February 2023
The "Magni".
In an expansive moment, the owner of this bike approached the builders of frames for MV Augusta to see if they would build a one-off to squeeze a Rocket 3 powerplant into. As you see, they agreed, and the results are quite mind-blowing when you are up close and personal with it.
It was built up while the owner was living in California, where I first set eyes on it at the 2014 BSA International Rally.
Subsequently owner and bike moved to NZ to live, and our acquaintance was renewed.
That delicious fuel tank is hand beaten alloy, and feels light enough to be fibreglass.
Having previously assisted in the reassembly of the bike after its arrival in NZ, my brief this time was to set the carbs up a little better. Space is not abundant, so getting at adjustable bits is quite fraught. What I found was that the centre slide was significantly higher than the outers, and the reason was that there was no room to unscrew the adjuster out any further as it had collided with the right side outer carb.
Solution was to cut a 1/4" off the outer end of the offending screw, thus losing the screwdriver slot. No great loss as it can only be adjusted by use of long nosed pliers from above.
A flat battery prevented us from starting it up to finish the job at this stage, so that will take place next time we get together.
It looks pretty damn rapid standing still anyway - just lacks the NOISE.!
Jerry Liggett, seen riding it below, christened it the "most expensive Rocket 3 on the planet".
Can't fault the aesthetics though.
There are going to be a number of hurdles involved in making this beast legal for NZ road use, but it will draw the crowds when it is.
I have been offered a ride when we have it running sweetly, and it will be the second 1 litre triple I have sampled.
The other had a Hyde Harrier frame, so the comparison will be most interesting.
Woot.!