Awesome, had never heard of these before. 400 km per gallon is incredible. Very nice mounting low down using the bicycle bottom bracket. Current engines for bicycles mount in the v of the frame putting the CG up very high, and use a second chain and sprocket. And many of the bikes that are shown here are really good looking, of course, Italian design !
Vespa & Lambretta was much later.. These 'Cats were immediate post WW2 years, helping create the public acceptance of small motorised vehicles, long before the later moped scooters could thrive so 'viraly' well upon those foundations in part forged by the Cucciolo and her fellow microbike rivals & friends of the middele-late 1940's through to early 1960's.
The cucciolo, meaning puppy was so named due to the characteristic sound it made. Hopeless that there was only background music and commentary for such a device.
Very interesting video, thanks! My late parents, had a pair of Cucciolo equipped bikes in post war Britain and many tales to tell. Unfortunately, not many pictures of their bikes survive so your video is a great help for us to visualise these gems. Cheers and thanks!
Well, not really for quality, but definitely for price. Italian cars here in Germany are known for their low prices but also for their short life spans. It's the German winters and high speed autobahn drives, Italian cars are not built to take them.
The ratio of price and quality is a goal of good engineering. In certain industries Italian machine tools are the best in the world, not something the general public is usually aware of.
There was a beautiful Cucciolo based bike with dustbin fairing that was designed to challenge the 50cc land speed record. As I recall it barely hit 50mph, well short of the existing record. The photo and article are in Mick Walker's excellent book, Classic Italian Racing Motorcycles.
Awesome, had never heard of these before. 400 km per gallon is incredible. Very nice mounting low down using the bicycle bottom bracket. Current engines for bicycles mount in the v of the frame putting the CG up very high, and use a second chain and sprocket.
And many of the bikes that are shown here are really good looking, of course, Italian design !
I would argue Vespa made the engine that changed Italy.
Vespa changed all of Europe, and possibly the world.
I think that was a reference to the desmodromic system.
Vespa & Lambretta was much later..
These 'Cats were immediate post WW2 years, helping create the public acceptance of small motorised vehicles,
long before the later moped scooters could thrive so 'viraly' well upon those foundations in part forged by the Cucciolo and her fellow microbike rivals & friends of the middele-late 1940's through to early 1960's.
Yes… that loveable 2 stroke smell everywhere in Italy ….😅
The cucciolo, meaning puppy was so named due to the characteristic sound it made. Hopeless that there was only background music and commentary for such a device.
I have a Moto Garrelli Mosquito in my shed, it's probably been there for over 50 years
Nice , my father still has a few of these engines , Cucciolo means "puppy dog" 😅. One of the engines is built in a minibike
7:31 Not push rods but pull rods!
Very interesting video, thanks! My late parents, had a pair of Cucciolo equipped bikes in post war Britain and many tales to tell. Unfortunately, not many pictures of their bikes survive so your video is a great help for us to visualise these gems. Cheers and thanks!
Bravo , good job !
Good video, thanks.
For design finish, quality and price Italian engineering still leads the way
Well, not really for quality, but definitely for price. Italian cars here in Germany are known for their low prices but also for their short life spans. It's the German winters and high speed autobahn drives, Italian cars are not built to take them.
The ratio of price and quality is a goal of good engineering. In certain industries Italian machine tools are the best in the world, not something the general public is usually aware of.
Hi. Tiny 4 strokes are rare. Did this motor influence Honda, whose C50 seems to have perfected this idea? Cheers, P.R.
No, it did most definitely not!
There was a beautiful Cucciolo based bike with dustbin fairing that was designed to challenge the 50cc land speed record. As I recall it barely hit 50mph, well short of the existing record. The photo and article are in Mick Walker's excellent book, Classic Italian Racing Motorcycles.
By the way, thank you from a first time viewer and new subscriber.
The Hurricane was not made to challenge any records.
check the suspension @ 5:39 nothing is new today it's all been done before !
Great video, very informative and well researched!
The accent on "Cucciolo" falls on the "u": "Cúcciolo".
The opening starts with music I cannot find in the references. (starts at 0:02, ends at 0:19) Who knows what hymn it is, or the name of it?
Hello @louis
The name is from Universal - Vibe Tracks. Enjoy it.
2 Stroke Crap.
Tjat explains the valves and springs visible at the top of the cylinder head 😬
It’s a 4 stroke, dummy. He even gives a very good description of the valves and cams operation.
Four stroke! With pull-rods instead of push rods.
@@JoepKortekaas-l4q Precisely.