What's A Rumi?
WHAT'S A RUMI?
The blood-red Italian bike you never heard of
THERE WAS A TIMI. IN POST-WAR ITALY WHEN NATIVE motorcycle makes ruled the land, an age when small, family-run factories battled for top honors in inter-city roadraces. These point-to-point races, which were run on public roads, have since reached nearextinction, and so too has the vast majority of the makes that once filled the starting grids. Maybe all good things do indeed come to an end. Maybe it's the cost of progress. Or maybe it's just the evolution of the sport. And, as so thoroughly proven by Mr. Darwin, evolution favors the survival of the fittest.
Moto Rumi, started in 1949 by Dr. Donnino Rumi in Bergamo, Italy, is one example of the many motorcycle companies that rose and f ell during this grand era in the middle of the century. But as the I 960s ushered in a new wave of' mass-produced motorcycles from Japan—bikes which offered an unbeatable performance-per-dollar ratio—Moto Rumi wasn’t strong enough to survive. Prior to the factory's closure in 1962, a decision said to have been influenced in part by the motorcycle-related death of one of the founder’s sons, the Bergamo plant had produced I 1 models of motorcycles and scooters, most of which shared the same basic Rumi-built twostroke Twin engine. First appearing in 1 949, the horizontal, 9-horsepower Rumi 124cc two-stroke motor is. today, regarded as an engine ahead of its time, and its chromed bores, horizontally split crankcase and compact size lend credence to this view'. Serving as the cornerstone of the Rumi product line for more than a decade, this powerplant, with its bore/stroke at 42/45mm, was produced in various configurations which resulted from altered cylinder porting, compression ratios, carburetors, and the use of muffled pipes or the distinctive-sounding open megaphones. Production sport versions w'ere capable of 80-mph top speeds, with the pure racebikes capable of 95 mph. So successful was this engine that it powered a Rumi Formichino scooter to a class win in the 1 958 Hol cl'Or endurance race.
The 1959 Junior Gentleman you see here, valued at approximately $20,000, owmed by collector John Ebey and recently restored by Time Machine Motorcycle Works (755'W. 17th St. #A, Costa Mesa. CA 92627; 714/548-4424), is one of about 25 Juniors imported to the U.S. and roadraced in the AMA’s Class 1 during the late 1950s to middle ’60s. The design was so successful, according to Pat Guargenti, a long-time Rumi racer and collector, that for a w'hile, the brand had no peers. “It w'as very dependable, very fast. It was something you could take the wraps off of and go racing with, with fantastic handling and brakes. It was the tool for the job.’’ Guargenti says.
Dr. Rumis very compact and technically advanced engine design is a timeless expression of fine Italian craftmanship. Horizontal side by-side cylinders allow straight shots for the carbs and easy exit for exhaust gases.
Today, though Rumi production is just a memory, the Rumi family still races. Motorcycling’s record books credit the name with back-to-back World Superbike championships in 1988 and 1989. The modern-day Team Rumi —run by Oscar Rumi. son of the firm's founder—campaigns an HRC-backed Honda RC30. ridden by Californian Fred Merkel.
So it is that three decades and many honorable battles later, an Italian family’s passion for motorcycles and competition lives on. not only in the exploits of Team Rumi, but also in the steel and alloy of vintage Rumis such as this one.—Don Canet
