged parts rejected from a build - Ergo, any left-over bits that are perfectly useful, are gonna help somebody fix up another one. IMHO it's a win-win. Ditch a decent SPRINT frame that's not heavily rusted & all clapped-out? Pass it on and replace the one that IS wrecked. It's All Good, Man.

Now I can't speak to the final costs of such a project, especially given the need for the one-off replica modified crank-case stuff. Let alone the replica one-off FRAME for the same. However one thing is for sure - it's gonna work out better than the original collectors' bikes. Well, IF they're properly appraised for their own intrinsic historical value that is. Plenty of vintage bikes AREN'T. But give it another few years and they'll ALL be worth more than it'd cost to build 'em. I mean, look at what's happening with the GODIER VINCENT, or the SUNBEAM S3 - people dug out the old tooling & ran off another series of parts.

I'd like to think it could be done with EVERY old bike factory. Like - like those old Soviet small-arms factories that were moved whole-sale to China & other up & coming Communist super-powers. Just box up all of the factory machines - or at the very least, the jigs & other tooling which was specialized & used upon those machines - box 'em up and stuff 'em into some dusty garage, LABEL EVERYTHING, go up into the office and box up the blue-prints & production plans - give the youngest yet most knowledgeable factory floor employees a lifetime contract for free room & board so as to preserve the unwritten knowledge - Then in another generation when they want to dig it all out again, it's a turn-key business.

But even if it ain't, people have still figured out how to do it - like those replica Honda RC-series DOHC-5 & DOHC-6 racers. Took a whole TON of research to get the replicas right. Though for all intents and purposes, it would have taken LESS research to make the parts more durable using MODERN methods, to copy only the exterior shape of the engine but to build it the new way - Of course, this would affect the final running SOUND and FEEL of a bike - all very important when it's the motorcycle equivalent of the STRADAVARIUS VIOLIN! Cello I suppose, if it's an RC-181.... But yeah, replicas can and should be made with newer and better components - witness the CBR250 based RC-replicas. Let alone the CBX and DOHC CB750K based Hailwood replicas, or my own "CB900K0 Bol Bomber" effectively two CB450K0 Black Bomber engines strapped side-by-side. (Well, in terms of power output per litre displacement, they're the same! Except that my rebuilt motor puts it more in the category of two CB500T's strapped up tight....) Or somewhere down the road, when I manage to pull off a batch-produced replica of the alloy CB1100R gas tank off of my "Bol Bomber", (polished up "toaster tank" style, of course) AND some Comstar rims with lighter replacement hubs and Akront NERVI rims for wider tires etc, somebody will be able to take a 2010+ CB1100 and make a replica of either '81 or '82/'83 CB1100R - built up to modern specs of course. Though I suppose more modern bike fans would rather see a replica frame kit of the "CB1100R" PROTOTYPE from the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show.... Either way: There IS a place for all of that stuff. And it's my earnest hope that the net effect of it all will be that the NEW bikes will come out with the retro-fried aesthetics to compete with the original classics for our hearts & minds & wallets. Needs to happen with CARS too. Though it's a tough row to hoe, when the current version of the "MINI" is bigger than my lil' GRRRL'z Toyota Yaris. They need to make a Fiat 500 and Morris Mini that's scaled right, down to the size of the originals. But if at least the mainstream models could once and for all ditch the TUPPERWEAR design philosophy. Not the plastic - plastic is your FRIEND it helps to shed weight and helps to extend the lifespan of components - if it's the right kind of plastic that is. But yeah, it's the DESIGN sensibilities that they need to bring back from the dead. To get rid of the "carved from a block of cheese" computer design aids. Dig out the French Curves from mothballs. If they can pair that stuff with the new generation of ELECTRIC vehicles, then they needn't push the tech to the point where electric cars compete with the ridiculous horsepower of modern sports cars - Just make 'em the same power & weight of the vehicles from the era that their aesthetics wish to emulate, and people might just settle for another Carman Ghia - I mean, why NOT? It would be a real win-win. Build 'em to fall apart like the formula-1 racers, and stuff 'em full of air-bags, and there'd be no need for all of the heavy steel unibody cage construction anymore, 'cause they'd probably be safer than modern cars. Especially when the big heavy shit is no longer on the road anymore, and they needn't fear being crushed like a bug on the windshield of a HUMMER or some such.

