Piero Remor

Piero Remor
Born	1898 Porto Venere, Italy
Died	1964(1964-00-00) (aged 67–68) Rome, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Occupation	Motorcycle designer
Known for	Gilera 400/4, MV Agusta 500/4, MV Agusta 125 Bialbero

Piero Remor (1896, Porto Venere, Italy – 1964, Rome) was a distinguished Italian engineer and motorcycle designer, renowned for his contributions to the Gilera and MV Agusta marques.

MAS torpedo boat

After completing his studies at the Sapienza University of Rome, where he was taught by professors including Ugo Bordoni, Remor collaborated with Bordoni in 1919 on the design of the Motoscafo Armato Silurante (MAS), a type of torpedo boat.

GRB-OPRA

In 1923, Remor and Carlo Gianini developed a transverse inline four-cylinder engine intended for motorcycles. This innovation attracted Count Luigi Bonmartini, proprietor of Officine di Precisione Romane Automobilistiche (OPRA) in Rome. Bonmartini opted to back the project financially by forming a new enterprise with Remor and Gianini, initially named "GRB" after their surnames. To sustain the business, they undertook contracts within the aviation sector, which delayed the completion of a motorcycle prototype for five years. The resulting model featured an air-cooled four-cylinder engine, likely equipped with a water-cooled cylinder head, mounted in a straightforward frame design. By 1929, this prototype was branded "OPRA," and Piero Taruffi—who had gained recognition racing Nortons—was recruited as test rider. Despite this, when the OPRA competed in its debut event at the Grand Prix of Rome, it was driven by the more established racer Umberto Faraglia. The OPRA briefly led before suffering engine failure. Taruffi, disappointed at being overlooked for the race ride, went on to win with his Norton motorcycle. Following disagreements with Count Bonmartini, Remor parted ways with OPRA in 1930.

Evolution of the racing engine

During this period, Piero Taruffi and Carlo Gianini persisted in advancing the motorcycle project, which had been renamed "CNA Rondine" in reference to another Bonmartini-associated firm, Compagnia Nazionale Aeronautica, and the Rondine aeroplane known for its role in the 1922 March on Rome. Progress was notably gradual, and it was not until 1934 that the motorcycle reappeared on the track under the "Rondine" (swallow) designation. Gianini completely redesigned the engine, implementing full water cooling and adding a Roots supercharger. Six units of the Rondine were produced. Taruffi and Amilcare Rossetti competed on these motorcycles at the esteemed Grand Prix of Tripoli, securing first and second places respectively. Taruffi piloted a fully streamlined version to achieve a record speed of 244.6 km/h. In 1934, Bonmartini sold CNA to Milan-based aircraft manufacturer Caproni, which showed no interest in the Rondine project. Concerned that his eight-year involvement might be wasted, Taruffi approached Giuseppe Gilera, who recognized the promotional value of road racing for his Gilera brand. Gilera acquired all six motorcycles, along with the associated designs, rights, spare parts, and employed Taruffi as rider, team manager, and chief engineer. Nevertheless, Gilera identified deficiencies in the machine and acknowledged the necessity for further development before it could be competitive in races.

Officine Meccaniche

Following his departure from OPRA, Remor joined the Brescia-based automobile manufacturer Officine Meccaniche (OM). There, he engineered a 1500cc four-cylinder engine for the "Typo M" model. When Fiat acquired OM in 1938 and discontinued car production to focus on truck manufacturing, Remor began seeking new employment opportunities.

