Mahindra Mojo look familiar?

THIS week has seen the launch of Indian firm’s Mahinda’s Mojo 300 a full two years on from the last time it was ‘launched’ and four years after its initial showing back in 2010. But believe it or not the machine can be traced back even further than that.

The distinctive frame, with its straight twin tubes disappearing into a massive aluminium section, was ringing bells here at Visordown Towers, sparking a search for where we’d seen it before. It turns out that is wasn’t on a Mahindra, or even in India, but on a concept bike shown in Tokyo back in 2008 by Italian firm Malaguti.

The Malaguti MR250, pictured here, was a prototype two-stroke 250, with a claimed 50bhp, that was shown at the Tokyo Motorcycle Show in early 2008. It appeared once, never to be seen again, but it turns out that there’s more than coincidence behind its similarity to the Mojo.

The MR250 was designed by Italian consultancy Engines Engineering which has a strong background in developing bikes for other firms including successes like the Yamaha Tenere and non-appearances like the lovely-looking Gilera Supersport 600. The Malaguti MR250 was firmly in the latter group, but shortly after it was shown, Engines Engineering was bought by Mahindra to help create the Indian firm’s 125cc GP race bike.

Later, Mahindra’s stake in Engines Engineering was bought back by the firm, which went on to tie in with Mahindra’s Indian rivals, Hero in 2012.