Top Mountain Motorcycle Museum
Tragedy!
Top Mountain
Manufactured: 1924-1926
Auxiliary motor built by the Società Italiana di Applicazioni Tecniche of Senigallia, with offices in Rome.
Introduced at the 5th Milan Fair of 1924, the engine kit is complete with connections, tank, pipe and drive chain. The auxiliary two-stroke unit weighs 7 kg and has a displacement of 75cc. Fired by an Eisemann magneto and fed by a GC carburettor, it was the smallest auxiliary engine on the market in Italy at the time.
SIAT had a modern factory of around 1000 square meters with its own foundry, 30 lathes, and milling and grinding machines. Production was ten engines per day.
Production continued in 1925 with a variety of improvements and options. Range with the 2 litre tank was around 150 km, and optional performance enhancements allowed speeds of 60 km/h to be achieved.
Added to the catalogue were complete motorised bicycles using Rudge or Jenis frames. 1925 also saw good performance in competition, taking the "2021" speed record along with a major fuel economy trial.
In 1927, just as things were looking so rosy, the economy began to falter and like so many others, SIAT ceased production.
N.B. Tragatsch mentions a second engine, an ohv of 198cc.
Sources: MC Storico Conti, Benelli Museum, Tragatsch p271, et al
