- Joined
- Jun 30, 2012
- Messages
- 13,250
Om thinking about the Aermacchi thread, I have come to realise that I have taken many guys knowledge for granted. My knowledge of 60's race bikes has come because I lived and raced in that era. In the early 60s, the top race bike was the 500cc short stroke Manx Norton, - Gileras and MVs were way beyond the reach of most of us. In the lower capacity classes, the 1958 AJS 7R, the short stroke 350cc Manx and the 350cc DBD 32 BSA were tops. The Aermacchi Ala D'Oro 350 came along a little bit too late. But most of the 350cc bikes were good for about 44 BHP compared with a top 500cc Manx which had 50 BHP. The Aermacchi 350 is much lighter than a 500cc Manx. Today, a good guy on a 350 Aermacchi would give the average guy on a 500cc Manx a bad fright. Usually you find the idiots who write the historic racing rules, stop the two from racing against each other. Dave Roper riding the Aermacchi on the IOM is interesting - a very good combination.