Minarelli History

Areomyst

Scootin' America!
Hi guys!

I've been looking around a lot lately, and I'm trying to find more information on the Minarelli engines. From what I hear "Top" performance parts are owned by Minarelli... I don' tkno if that's true or not.

I also see three or four designations of minarelli engines. I know there are two air cooled ones, on longer than the other, but I don't know which is which. I assume there is another liquid cooled one besides the ones used on the CPI GTR 50 (I don't like the GTR...)

There are more and more Chinese scooters using Minerelli clone engines. I just want to know where they're coming from.

This is my first post on these forums. I look forward being a part of it!

Regards,
~Josh
 
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Areomyst,
There are many Chinese copies of the basic Yamaha/Minarelli design, but I have seen minor variations in the porting among them. For example, I recently compared a cylinder from a Vento Triton R4 with a cylinder from a CPI Oliver. Either cylinder would bolt right on to either scooter, but they did run a little differently. Upon close inspection, you could easily see the porting variations. When ordering aftermarket cylinders, obviously the "Yamaha/Minarelli" selection would work on either.
As for Top Performances, at one time I knew they were owned by Minarelli, I'm not sure if they still are or not.

scootertrog
 
Scootertrog

I recognize you from a few other forums online. I am also in the US. (North Carolina). You have a fantastic super9! I've done the Airsal kit on a few of them and they do very well. I'll be trying the Malossi kit next (For a customer).

The top ends and connecting rods used in many of the chinese engins seem to vary a lot. CPI uses a 12mm se bearring, Eton uses 10. CPI uses a lighter alloy head (better heat fins too!) and a deeper thread plug than most. The GTR 50's engine is LC, but it is a long engine, with rear disc brakes. It's a Minarelli still.

I'm just trying to find the differences between the different Minarelli engines. I want to convert my Chinese scoot to incorporate liquid cooling, and a rear disc brake. I'll also need to find wheels... I know that some of the Aprilia stuff can work with it, but I don't want to pay the Aprilia price.

The LC conversion kit itself I'll be getting from Metrakit.

I have a long crankcase available. I just want to see it used elsewhere before I sandblast and annodize it. I want to make sure that the rear disc brake setup will work as well.

Does anyone have a website for Minarelli? The originals are from Italy, correct? There seems to be at least three different types of engine, the CW, MA, and MY.

I will be posting the progress of this scooter on www.scooterinvasion.net as soon as I get the site up.

I wish I could just go pick up an Aerox engine without breaking the bank. :)
 
Areomyst said:
Does anyone have a website for Minarelli? The originals are from Italy, correct? There seems to be at least three different types of engine, the CW, MA, and MY.

Motori Minarelli still makes them in Italy. Malaguti is one of the OEs that still use them along with Aprilia, Yamaha, and others. Yamaha also produces them (under contract) in Taiwan for thier own products. Then there are all of the knockoffs (PGO, CPI, etc...)
 
There are small differences between the yamaha and minarelli made engines. They use different electrical systems as well as some different brake pads depending on the rear hub. I'm not sure how one could add a rear disc to drum case motor. The ones that Aprilia, Malaguti and Italjet used all have different approaches to the disc brake, and different wheels. Then the long case LC disc brake yamaha engines are different in the brake set up too. But in general there was one vertical cylinder mina and two horizontal. One short and one long case. The chinese clones have changed the patern even further as you noted. The short case motor was also made as a 90cc (actually 82cc) with a 42mm stroke and 50mm bore. These cases are a bit larger around the crank case but otherwise very similar to the short case mina engines. Further still, the mini ATV engines added reverse gears to the motor and a still different engine was born. On these the final drive gears are not enclosed inside the belt cover but behind a housing that is accessable on the other side by the drive shaft, similar to some honda/peugeot motors. This allows the factories to make cases and have them with and without the reverse gearbox. The 12 mm wrist pin on the 50cc motors probably comes from this universal approach as well. The jog90 motors use a thicker splined crank and different taper flywheel as well as a 12 mm wrist pin. The motors that TnG go put into their LS model has these same attributes but with the shorter stroke and without a larger crank case. The clutches are also 112 mm. I think it makes sense. Why should a factory making similar engines for 20 different machines have 2 or 3 different kinds of cases, wrist pines, flywheels, variators and clutches. Yamaha also made another long case motor that is found in the horizontal BW100 and newer Zuma. Both of these have unique final drive gears, belt covers and the 100 motors were also very different in crank, cylinder and variator. About the only thing shared is the intake. This motor is also in the neos 100 and aerox 100 and some variation in the Aprilia Scarabeo 100. That's just off the top of my head. I'm sure there are other variations and something of what I wrote is probably off.

MotoMinarelli, top performances and DR are all the same company, I believe. I've never been able to find a website for the MotoMinarelli company themselves.

I think you'd be better of finding a used SR50 motor. Be sure you have the length to fit a long case motor and any accompanying larger wheel size. You could always do a custom rear wheel but it would be far more expensive than any aprilia motor to make a one off rear disc brake.
 
there is :

Minarelli vertical (air cooled)
Minarelli Horizontal (air cooled , drum brake)
Minarelli Horizontal (Liquid cooled , drum brake)
Minarelli Horizontal (Liquid cooled , double disc)
short Minarelli Horizontal (air cooled , drumbrake) found on Sonic/Axis
short minarelli Horizontal (liquid cooled , drumbrake) Sonic LC

further there are some horizontal and vertical Minarelli "look-a-like" engines , they look like minrelli but inside there are some big differences..
 
melf #50 said:
there is :

Minarelli vertical (air cooled)
Minarelli Horizontal (air cooled , drum brake)
Minarelli Horizontal (Liquid cooled , drum brake)
Minarelli Horizontal (Liquid cooled , double disc)
short Minarelli Horizontal (air cooled , drumbrake) found on Sonic/Axis
short minarelli Horizontal (liquid cooled , drumbrake) Sonic LC

further there are some horizontal and vertical Minarelli "look-a-like" engines , they look like minrelli but inside there are some big differences..
Furtheron the difference between Air Cooled and Liquid Cooled only depends on the mounting of a Fan or Waterpump.

