ITALIAN motorcycle engine manufacturer, Motori Minarelli, has unveiled a bit of a jewel at the recent EICMA show in Milan, going some way to prove that there is still plenty of life in the two-stroke yet.
The engine is a single-cylinder, 300cc unit, is designed and produced in-house by the company and reportedly based on the 250cc Yamaha enduro engine that was produced for the YZ250. It features electronic fuel injection, an electric start, and an exhaust valve to optimise low and mid-range performance. The design was finessed by the University of Modena which undertook fluid-thermo-dynamic research and includes a trick decompression system to reduce mechanical momentum at start-up – thus helping the bike to restart after a stall.
Motori Minarelli, which builds engines for Fantic among others, has already handed the new engine to a select few factory riders, and is claiming it’s become the ‘undisputed star of numerous races.’ The new powerplant is destined to land in the new Fantic XE300 next year, although from there, the possibilities are unknown. Another uncertainty is the output of the new engine, and whether in Euro5 form it will be close to the current crop of 300cc two-stroke machines. While it is likely going to be choked compared to many of the non-Euro5 compliant engines out there, the extra work undertaken, partly thanks to the help of the University of Modena, might go some way to bridging the gap.
That said, we just really want to see somebody chuck this thing in a lightweight frame, bolt on some decent suspension and wrap it in a neat little retro race fairing. You’d have a field day at Cadwell on that!
