Moto Rumi decided to build small motorbikes in Italy after World War II to provide transportation for the masses, and they built all their models (from scooters to race bikes) around the same 125cc two-stroke twin engine. The man in charge of two-wheel design (Donnino Rumi) was a sculptor, and you could see that in several of his designs – such as the Formichino scooter or the lovely lines on the tank seen here. But today’s bike is being featured for a different reason – the crazy engine!
I’m no Rumi expert and the listing I’ll share at the bottom is annoyingly light on details considering how cool this bike is, but I believe this started as a Rumi Junior, which was introduced in 1955 and stood out from its home-market Italian competition thanks to the styling and the use of a twin instead of a single. Aluminum was used extensively in the majority of the body, the swingarm, chain guard, and more.
The listing simply says, “unique motorcycle built by Giuseppe Fabbri, a famous engineer from Ravenna who was the only one to modify the Rumi engines.” Sheldon’s EMU thankfully has more to add: “The Rumi 250 Inline Four was constructed in 1960 by Giuseppe Fabbri, a former Gilera agent in Lugo di Ravenna, Italy. The engine was created using two 125cc Moto Rumi two-stroke parallel twins. Only three of these machines were built. Something of a legend, Fabbri created ten engines: two horizontal triples; three horizontal inline fours, two V-fours, one inline six and a V8.” They also say that the 248cc engine was good for 18 hp, though that seems low to me. Regardless, this is one of the three bikes with the inline four engine.
Find this custom Rumi with bidding up to €12,500 (roughly $14,200 USD) and the reserve not yet met (or a BIN of twice that) in Alkmaar, Holland here on CataWiki.
This bike-uriousity brought to you by Jay B!