Lino Tonti (September 16, 1920 – June 8, 2002) was an Italian

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

engineer known for designing a number of

sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

and

racing motorcycle Motorcycle racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) is the motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major varieties include motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on Race track, circuits or open courses, and track ...

s in the 1950s and 1960s, and for creating his signature 'Tonti frame' for

Moto Guzzi Moto Guzzi is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer and the oldest European manufacturer in continuous motorcycle production. Established in 1921 in Mandello del Lario, Italy, the company is noted for its historic role in Italy's motorcycling ma ...

's 1971 V7 Sport, setting his stamp on all Moto Guzzis since.

Career

Tonti's first job was at Benelli, where he worked on a road-racing supercharged , and then after World War II he went to

Aermacchi Aermacchi was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Formerly known as Aeronautica Macchi, the company was founded in 1912 by Giulio Macchi at Varese in north-western Lombardy as Nieuport-Macchi, to build Nieuport monoplanes under licence for the Ita ...

. In 1957 he went to work for Count Giuseppe Boselli at F.B. Mondial, and helped break MV Agusta's

Moto GP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start of ...

dominance of lightweight Grand Prix motorcycle racing in that year. After Mondial made a secret deal with

Gilera Gilera is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer founded in Arcore in 1909 by Giuseppe Gilera (1887–1971). In 1969, the company was purchased by Piaggio. History In 1935, Gilera acquired rights to the Rondine four-cylinder engine. It was, at th ...

, Moto Guzzi, and MV Agusta to stop racing at the end of 1957, Tonti went to

Bianchi Bianchi may refer to: Places *Bianchi, Calabria, a ''comune'' in the Province of Cosenza, Italy Manufacturing *Bianchi Bicycles (F.I.V. Edoardo Bianchi S.p.A.), an Italian manufacturer of bicycles, and former manufacturer of motorcycles and a ...

where he designed 250 cc four-stroke . Lino Tonti joined

in 1967 to replace Carcano. There he developed the V7 Sport and the small-block V50. In the 1970s, Tonti helped his longtime friend Reno Leoni in his efforts to fit Ducati

fork In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from la, furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tine (structural), tines with which one ...

dampers in the Moto Guzzi racer he was campaigning in American

AMA Superbike AMA Superbike Championship is an American motorcycle racing series that has been run every year beginning in 1976. For most of its existence it has been considered the premier motorcycle road racing series in the United States. It is sanctioned b ...

racing.

Linto racing motorcycle

In 1967, Tonti built the Linto Grand Prix racer with his assistant Alcide Biotti. The motorcycle was powered by a pair of 250cc

Harley Davidson Harley may refer to: People * Harley (given name) * Harley (surname) Places * Harley, Ontario, a township in Canada * Harley, Brant County, Ontario, Canada * Harley, Shropshire, England * Harley, South Yorkshire, England * Harley Street, in L ...

four-stroke, single-cylinder engines joined together. It was a six-speed

pushrod A valvetrain or valve train is a mechanical system that controls the operation of the intake and exhaust valves in an internal combustion engine. The intake valves control the flow of air/fuel mixture (or air alone for direct-injected engines) ...

straight-twin engine A straight-twin engine, also known as an inline-twin, vertical-twin, or parallel-twin, is a two-cylinder piston engine whose cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. Straight-twin engines are primarily used in motorcycles; ot ...

using the cylinders and heads from Aermacchi's horizontal

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

DS racer, combined with a new crankcase. The machine attained fourth place in the 1968 championship, and placed second in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

, and continued to make appearances against more powerful two-strokes in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

, 1971 and

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tonti, Lino 1920 births 2002 deaths People from the Province of Ravenna Italian motorcycle designers Moto Guzzi designers