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FB Mondial 125 - 250 1966

Gilera entrusted its four-cylinder motorcycles to the Duke team, and Mondial followed suit at the end of 1963. In 1957 the companies had signed a treaty of abstention from racing. That was the year when Mondial's two-shaft single-cylinders with full fairing had dominated the 125 and the 250 classes. In 1963 Mondial decided on a two-stroke engine with rotating-disk distribution, a further interpretation of the MZ idea. The cylinder was water-cooled and the head was air-cooled. The gear shift had eight ratios. T he total weight of the vehicle was under 190 pounds. The Villa brothers, who had participated in its development, raced it in 1964. Giuseppe Mandolini also raced it. Its 24 h.p. at 11,000 r.p.m. made it a powerful motorcycle, and it proved itself at once. In Italy the new Mondial had an easy time of it against the older two-shaft, four-stroke rivals. It won at Milano Marittima, Imola, and Cesenatico, but it was beaten roundly at Monza by the Japanese. The main defect that emerged during this first racing season was the complexity of riding the Mondial. Its rider continually had to work the counterweight button and a hand pump for supplementary lubrication. In 1965 Mondial decided not to try to make minor modifications in the old engine but to make radical changes instead. The Villa brothers prepared Mondial 250 Two-cylinder another engine. It was still a two-stroke rotating-disk model, but it had a vertical cylinder and air cooling. The 1965 Mondial 125 engine generated only 23 h.p. at 11,500 r.p.m., but all riding problems were eliminated. It was mounted on a specially designed chassis and weighed barely 150 pounds. That year Francesco Villa, Mandolini, and Giuseppe Visenzi took the first three places in the Italian championship. The Mondial was beaten again by Suzuki and Honda, but it remained the finest European 125 in the field. It performed as well as the MZ and better than the Bultaco. Late in 1965, at the Italian championship race at Sanremo, Mondial introduced a two-cylinder 250 with mixed cooling and double rotating-disk distribution. The 250 was improved for the 1966 season and a similar two-cylinder 125 model was also prepared, albeit with air cooling. At this point Mondial had problems. Francesco Villa left the company and built his own two-stroke 125, the Bec-caccino. Walter Villa went back to the earlier type of Mondial single-cylinder and won the Italian championship in 1966 and 1967.

Motorcycle: Mondial 125 Two-stroke Manufacturer: F. B. Mondial, Milan Type: Racing Year: 1966 Engine: Mondial two-cylinder, two-stroke, with double rotating-disk distribution. Displacement 124.88 cc. (43 mm. x 43 mm.) Cooling: Air Transmission: Eight-speed block Power: 30 h.p. at 14,000 r.p.m. Maximum speed: 130 m.p.h. (not tried) Chassis: Double cradle, continuous, tubular. Front and rear, telescopic suspension Brakes: Front, central drum, double cam; rear, central drum