The MV Agusta 203 Bialbero and MV Agusta 220 Bialbero were Italian

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...

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 circuits or open courses, and track racing. Ot ...

s made by

MV Agusta MV Agusta (, full name: MV AGUSTA Motor S.p.A., original name: Meccanica Verghera Agusta or MV) is a motorcycle manufacturer founded by Count Domenico Agusta on 19 January 1945 as one of the branches of the Agusta aircraft company near Milan in ...

to compete in the 1955 250 cc World Motorcycle Racing Championship. The machine won three GPs and with it MV Agusta won that year's 250 cc Constructors Championship.

History

Meccania Verghera Agusta SpA in

Gallarate Gallarate (; Lombard: ''Galaraa'') is a city and ''comune'' of Alto Milanese of Lombardy and of Milan metropolitan area, northern Italy, in the Province of Varese. It has a population of some 54,000 people. It is the junction of railways to Va ...

manufactured

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

s, but its director, Count Domenico Agusta, was a big fan of

motorsport Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

and he had already taken the first steps towards

road racing Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on publ ...

with his own

motorcycles 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, ...

in the late 1940s. In 1950 he hired Piero Remor and

Arturo Magni Arturo Magni (Usmate Velate, 24 September 1925 - Samarate, 2 December 2015) was an Italian engineer racing team manager and entrepreneur. Early life Arturo Magni was born in Usmate Velate, near Milan in the Lombardy region of Italy on 24 Septem ...

, two designers who had successfully worked for

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 ...

. They first made the

MV Agusta 125 Bialbero The MV Agusta 125 Bialbero was a 125 cc factory racer from the Italian brand MV Agusta, which was used between 1950 and 1960. The machine won 34 GPs, 6 rider's championships and one manufacturer's championship. The machine also won 4 Italian Cham ...

, which bore similarities to the

Benelli Benelli may refer to: *Benelli Armi SpA, an Italian firearm manufacturer *Benelli (motorcycles), an Italian motorcycle manufacturer *HSR-Benelli, an Austrian-Italian manufacturer of personal watercraft * Andrea Benelli (born 1960), Italian sports sh ...

250cc racer, and the MV Agusta 500 4C, an almost exact copy of the Gilera 500 4C. Eventually the count wanted to race in more and more classes, and so the racing department was commissioned to design a racing engine for the 250cc class.

MV Agusta 203 Bialbero

By 1955, the 125 Bialbero had already been enlarged to 175 cc version, because the 175 cc class was still very popular in Italy at the time. The machine was further expanded to 203 cc to compete in the 250 cc

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. MV Agusta selected their riders from three retained riders dependent on the race:

Bill Lomas Bill Lomas (8 March 1928 – 14 August 2007) was an English Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle road racing, road racer. He was a two-time List of Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champions by year, World Champion and a two-ti ...

, mainly because of his knowledge of the British circuits,

Umberto Masetti Umberto Masetti (4 May 1926 - 28 May 2006) was an Italian two-time World Champion Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. In 1950, he became the first Italian to win the 500cc World Championship. Career Masetti was born in Borgo delle Rose, in the ...

and

Luigi Taveri Luigi Taveri (19 September 1929 – 1 March 2018) was a Swiss professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He competed in the FIM motorcycle Grand Prix world championships from 1954 to 1966. Taveri is notable for being a three-time 125cc roa ...

.Luigi Taveri career statistics at MotoGP.com
/ref> Lomas had a busy season, as he was also employed by

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 ...

in the 350 and 500 cc classes. The

Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May/June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907. The event is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world ...

, in particular, was a busy week for him, as he started in four classes: the Lightweight 125 cc TT (fourth with the MV Agusta 125 Bialbero), theLightweight 250 cc TT (first with the MV Agusta 203 Bialbero), the 350cc Junior TT (first with the Moto Guzzi Monocilindrica 350) and the 500cc Senior TT (seventh with the Moto Guzzi Monocilindrica 500). Two wins for Lomas, but also the first win for the 203cc MV Agusta. Masetti and Taveri also started in the Lightweight 250 cc TT, but both dropped out.

MV Agusta 220 Bialbero

After the 1955 Isle of Man TT the machine was further enlarged to 220 cc by increasing the bore. At the next race, the

German motorcycle Grand Prix The German motorcycle Grand Prix, first held in 1925, is a part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Championship since 1952. The event is due to take place at the Sachsenring until at least 2026. History The first two ''Großer Preis von ...

at the

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...

