MV Agusta 350 Triple
Racing Bikes MV Agusta 350 Triple | |
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MV Agusta 350 Triple
In 1965 the MV Agusta company hired a young racer named
Giacomo Agostini to back up its number-one driver, Mike Hailwood. Agostini had
made his debut in Senior racing in 1964, riding an official Moto Morini 250.
The youthful Agostini mastered the MV Agusta so quickly that he was put into the
world championship that same year. He drove the brand-new MV 350 three-cylinder
in its maiden race. This motorcycle had been built in hopes of recapturing the
350 title, which had been the property of the four-cylinder Honda for some time.
The MV Agusta 350 three-cylinder made its debut at Nurburgring,
which was a very tough track even for the
most experienced drivers. Giacomo Agostini started out in the lead and crossed
the finish line a good two minutes ahead of his teammate Hailwood, who was
riding the old 350 four-cylinder racer. Jim Redman, world champion in the class,
fell off his motorcycle while trying to keep up with Agostini. Fortunately
Redman was unharmed by the fall.
In 1965 the MV 350 three-cylinder and Agostini lost the
championship by a hair's breadth. The following year Hailwood switched to Honda
and Agostini had to race against the former champion of his team, without
winning. In 1967 Hailwood rode the new Honda 350 six-cylinder and kept his
distance. Honda withdrew from
acing in 1968, and Mike Hailwood decided to retire.
At this point Giacomo Agostini and MV Agusta had no one else to beat. They won
the world title four times with the three-cylinder.
At the 1966 Dutch Grand Prix, the MV Agusta company introduced a 500 model that
had been derived from the 350 three-cylinder. The object of developing the 500
was to combine the maneuverability and stability of the smaller vehicle with the
power that a larger engine could afford. The 500 three-cylinder was the
motorcycle that kept Honda from winning the 1966 world championship in four
classes, and blocked Honda and Hailwood from winning the 500 title the following
year.
After Hailwood's retirement, Agostini and the MV 500 three-cylinder easily won
five more world titles.
In 1972, after seven years of fine service to the men who had built it and raced
it, the MV three-cylinder was replaced by a four-cylinder.
Motorcycle: MV Agusta 350-500 Three-cylinder
Manufacturer: MV Agusta, Cascina Costa,
Gallarate Type: Racing Year: 1969
Engine: MV three-cylinder, four-stroke, with two-shaft overhead geared
distribution and four valves per cylinder. Displacement 349.2 cc. (55 mm. x 49
mm.350); 491.2 cc. (60.5 mm. x 57 mm.500)
Cooling: Air
Transmission: Seven-speed block Power: About 63 h.p. at 13,500 r.p.m.
(350); about 80 h.p. at 12,000 r.p.m.
(500)
Chassis: Double cradle, continuous, tubular. Front and rear, telescopic
suspension
Brakes: Front, central drum, tour shoes, four-cam; rear, central drum, double
cam
The original MV Agusta three-cylinder engine started life in 1963,
based on the sketchy inputs of Count Domenico Agusta himself. Not an engineer by
trade, the Count did possess a passionate enthusiasm that gifted him with a
number of technical intuitions. One of the most brilliant was the idea of
developing a 350cc GP three-cylinder out of the very successful GP 250 Twin. The
first edition had individual cylinders and heads, with two valves per cylinder
set at a 91-degree included angle (the standard of the time) and hairpin valve
springs.
Almost immediately, the potential of this design appeared to be
limited, so a disappointed Count Agusta called for a radically evolved design.
Chief technical designer Mario Rossi and MVs technical draftsman, young Enrico
Sironi, had seen this coming, and they already had drawings ready for a much
more advanced single-unit head. Induction evolved to four valves per cylinder at
a 73-degree included angle.
In 350cc configuration, the new MV Agusta Three was moderately
oversquare at 56 by 46.2mm, and in its final edition of 1972, it produced 68
horsepower at 15,000 rpm. By then, compression was a healthy 11.5:1. Induction
was by three DellOrto SS30 (separate-bowl) carburetors, and the 23mm inlet and
21mm exhaust valves were set at a 65-degree included angle. In the hands of
Agostini, the GP 350 Three won five World Titles in a row between 1968 and 1972.
The same engine was progressively enlarged from 350 to a full 500cc and
had an even more brilliant life at that capacity. It won seven World Titles in a
row from 1966 to 1972, all of them also under Agostini, bringing the total to
12!.
In 500 form, the GP engine grew to 62mm by 55mm, with 11:1 compression
and four valves set at a 73-degree included angle. In 1972, included valve angle
went to a more conventional 56 degrees, using 24mm inlet and 22mm exhausts. In
this form, the mighty GP 500 reached a maximum output of 83-84 hp at 13,500 rpm
before running its last race in 1974.
The HRT engineers adopted those latest specifications when they gave
life to their replicas. Agostini always loved the MV Three more than the Four,
which he considered too rough and aggressive. In its technical layout, the GP
Three followed what at the time were regarded as the golden rules for extracting
maximum power from a motorcycle engine: pressed-together crankshaft, con-rods
turning on needle cages, roller- or ball-bearings everywhere and gear-driven
distribution. Magnesium castings were used wherever the metallurgy of the time
allowed.