Some pictures/info (in Dutch though):
http://www.scootertuning.net/showarticle.php?ID=43
 
$aint said:
Furtheron the difference between Air Cooled and Liquid Cooled only depends on the mounting of a Fan or Waterpump.

Some pictures/info (in Dutch though):
http://www.scootertuning.net/showarticle.php?ID=43

The pictures were actually kina helpful. Thanks!

For now I've ditched the rear disc brake idea. I'm going to get a liquid cooled conversion kit in the near future.

Did Minarelli actually license the design to the Chinese companies, or was it only Yamaha and the few others?

The 12mm setup seems to last longer than the 10. :)

~Josh
 
Yamaha was outsourcing to Chinese companies. I'm sure some of it was official and some (probably most) of it is just illegal copies. The Chinese industry is quick to reverse-engineer everything, and no-one can stop them, short of asking Mr. Tomahawk to intervene. International patent law gets a "blind eye" so to speak.

scootertrog
 
Found my first post. :p An old topic, but the forums have grown a lot, so thought I'd give it a quick bump back up. Does anyone have a website for Minarelli yet? I'm sure they have one. It's probably written in a language from either Outer Space, or Italy, neither of which I will understand. ;)

China is copying the Yamaha BW's/Zuma style Minarelli much more now. At least if we end up with these engines we can start getting the flashy CVT covers and such! ;)
 
Areomyst,
Hope this helps! :)

Motori Minarelli S.p.A.

International Private company
Via San Vitalino 19, Frazione Lippo, Calderara di Reno I-40012, Italy
39 051 726553, 39 051 725117 fax, http://www.minarelli.com
Primary SIC: Internal Combustion Engines, Not Elsewhere Classified, Primary NAICS: Other Engine Equipment Manufacturing
Description: Manufacturing: Manufacture of internal combustion engines

http://www.topperformances.com/html_files/prodotti.htm

Their main website appears to be under construction?


scootertrog
 
Last edited:
yamaha owns minarelli so everything under minarelli is owned by yamaha also.

as far as I know Minarelli is not completely owned by yamaha , I think it was about 60% , I'm not really sure but this is what I know.

the minarelli engine are made for several custimers , malaguti , benelli , aprilia etc , these factory's buy engine's from minarelli , they say what type , minarelli makes them...

yamaha is not minarelli , minarelli is a seperate company owned partialy bij Yamaha.

this is what I know...
 
Areomyst,
Hope this helps! :)

Motori Minarelli S.p.A.

International Private company
Via San Vitalino 19, Frazione Lippo, Calderara di Reno I-40012, Italy
39 051 726553, 39 051 725117 fax, http://www.minarelli.com
Primary SIC: Internal Combustion Engines, Not Elsewhere Classified, Primary NAICS: Other Engine Equipment Manufacturing
Description: Manufacturing: Manufacture of internal combustion engines

http://www.topperformances.com/html_files/prodotti.htm

Their main website appears to be under construction?


scootertrog

i think this is the right link:
http://www.topperformances.it/html_files/prodotti.htm

cheers
 
CPI GTR 50...... HELP!

DID YOU EVER FIND OUT ANYTHING ABOUT THE CPI GTR THING. MY SON HAS THE GTR 50 & I'M NOT TOO IMPRESSED. WE WERE WANTING TO DO THE 70cc BIG BORE. LIQUID COOLED SEEMS TO BE RARE. CAN YOU GIVE ME ANY POINTERS?

BILLY D.
NORTH CAROLINA
 
there is :

Minarelli vertical (air cooled)
Minarelli Horizontal (air cooled , drum brake)
Minarelli Horizontal (Liquid cooled , drum brake)
Minarelli Horizontal (Liquid cooled , double disc)
short Minarelli Horizontal (air cooled , drumbrake) found on Sonic/Axis
short minarelli Horizontal (liquid cooled , drumbrake) Sonic LC

further there are some horizontal and vertical Minarelli "look-a-like" engines , they look like minrelli but inside there are some big differences..

Whats the difference between :

Minarelli Horizontal (Liquid cooled , drum brake)
Minarelli Horizontal (Liquid cooled , double disc)

Nothing ? Next to the type of braking ? Nothing that make's these engines air- / liquid cooled ?
 
Yamaha made a second generation Minarelli short engine, we call it the 5BM, 1st gen was 3KJ. 5BM has bigger reedcage which is also tilted forward to the cylinder, the carters are designed to flow better from the reedcage to the cylinder, in effect it has bigger volume, just the thing you need when installing 80+cc kits, all you need is to fab a bigger intake manifold to accomodate a 28mm+ carb, all else is relatively the same as the old one.
 
Whats the difference between :

Minarelli Horizontal (Liquid cooled , drum brake)
Minarelli Horizontal (Liquid cooled , double disc)

Nothing ? Next to the type of braking ? Nothing that make's these engines air- / liquid cooled ?

yup, that sums it all up.

difference with AC & LC minarelli;

AC = cylinder kit & cooling fan & shroud
LC = cylinder kit & waterpump assy
 
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