The Original Replica Paton BIC 500 8V RU
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ancy a go on a genuine 500 Gran Prix machine? Buy one. Gone are the days of sleuthing around the globe trying to track down the final resting place of a decrepit and forgotten GP racer. You don’t even have to pry one out of the hands of a crotchety old collector anymore. These days all one must do is make a phone call, transfer some funds (a lot actually), and then wait for a brand spankin’ new Paton GP machine to arrive at your doorstep. It’s just a replica, not the real thing some may say. Well, not exactly. In today’s era of replica vintage race bikes an unexpected question has come up: What defines a replica? A Manx Norton built from programmable CNC’s, water jets, and various computer driven machinery in a European country other than England is clearly a replica. A motorcycle built by the original builder, using original blueprints, to original 1968 specs seems to be something entirely different. Can a bike be an original replica? This is the question that Roberto Pattoni, son of Paton founder Giuseppe Pattoni, has raised throughout the vintage racing world as he has continued production of his father’s legendary Paton 500GP machines. Controversy over status and originality aside, the 1968 spec Paton BIC 500 8V RU is a machine like no other. The exhaust note that emits from the two megaphones assuredly convinces any critic within 100 yards that this is no kitted street bike or parade machine. This is a genuine GP machine with pedigree you can see and hear. Giuseppe Pattoni began building GP race bikes in 1958, first with a 250cc, then 350, and eventually a full 500cc machine over the following decade. Ten bikes in all were built in
Words and Photos- Gabriel Trench
ten years and various levels of national Italian success and some international results were attributed to the manufacturer dubbed, Paton. The 500cc version of the Paton was raced from 1966-1975 and ridden by riders such as Fred Stevens, Angelo Bergamonti, Billy Nelson, and Roberto Gallina. The Paton wasn’t able to challenge the up and coming two-stroke competition that took over much of the GP’s in the late sixties and seventies, but the small scale manufacturer fine tuned their skill of being able to prepare a reasonably competitive four-stroke twin. As the years went on, Paton joined the two-stroke masses and continued developing newer and faster GP bikes powered by multi-cylindered watercooled two-cycle motors. Eventually, the company was inherited by Roberto Pattoni, Giuseppe’s son, and interest in the company’s four-stroke GP bikes rose again. After “constantly receiving the requests” Roberto embarked on the task of reproducing the Paton 500 GP racer. Using yellowed technical drawing the firm painstakingly re-birthed the Paton, but they do not want you to call it a replica. The firm assures us that this is a continuation of production after a thirty year break. Everyone needs a vacation, right? Pattoni refers to the newly constructed Paton as the, BIC 500 8V “Riedizione Ufficale,” or “Official Reissue.” According to the factory, the Paton is improved using “updated mechanical processing” but it is still the same motorcycle as built in 1968, just better. How much better remains an argument in the classic motorcycle racing scene as the Paton has shown many other 500 GP racers (both replica and original) it’s backside on it’s way to the checkers. Still, Pattoni remains emphatic that the Paton is “Built by the same factory which since then has never interrupted it’s activity,” making this bike something much more unique than your run of the mill replica.
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Brand Spankin’ New
Jerry Burgess, Team Manager for current MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi once said that the rider makes 80% of a competitive race team while the motorcycle makes up the remaining 20%. If this is the case it is hard to judge the Paton’s true performance since the only one being raced stateside is piloted by ace road racer Jeff Elings. When thumbing through the results, it’s rare to see a class entered by Elings that he isn’t listed in the number one spot. However, watching the Paton 500 strafe the sweeping 2.5 mile long Willow Springs Raceway, in Rosamond, California, it is hard to imagine a Manx Norton, Matchless G-50, or Honda 450 twin that could hang with this green machine. After three years of racing the Paton, the Moto Solvang team has their racing effort operating like a Swiss watch, but it hasn’t always been so easy. “The first year was really rough, we just couldn’t get it to run,” recollects rider Jeff Elings. “They told us to use these main jets, but it made it so rich and it would just cut out at around 9 thousand (rpm). We went through three ignitions, we checked everything.” Eventually, the carburetion problem was resolved and the Paton has run near faultlessly ever since. “It’s kind of heavy but has a lot of power, probably thirty more hp than my other bikes. It will torque (bend) the swing-arm on the start. We’ve stripped out the chain tensioner a few times,”
Paton BIC 500 8V RU twin cylinder four-stroke DOHC four per cylinder 78 mm 52.2 mm 498.8 mm 12.0:1 2 Dellorto D40mm electronic 6 speed multiplate dry lightweight steel tube Ceriani R D35 Ceriani R D210 Fontana drum D210 Fontana drum
says Jeff of his Paton’s dominating horse power. Being an actual GP bike, the issue of maintenance comes to mind since most factory racing bikes of the era were meant to be rebuilt after each race, but the “new“ Paton is more or less bullet-proof thanks to Roberto Pattoni‘s careful craftsmanship. “He did a really good job. He’s a cool Italian guy and is really proud, they even stamp their name on everything,“ joked Jeff as he pointed to carefully machined aluminum nuts and bolts carrying the name “Paton.” “You can run the crap out of it like a modern bike and there’s almost no wear. When you check the valve guides after a race they’re just perfect. It just goes and goes,” Jeff says. Unfortunately for the Moto Solvang team, not many fellow racers have enjoyed watching Jeff and the Paton’s dominating success, so in true racing fashion the Paton has been protested repeatedly. The “power advantage” along with the engines 8-valve cylinder head configuration have led many to protest that the motorcycle is too advanced for the 1968 and earlier racing class. Even though Roberto Pattoni himself claims to have documentation proving the motorcycles originality, the protesters prevailed and eventually had the Paton kicked out of the 500GP class. “Some of the guys that are protesting us are running short-stroke Manx’s and configurations that were
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never around. They even have programmable ignition mapping. It’s frustrating,” admits Jeff of the controversy. “We’ve ran out of gas during the race a few times. It’s not so bad when we don’t win, that way people won’t be so mad at us,” says Jeff in his blatantly honest perspective of the situation. One of the most telling experiences of our weekend in the Eling’s pit was watching the combined 500 Premier/ Formula Vintage race. Having been placed in the “run what you brung” Formula Vintage class because of the protesting, Jeff was forced to watch the 500 Premier race start a full 45 seconds ahead of his second wave group. Jeff piloted the Paton away from the Formula Vintage group and up to the first wave of 500 GP bikes. He cut through the field of Norton Manx’s and Matchless G-50’s and eventually passed and gapped the leader and number one plate holder Tim Joyce by a healthy margin. Did he win the 500 Premier race? No, he wasn’t racing in that class. Did he make his point? You could say that. Controversy aside, you just cannot argue the fact that the Paton 500 is an immensely fascinating motorcycle beaming with pedigree and Italian innovation. Replica or not, we commend Roberto Pattoni for bringing back a truly legendary motorcycle.
“It’s not so bad when we don’t win, that way people wont be so mad at us.” -Jeff Elings