Well it will certainly happen with bikes before it happens with autos. But I welcome it. ALMOST went out and bought the new CB1100 instead of a '79-'83 model, but after a long time shopping I found just the right complete package in an '82 CB900F - And there aren't enough aftermarket upgrades for the new bike - YET. There will be SOON though. Much as a vintage DOHC-4 enthusiast might feel compelled to kick the tires on the new bikes, there couldn't be a new Honda model more welcome to the vintage scene, IMHO - If it's truly successful, maybe the REST of Honda's model line-up will henceforth carry forward the vintage aesthetics. Yeah, I'd much rather see them same beautiful sculpted fins dressing up a liquid-cooled max horsepower flagship CBR series monster, but this was a good place to start!

Who knows, maybe some day the Aermacchi twins will make it to new production? Not just the twin SPRINT head four-strokes, but the Grand Prix liquid-cooled Too-Smoke models as well?

Best thing they could do? ANY of those old vintage companies, and the people who hold the rights to them? Do what Honda did with it's Cub & CB125 engines, and let the Chinese set up factories copying all of that vintage tech. North Korea if needs be! ANYBODY - so long as it means replica Aermacchi engines coming back into production. Would be nice if HONDA themselves could take something away from this lesson, and the next time they give old engine plans to a brand new factory? Give 'em the plans for the RC-181 - let the Chinese pop off thousands of copies of THAT engine. Probably the one and only engine that this MIGHT happen with, would be if the Enfield India factory popped off some Rickman Interceptor twins - You can really see that they were thinking about just that, with their new Café Racer model. Even so - I'M not holding my breath for ANY of that stuff to happen. People being what they are.

A person's just gonna have to whip up their OWN dream bike. If you want something DONE, gotta put in the work yourself. But it doesn't hurt to borrow from elsewhere, to "stand on the shoulders of giants". Which is why ANY vintage race-bike that I might want most in this world, I'm looking to the cheapo 2nd-hand '80s HONDA models for engines in a similar configuration!

-S.
 
SoyBoySigh said:
Don't have to be an actual Ala D'Oro, like I say. A re-badged "Harley" sprint, maybe even a 250cc and dig up a big-bore kit for it? People are making replica parts for that. And then the replica frame. Build the wheels from scratch, replica bodywork - That's how probably 99% of the "Ala D'Oro" models out there on the road got started. It's not like they're actual works racers, bought out of the lovingly doted on collections, dredged out of mothballs and stuck on the road for some young adrenaline addict to thrash. Gawd, how I WISH. There ought to be a charity organization doing nothing but exactly that.

No seriously though - these days, you see parts from Green-Frame Ducatis like their wheels with the Borrani rims with the correct four-digit NUMBERS stamped on the rim (denoting nothing but that they were drilled to suit the hubs in question, when a MODERN wheel builder like Buchanan's would do the job a thousand times more accurately!) selling for easily TEN TIMES what it would cost to build 'em from scratch from brand new Grimeca hubs and either NOS and/OR new production replica rims. Same deal with vintage 4LS drum hubs - wheels listed for somewhere in the area of TEN GRAND - just the friggin' one front wheel! Meanwhile, that's only talking about a Fontana 210mm drum, practically a 200mm Suzuki 4LS like I've got for the Kid's "KZ440LOL" in real world terms - But you can buy a full-on Magnesium 250mm Fontana with the air-scoop type side-plates, for well under THREE TO FIVE grand, then an additional two-hundred to five-hundred bucks MAX, for the spokes and an NOS rim. Talking like a beat up old used & rusted, clapped-out USED wheel, for more than double the value of the brand new one with stainless spokes & super-accurate rim drilling. As compared to how the vintage rims used to be done - three sizes, for disc hubs and 100mm-ish drums, for 160mm-ish drums, and 200mm-plus sized drums. Cost extra if you're drilling for a conical hub. The four-digit "CORRECT" rims denoted nothing more than that they were made for that specific hub - but it doesn't mean there's anything else different about it. And seriously - them Grimeca DISC hubs are RIDICULOUSLY CHEAP compared to the replica DRUM hubs. Talking like ... people have paid more for HONDA CB750 hubs, from what I've seen happen on eBay.....