Gilera

In 1939, Taruffi convinced Remor to join Gilera with the goal of advancing the 500cc Rondine project. However, Remor concentrated on creating a 250cc four-cylinder motorcycle equipped with a supercharger and incorporating the rear suspension design from the Rondine. The outbreak of the Second World War halted all racing development activities. In 1946, following a ban by the FIM on superchargers, Gilera was compelled to rely on the single-cylinder Saturno Competizione as their factory race bike. This model was outperformed by competitors such as the Moto Guzzi Bicilindrica 500, Moto Guzzi Gambalunga, Norton Manx, and AJS Porcupine. That same year, Gilera tasked Piero Remor with designing a new racing machine. With Taruffi having left to focus solely on his driving career, Remor did not base his work on the 500 cc Rondine but instead enlarged his own 1940 250 cc prototype to a 500 cc capacity. By 1947, development of the Gilera 500 4C was underway, and initial testing took place in 1948 on the Milan-Bergamo motorway with Carlo Bandirola and Massimo Masserini conducting trials. Significant lubrication issues emerged that required extensive time to address. The motorcycle made its racing debut in Cesena in 1948 with Nello Pagani as rider; however, he retired due to handling difficulties. Despite these challenges, no points were scored that season. Even capturing the Italian championship proved unattainable. Masserini led at the Assen TT, but crashed during heavy rain conditions. The only victory that year came at the final race—the Grand Prix of Italy—secured by Masserini largely due to Norton and AJS abstaining from participation. Although it was evident that steering performance was substandard, Remor declined to implement improvements. His conflict with Pagani escalated to a point where Pagani was prohibited from riding the four-cylinder bike and forced to compete on the Saturno instead. During the 1949 World Championship, Gilera's handling shortcomings became even more apparent. The world title was claimed by Les Graham aboard an AJS Porcupine—a machine weighing approximately 140 kg producing about 45 bhp—while Gilera’s bike weighed only 124 kg with over 50 hp output. After two races, Giuseppe Gilera intervened and allowed Pagani to ride the four-cylinder at Assen TT; Pagani won comfortably. With an additional victory at the Grand Prix of Italy, Gilera amassed just two wins during their inaugural world championship season despite having arguably superior machinery.

At season’s end in 1949, Piero Remor parted ways with Gilera as most riders found collaboration with him untenable. The early lubrication challenges combined with his refusal to acknowledge or rectify poor steering characteristics had become unacceptable within the team environment.

Interactions with riders

Piero Remor consistently experienced challenging dynamics with his riders, as they often held each other accountable for poor performances:

• Nello Pagani expressed dissatisfaction with the handling characteristics of the Gilera 500 4C. In 1948, he even withdrew from a race due to the unsatisfactory steering. Remor declined to modify the motorcycle and prohibited Pagani from competing on the four-cylinder model. The following year, Giuseppe Gilera intervened directly: he assigned Pagani the four-cylinder bike and dismissed Remor.
• According to reports in the Italian media, Arciso Artesiani was held responsible by Gilera for failing to secure the constructor's championship in 1949. Artesiani, however, attributed this failure to Piero Remor, who during the Ulster Grand Prix opted to replace only a portion of the engine oil to save time, resulting in engine seizure.

MV Agusta

Count Domenico Agusta was resolute in positioning MV Agusta as a premier motorcycle brand. In 1950, Augusta recruited Pietro Remor to design two Grand Prix motorcycles: a 500 cc four-cylinder and a DOHC 125 cc model. At that time, MV Agusta competed in the 125 cc category using a two-stroke engine, which lagged behind the four-stroke engines of competitors such as Mondial and Morini. The 125cc Bialbero marked MV Agusta's first racing engine developed independently from any production bike. Upon departing Gilera, Remor brought with him the blueprints for the 500/4 engine. These plans served as the foundation for MV Agusta’s newly developed 500cc four-cylinder racer, the MV Agusta 500 4C. The transition from concept to track testing took merely 15 weeks, unsurprising given that the engine closely resembled the Gilera 500 4C. Consequently, MV Agusta and Gilera entered the 1950 Championship with nearly identical motorcycles, a situation that displeased Gilera. When rider Arciso Artesiani also moved to MV Agusta, Gilera even labeled it "betrayal." However, Artesiani's options were limited; as an MV Agusta dealer in Bologna, he was offered an attractive salary of 800,000 lire plus a motorcycle. The MV Agusta 500 4C debuted at the Milan trade fair in 1950. Its primary distinction from the Gilera 500 4C was the MV’s use of a shaft drive. The front suspension featured a chrome-molybdenum Girder fork, while at the rear there was a double swinging arm equipped with torsion springs and friction dampers. Additionally, the engine block differed slightly: MV Agusta’s design allowed removal of the cylinder heads, unlike Gilera’s where heads were cast integrally with the cylinder block. On 1 May 1950, engineer Arturo Magni joined MV Agusta and took charge of advancing the racing engine’s development. Magni had previously collaborated with Remor at Gilera.

Motom

Following his departure from MV Agusta at the close of 1953, Piero Remor joined Motom—a company known for producing mopeds and lightweight motorcycles—where he was employed from 1954 until 1957. During his tenure at Motom, he was responsible for designing the compact Motom 98T. Subsequently, Remor transitioned into a consultancy role and passed away in Rome in 1964.