Megelli 125 m 2013 — Specifications

In 2013, the Megelli 125 m proposition resembled a snub to the overly sensible Japanese bikes. Here’s a supermotard that embraces its status as a toy for adults, with an aluminum T6 trellis frame and a telescopic fork that seem borrowed from a race machine. Its dry weight of 110 kilograms promised urban acrobatics of rare liveliness. But the real subject is this engine hidden beneath the tubes: a 124 cm3 two-stroke single-cylinder, an animal relic in a world that has gone four-stroke aseptic. With 11 horsepower at 8500 rpm and 9 Nm of torque, we're not talking about brutal performance, but about a pure, direct sensation, where each twist of the throttle counts.

This two-stroke breathes through a Mikuni carburetor, a simple and mechanical choice in an era when electronic injection was becoming the norm. The 10:1 compression ratio and the bore and stroke dimensions betray a desire for suppleness rather than a peak of hysteria. You have to make it sing between 7500 and 8500 rpm to extract the substantial marrow, a gymnastics made necessary by the five-speed gearbox. On the asphalt, this engine vibrates, smells of burnt oil and provides that jerky acceleration, that characteristic *hit* that purists are still looking for today. It’s an antidote to monotony.

Road holding follows the minimalist philosophy. The wheelbase of 1400 mm is short, nervous, and the trellis frame is rigid. Tires in 100/70 and 130/70 front-rear on 17-inch rims offer a compromise between grip and ease of controlled sliding. The suspension, with its adjustable preload mono-shock, is configured for mobility, not to smooth out imperfections. Braking, ensured by two simple discs, is sufficient for such a contained mass, but requires anticipation. It’s a motorcycle that is ridden with the hips and counter-steering, a playful extension of the rider's body.

The Megelli 125 m clearly wasn’t aimed at the novice rider seeking economical transportation. It was the perfect accessory for the budding rider wanting to understand pure dynamics, or for the expert seeking a second breath of lightness and raw sensations. Faced with the Honda CBR125R or the Yamaha YZF-R125, too refined, it represented a radical, almost punk choice. It recalled that before electronic aids and digital dashboards, pleasure was born from the direct dialogue with a simple and distinctive mechanics. A manifesto on two wheels, ephemeral and noisy.