But yeah, if you really wanted to do it up right, all you're really looking for is an ENGINE for a donor bike! The rest of it is out there.

Check out MOTOCICLI VELOCI MILANO - IMHO the far better source than even DISCO VOLANTE MOTO - they're both decent sources for vintage race parts. But Veloci seems more oriented toward the Aermacchi Ala D'Oro. They'll even BUILD the damn things for you, have had 'em listed for sale over & over again.

The awesome thing about doing it this way however, is there's nothing being CHOPPED UP as you say. Maybe a couple of beat up old engines that are in desperate need of being rebuilt anyhow - What's the harm in that? I suppose it would leave a bunch of spares left over, one whole transmission and cases, at least - But that's the cost of rebuilding ANY engine, is that there are gonna be damaged parts rejected from a build - Ergo, any left-over bits that are perfectly useful, are gonna help somebody fix up another one. IMHO it's a win-win. Ditch a decent SPRINT frame that's not heavily rusted & all clapped-out? Pass it on and replace the one that IS wrecked. It's All Good, Man.

Now I can't speak to the final costs of such a project, especially given the need for the one-off replica modified crank-case stuff. Let alone the replica one-off FRAME for the same. However one thing is for sure - it's gonna work out better than the original collectors' bikes. Well, IF they're properly appraised for their own intrinsic historical value that is. Plenty of vintage bikes AREN'T. But give it another few years and they'll ALL be worth more than it'd cost to build 'em. I mean, look at what's happening with the GODIER VINCENT, or the SUNBEAM S3 - people dug out the old tooling & ran off another series of parts.

I'd like to think it could be done with EVERY old bike factory. Like - like those old Soviet small-arms factories that were moved whole-sale to China & other up & coming Communist super-powers. Just box up all of the factory machines - or at the very least, the jigs & other tooling which was specialized & used upon those machines - box 'em up and stuff 'em into some dusty garage, LABEL EVERYTHING, go up into the office and box up the blue-prints & production plans - give the youngest yet most knowledgeable factory floor employees a lifetime contract for free room & board so as to preserve the unwritten knowledge - Then in another generation when they want to dig it all out again, it's a turn-key business.

