MV Agusta mini bike
By Phil Aynsley
I’ve photographed a fair number of MV Agustas over the years – from Grand Prix exotica to far humbler daily transport – but this bike is not what you normally think of when that famous name is mentioned!
Originally MV built just the one mini bike in 1973 as a present for team rider Phil Read’s son. However the large amount of publicity that the bike received resulted in a limited number being produced during the rest of the ‘70s (somewhere between 200 and 2000 seems to be consensus), in three versions differentiated by their wheel size – 8”, 10” and the much rarer 12”.
Properly called the Mini Bike Racing, it was powered by a Franco Morini 47cc 2-stroke motor. This 8” version was originally sold in Germany in 1975 (where its young owner added the circuit stickers to the fairing) before being on-sold to the UK and two further owners, before travelling to Sydney. Apart from the fairing and tank stickers it is in original unrestored condition. The Dymo label number on the top triple clamp is the factory original chassis number!
