1954 Parilla Turismo & Competitione - 3-Page Vintage Motorcycle Test Article

Description

1954 Moto Parilla Turismo & Competitione - 3-Page Vintage Motorcycle Road Test Article
Original, vintage magazine article
Page Size: Approx 8" x 11" (21 cm x 28 cm) each page
Condition: Good
JT WAS A year and a half ago when Joe Berliner of the
International Motorcycle Company, Zundapp importers
and distributors, first told me that he was making arrange-
ments to bring the Italian Parilla brand to the U.S. At that
time he offered an elaborate vocal description of a couple
of Parilla models that I must now admit were taken with a
grain of salt. Who ever heard of a production 175 cc.
(10.67 cu. in.) machine that would run 100 miles per hour?
Mr. Berliner and Stephen Heckert were in Columbus re-
cently and placed two machines at my disposal for a week
end. The “Turismo Sport” and “Competitione” models, as
they are designated, both have single overhead camshaft en-
gines with a capacity of 175 cc. and a compression ratio
of 8 to 1. Both bikes are also equipped with Dell ’Orto
T.T. carburetors, battery/coil ignition, 8 by V/a inch brakes
centered in aluminum alloy hubs, six-gallon road racing gas
tanks and 22-inch racing saddles.
Although both cycles have full road equipment, i.e. lights,
horn, muffler, etc., the Turismo is called the street model
while the Competitione is the factory-prepared road racer.
The latter boasts of alloy wheel rims (17-inch rear and
18-inch front with Pirelli racing tires) a very light racing
swinging arm frame with full adjustable hydraulic dampen-
ing, an Earles-type front fork and two piece I.o.M.-style
handlebars. The engine of this model produces 17 brake
horsepower in contrast to 16 hp developed by the Turismo.
Both develop peak hp at the fantastically fast engine speed
of 9,500 rpm and have maximum revs of 9,800. The
racer comes with two exhaust systems; one with muffler for
street riding and the other, a racing straight pipe. The Tur-
ismo has 19 inch steel rims and a slightly higher swing arm
frame. Its forks are standard telescopies.
The construction and equipment variations between the
two show up immediately in performance, appearance and
price. Because of its lower weight and frontal area plus one
extra horsepower, the racer is ten miles per hour faster than
the Turismo. Appearancewise, the Turismo is a well fin-
ished but ordinary looking lightweight, while the Competi-
tione looks like it’s fresh from the Grand Prix circuits of
Europe. Prices are rather shocking when compared to or-
dinary machines of the same piston displacement, but of
course any similarity ends with the capacity. In all other
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