But even if it ain't, people have still figured out how to do it - like those replica Honda RC-series DOHC-5 & DOHC-6 racers. Took a whole TON of research to get the replicas right. Though for all intents and purposes, it would have taken LESS research to make the parts more durable using MODERN methods, to copy only the exterior shape of the engine but to build it the new way - Of course, this would affect the final running SOUND and FEEL of a bike - all very important when it's the motorcycle equivalent of the STRADAVARIUS VIOLIN! Cello I suppose, if it's an RC-181.... But yeah, replicas can and should be made with newer and better components - witness the CBR250 based RC-replicas. Let alone the CBX and DOHC CB750K based Hailwood replicas, or my own "CB900K0 Bol Bomber" effectively two CB450K0 Black Bomber engines strapped side-by-side. (Well, in terms of power output per litre displacement, they're the same! Except that my rebuilt motor puts it more in the category of two CB500T's strapped up tight....) Or somewhere down the road, when I manage to pull off a batch-produced replica of the alloy CB1100R gas tank off of my "Bol Bomber", (polished up "toaster tank" style, of course) AND some Comstar rims with lighter replacement hubs and Akront NERVI rims for wider tires etc, somebody will be able to take a 2010+ CB1100 and make a replica of either '81 or '82/'83 CB1100R - built up to modern specs of course. Though I suppose more modern bike fans would rather see a replica frame kit of the "CB1100R" PROTOTYPE from the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show.... Either way: There IS a place for all of that stuff. And it's my earnest hope that the net effect of it all will be that the NEW bikes will come out with the retro-fried aesthetics to compete with the original classics for our hearts & minds & wallets. Needs to happen with CARS too. Though it's a tough row to hoe, when the current version of the "MINI" is bigger than my lil' GRRRL'z Toyota Yaris. They need to make a Fiat 500 and Morris Mini that's scaled right, down to the size of the originals. But if at least the mainstream models could once and for all ditch the TUPPERWEAR design philosophy. Not the plastic - plastic is your FRIEND it helps to shed weight and helps to extend the lifespan of components - if it's the right kind of plastic that is. But yeah, it's the DESIGN sensibilities that they need to bring back from the dead. To get rid of the "carved from a block of cheese" computer design aids. Dig out the French Curves from mothballs. If they can pair that stuff with the new generation of ELECTRIC vehicles, then they needn't push the tech to the point where electric cars compete with the ridiculous horsepower of modern sports cars - Just make 'em the same power & weight of the vehicles from the era that their aesthetics wish to emulate, and people might just settle for another Carman Ghia - I mean, why NOT? It would be a real win-win. Build 'em to fall apart like the formula-1 racers, and stuff 'em full of air-bags, and there'd be no need for all of the heavy steel unibody cage construction anymore, 'cause they'd probably be safer than modern cars. Especially when the big heavy shit is no longer on the road anymore, and they needn't fear being crushed like a bug on the windshield of a HUMMER or some such.

Well it will certainly happen with bikes before it happens with autos. But I welcome it. ALMOST went out and bought the new CB1100 instead of a '79-'83 model, but after a long time shopping I found just the right complete package in an '82 CB900F - And there aren't enough aftermarket upgrades for the new bike - YET. There will be SOON though. Much as a vintage DOHC-4 enthusiast might feel compelled to kick the tires on the new bikes, there couldn't be a new Honda model more welcome to the vintage scene, IMHO - If it's truly successful, maybe the REST of Honda's model line-up will henceforth carry forward the vintage aesthetics. Yeah, I'd much rather see them same beautiful sculpted fins dressing up a liquid-cooled max horsepower flagship CBR series monster, but this was a good place to start!

Who knows, maybe some day the Aermacchi twins will make it to new production? Not just the twin SPRINT head four-strokes, but the Grand Prix liquid-cooled Too-Smoke models as well?

Best thing they could do? ANY of those old vintage companies, and the people who hold the rights to them? Do what Honda did with it's Cub & CB125 engines, and let the Chinese set up factories copying all of that vintage tech. North Korea if needs be! ANYBODY - so long as it means replica Aermacchi engines coming back into production. Would be nice if HONDA themselves could take something away from this lesson, and the next time they give old engine plans to a brand new factory? Give 'em the plans for the RC-181 - let the Chinese pop off thousands of copies of THAT engine. Probably the one and only engine that this MIGHT happen with, would be if the Enfield India factory popped off some Rickman Interceptor twins - You can really see that they were thinking about just that, with their new Café Racer model. Even so - I'M not holding my breath for ANY of that stuff to happen. People being what they are.

A person's just gonna have to whip up their OWN dream bike. If you want something DONE, gotta put in the work yourself. But it doesn't hurt to borrow from elsewhere, to "stand on the shoulders of giants". Which is why ANY vintage race-bike that I might want most in this world, I'm looking to the cheapo 2nd-hand '80s HONDA models for engines in a similar configuration!

-S.

Dang mang! gonna get this published?
 
An awful lot of words for saying very little.

P.S. If you did a little less typing and a bit more searching and wander over to aermacchi-racing.com you can order up a complete engine and frame and just about anything Aermacchi you heart desires. Just hope your wallet is as big as your posts.
 
Mine is too small but in a pinch i could be legal. one afiddavit and you have title in Ontario.
 

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