A Brief History of the Italian Marque
Arturo Magni was born in Usmate Velate, Milan, in 1925. After working with his father and later in the aviation industry with Bestetti, Arturo was employed by Gilera in 1947 where he worked with Piero Remor and other engineers on the first Gilera four-cylinder 500cc engine, developed from the CNA Rondine of pre-war fame. Gilera took six 500cc World Championships with the Rondine Four
Count Domenico Agusta had enticed Piero Remor away from Gilera in 1949. In 1950, Arturo Magni also joined the racing department of MV Agusta, and later became sports director.
MV became the stuff of legend. Piloted by many of the greatest riders of all time including Ubbiali, Surtees, Provini, Hailwood, Read and Agostini they won 75 World Championships.
In late 1976 the MV Agusta racing works closed and Arturo Magni, who had directed operations for 25 years, began a new career in his small but fully equipped workshop in Samarate, some 40km west of Milan.
Magni Monza
Magni transformed the delightful but somewhat staid MV 750 fours into road-burning sports machines, increasing the capacity and output, and converting them to chain drive.
Due to lack of engines and other essentails the project did not continue for many years.
Joined by his sons Carlo and Giovanni, Magni produced accessories such as handlebars, footrests and high-quality alloy wheels. The EPM (Elaborazioni Progettazioni Motociclistiche) [1] wheels became standard fittings on the motorcycle Magni range.
They also built specials in small quanties including the Magni Bol d'Or 900 (MH1 & MH2) and the Magni BMW 1000 (MB1 & MB2); these were beautiful performance machines but sales were few.
In 1985 Magni formed a relationship with Moto Guzzi which proved very successful. They became the focus of attention they presented the Magni Le Mans at that year's Milan Show. This fascinating machine featured parallelogram rear swinging arm and final drive, very similar in concept to those used on the Dr John Daytona winner and in Australia on the Fagerstrom bike.
Towards the end of the 90s Carlo had left the firm and Giovanni assumed management. An Australian Moto Guzzi dealer, Ted Stolarski, had a Magni racing machine built which featured White Power suspension and the latest Guzzi fuel-injected eight-valve engine. This performed creditably in the Bears series with several podium finishes, but of course they found the Britten rather hard to beat. Magni brought out a new model based on the Stolarski machine named the Magni Australia, of which some 120 were delivered in the early 1990s.
A Suzuki-powered machine, the Magni 1200S, arrived in 1999.
The majority of production was exported, mainly to Japan which has a Magni a club whose members have taken pilgrimage to Samarate, bringing with them their motorcycles which they have ridden from Amsterdam to Italy.
Magni Models
MV Agusta models included the 750S, 861cc four and 350cc twin.
MH1 - 1980 (Honda)
MH2 - 1980 (Honda), with fairing.
MB2 - 1982 (BMW)
LeMans 1000 - 1985 (Guzzi)
Classico 1000 - 1987 (Guzzi)
Arturo 1000 - 1987 (Guzzi)
Sfida 1000 - 1989 (Guzzi)
Sfida 400 - 1992 (Guzzi)
Australia - 1993 (Guzzi)
Sfida Ottovalvole - 1994 (Guzzi)
Sfida 1100 carb. - 1995 (Guzzi)
Sfida 1100 i.e. - 1997 (Guzzi)
Sfida 1000 4V - 1997 (Guzzi)
Australia 98 - 1998 (Guzzi)
Giappone 52 1050cc - 1998 (Guzzi). 52 units produced, most of which were sold in Japan.
Sport 1200 S - 1999-2000 (Suzuki). GSXR 1157cc engine. 10 produced of which six went to Japan. 750S styling.
Magni MV Mini-bike
Magni R3 2012 (BSA). A severely tweaked Rocket 3 engine in a Magni chassis, built in the UK. [2]
Notes.
1.
An article in Old Bike (Peter Laverty, Sept 2019) suggests that Elaborazioni Progettazioni Motociclistiche was the name of a separate business started by Carlos Magni, and that it was he who developed the wheels. Another article, published on the magni.it site, says that this was the original name of Arturo Magni's business before he began building complete motorcycles and changed the name to Magni.
2. A 2012 article posted to magni.it speaks of the Magni R3 930cc BSA Triple, saying it was commissioned by Triple Tecs in the United States and built in Italy by Magni. It had the appearance of an MV 500 GP machine.
Sources: Moto di Lombardia, magni.it, magni-bayern.de
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