1952 Rumi Sport 125
Years produced: 1950-1952
Claimed power: 10hp @ 7,400rpm
Top speed: 65mph (est.)
Engine type: 124.68cc air-cooled 2-stroke parallel twin
Top speed: 65mph (est.)
Weight (dry): 202lb (92kg)
Price then: $375 (est.)
Price now: $8,500-$14,000
MPG: 45-65 (est.)

If someone told you they were introducing a 10hp, 125cc 2-stroke twin-cylinder machine like the 1952 Rumi Sport 125, would you be even remotely impressed? Probably not. These days, we’re spoiled by speed, power and efficiency. But 50 years ago, it was a different world.

Today, we can choose from an unbelievable assortment of motorcycles made to do anything we want. Up the road or around the world, it’s all so easily available to us. So try to imagine how it must have been back in the late Forties and early Fifties in an Italy still devastated by war. There were few decent roads, little infrastructure, not a lot to eat and not much to be had in the way of pleasure. Shoots of optimism were appearing though, and Italians were getting around again on two wheels. Following the lead of Piaggio with the Vespa and Moto Guzzi with its “Guzzino” 65, most of the major manufacturers like Ducati, MV and Mondial had a small-bore bike on offer; but frankly, these basic commuter machines were staid, slow and no fun.

And then there was Rumi. Like a bright torch in the gloom of post-war Italian motorcycle manufacture, the Bergamo-based factory led the way for others with daring and innovative designs, giving Italian teenagers something to aspire to by offering what was, for the period, an extraordinary looking motorcycle — the Rumi Sport 125.

High art
When Donnino Rumi joined his father in the family bronze foundry business, Fonderie Officine Rumi, he decided Rumi had to diversify. Donnino was a shy but extravagant artist, with a visual bent not unlike that of Salvador Dali. He painted, sculpted, drew and designed, and joined his father in business after an education at the prestigious Carrara art academy in his hometown of Bergamo. Combine high art and metal making with a strong cultural desire for something bright and new, and it’s no wonder the products coming from the Rumi factory were so aesthetically original, technically well-designed and — most importantly — so appealing to the senses and emotions.