We have no idea how this got into the country, or if you can even make it legal, but we definitely wanted our loyal readers to see it! A niche Italian manufacturer that specialized in high performance, small displacement bikes between the 40s and the 70s, Mondial made their name with World Championship road racers in the 50s, and motorcycles like the Mondial 200 Super Sport. The company went out of business in 1979, but was brought back to life in 2000 by a Italian newspaper tycoon, and the result was the Mondial Piega, a motorcycle never officially imported to the United States.
There’s an interesting backstory as to how Mondial got Honda to supply engines for this bike. In 1957, Soichiro Honda approached Mondial about the purchase of one of their racebikes (which had just won 125cc and 250cc World Championships). Mondial gave Honda a bike, which was used to set the standard for Honda racebikes of the future. Nearly 50 years later, when Mondial was looking for an engine to power the Piega (after Suzuki pulled out of the deal), Honda repaid the favor. This was the first time Honda allowed use of their engines in another companies’ motorcycles. The Mondial Piega uses the SP-1 motor from a RC51, but Mondial developed a propietary exhaust, injection system, and airbox to bring power up to 140 at the crank. Build quality was supposedly excellent, and you had the reliability of a Honda engine. It was destined to be great. Unfortunately, finances proved to be a problem, and after only 35 were built, the factory was placed into bankrupty. Deals were worked out and a third party came in, eventually producing approximately 120 (accounts differ on the exact number produced, but the original intent was to produce 250 for homologation reasons). Interestingly enough, 11 bikes were apparently stolen from the factory – rumor is they were looted by employees trying to get compensation for lost wages – and the Italian police are still looking for them!
This specific Mondial Piega is in beautiful shape, and has under 2,000 miles. The seller has listed plenty of photos – the only flaw we saw in between drooling at the swingarm are the exhaust is some rash and a couple of scratches on the right side fairing.
Find this Mondial Piega for sale here on eBay with bidding up to $12,100 and the reserve not yet met in Englewood, Colorado. We’d be surprised the if the reserve is under 25 grand. We truly hope someone is able to register this and enjoy it on the street.