, only Taveri started and finished fourth. In

Assen Assen () is a municipality and a city in the northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital (politics), capital of the province of Drenthe. It received City rights in the Netherlands, city rights in 1809. Assen is known for TT Circuit Assen, the ...

, Taveri won convincingly, with a 41 seconds ahead second placed Masetti.

Hermann Paul Müller Hermann Paul Müller (21 November 190930 December 1975) was a German sidecar, motorcycle, and race car driver. Müller started his competitive career on an Imperia in 1928. He became German Sidecar Champion in 1932, then in 1936, he took the Ge ...

finished third on the NSU Sportmax. Although only third, it was clear that he was competition for the world title. However, the rankings of Taveri and Masetti were very important for the constructors' title. In the

Ulster Grand Prix The Ulster Grand Prix is a motorcycle race that takes place on the Dundrod Circuit made up entirely of closed-off public roads near Belfast, Northern Ireland. The first races took place in 1922 and in 1935 and 1948 the Fédération Internation ...

, Müller was only sixth, but MV Agusta did not do well, Masetti was in third and Lomas fourth. In the final race, the GP des Nations at

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

Carlo Ubbiali Carlo Ubbiali (22 September 19292 June 2020) was an Italian nine-time World Champion motorcycle road racer. In the 1950s, he was a dominant force in the smaller classes of Grand Prix motorcycle racing, winning six 125cc and three 250cc world tit ...

, who was already 125 cc world champion, won the 250cc class for MV Agusta, with Lomas fifth and Masetti sixth. The world title went to "HP" Müller, Bill Lomas came in second, Luigi Taveri fourth, Umberto Masetti fifth and Carlo Ubbiali seventh. MV Agusta won the constructor's title. In

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

the MV Agusta 220 Bialbero was succeeded by a fully-fledged 250cc machine, the MV Agusta 250 Monocilindrica Bialbero.

Technical data

The 203 Bialbero had an

air-cooled Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. In all combustion engines, a great percentage of the heat ge ...

single-cylinder A single-cylinder engine, sometimes called a thumper, is a piston engine with one cylinder. This engine is often used for motorcycles, motor scooters, go-karts, all-terrain vehicles, radio-controlled vehicles, portable tools and garden machinery ( ...

four-stroke engine A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

with double overhead camshafts (DOHC). The camshafts were driven by a

gear train A gear train is a mechanical system formed by mounting gears on a frame so the teeth of the gears engage. Gear teeth are designed to ensure the pitch circles of engaging gears roll on each other without slipping, providing a smooth transmission ...

. The

valves A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...

were at an angle of 90° to each other and were closed by hairpin valve springs. The bore and

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

were 68 mm × 56 mm, giving an

engine displacement Engine displacement is the measure of the cylinder volume swept by all of the pistons of a piston engine, excluding the combustion chambers. It is commonly used as an expression of an engine's size, and by extension as a loose indicator of the ...

of 203.4 cc. After the Isle of Man TT, the bore was increased to 71 mm, giving a capacity of 220 cc. A Wet multi-plate was driven by gears from the

crankshaft A crankshaft is a mechanical component used in a piston engine to convert the reciprocating motion into rotational motion. The crankshaft is a rotating shaft containing one or more crankpins, that are driven by the pistons via the connecting ...

. The machine had five gears and the rear wheel was driven by a

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A c ...

. The MV Agusta had a double cradle frame that was constructed from chrome molybdenum tubes with a diameter of 25 mm × 1.2 mm. The front fork was a

telescopic fork A telescopic fork is a form of motorcycle front suspension whose use is so common that it is virtually universal. The telescopic fork uses fork tubes and sliders which contain the springs and dampers. The main advantages of the telescopic fork ...

, and the rear suspension was

swingarm A swingarm, or "swinging arm" (UK), originally known as a swing fork or pivoted fork, is a single or double sided mechanical device which attaches the rear wheel of a motorcycle to its body, allowing it to pivot vertically. The main component of ...

with hydraulic

shock absorber A shock absorber or damper is a mechanical or hydraulic device designed to absorb and damp shock impulses. It does this by converting the kinetic energy of the shock into another form of energy (typically heat) which is then dissipated. Most sh ...

References

Bibliography

* {{MV Agusta 203 220 Bialbero Grand Prix motorcycles Motorcycles introduced in 1955 Single-cylinder motorcycles