Sometimes, one somehow misses a certain motorcycle.
This has been my experience with Aermacchi – not only had I never ridden one, so far as I could remember, I’d never even sat on one, looked at one closely, considered one or investigated anything to do with them.
Sure, I’d seen them classic racing over the years, while I remember that the book about engine tuner Francis Beart (A Single Purpose) had one on the cover, ridden by Jack Findlay if I remember, while the efforts of Bill Swallow, among others, didn’t go unnoticed.
There was all the racing ‘in period’ which was impressive, especially when one considered the sum of the Aermacchi’s parts (i.e. simple pushrod four-stroke engine in a basic spine frame), but that was as far as it went. It wasn’t for any reason, it wasn’t because of any prejudice of any kind – they’d just never taken my fancy.
Read more in April’s issue of TCM
