Who is Francesco Romanelli and why haven’t we heard more about him? That’s a question that popped up in my mind as I browsed his website the other day, following a tip from one of our readers. The name sounded familiar and we had an article on The Kneeslider a few years ago about his anti-turnover system designed to prevent wheelies from continuing until you flip over backwards. Opinions of the system were mixed in the comments, but for some reason, I didn’t dig far enough at that time and missed the rest of his work. This time I kept looking and it seems he’s been a busy guy.
Everything on the website looks as though it’s been around for quite a few years, all the more reason to wonder why his work isn’t better known. What kind of work? How about 4 valve heads for the Harley Davidson Evo engine, or 6 valve heads for a Ducati or even a W9 3000cc Formula One engine and an offshoot W3 from this engine to be used for MotoGP under the old 990cc rules, all using the 6 valve cylinder heads. This engine was also designed with gasoline direct injection (GDI) and Peripheral Plasma Ignition (PPI).
But wait, there’s more! He designed the patented QUAZCOOL cooling system, controlled by the engine management ECU, using an electric pump with a smart controller and a heat exchanger which is integrated in a modular carbon graphite foam Dissipative Structure, located under the seat support.
A lot to think about, but we’re just getting started. He built a motorcycle, the TEMA 6V, using the 12 valve twin in a CNC milled aluminum frame.
The front suspension is a Formula 1 style parallelogram with pushrod suspension that eliminates the front fork, turning the front wheel directly with the telescopic steering shaft.
The system permits full adjustment of the steering geometry, wheelbase and monoshock link ratio. It eliminates wheelbase and trail changes, brakedive, forktube longitudinal bending mode, and controls tire bounce.
The rear shock is attached to the oil sump under the engine, and it uses a torsion bar inside the swing arm pivot as a spring.
Then there are the bicycle designs, with the Ergostem adjustable steering stem and the Parafork front suspension. He has a gorgeous single sided rear frame and disc brake setup and a leading link in hub front suspension.
He also designed the Romanelli GT, with some sort of composite frame and body. The engine, the Romanelli V12, looks like an early Jaguar V12 with a modified intake system incorporating fuel injection, though there are no details on the site.
Oh, and did I mention the hovercraft?
I don’t know what to say. How many of these projects went beyond the development stage? I have an inquiry into Romanelli Technologies, but haven’t heard back, yet. If I do, I’ll fill in the blanks, but the work he did is certainly impressive.
Again, why haven’t we heard more about him or is it just me? If any of you are familiar with his work, please feel free to supply the missing pieces.
Thanks for the tip, Tony!
Link: Romanelli Technologies
todd says
Awesome stuff. I can relocate if he’s looking for help…
-todd
Andreas Aronsson says
That front suspension of the CX6V is really interesting. Ever since I read about the Hossack front end I have been fascinated by alternative designs. I do wonder how the hub steering works though, the photos makes me no wiser!
Light is Good says
I’ve been looking at the photos and wondering the same thing. It looks to me like there are two forks. The large aluminium outer one is connected to the frame by a floating parallelogram and handles the suspension movement. It holds the ends of the hub steering system in place. There appears to be an inner fork which steers the wheel by connecting to the inner piece of the hub steering system, as well as handling the braking. Hope this helps!
B50 Jim says
Maybe he’s quietly working his magic, making a difference without making a splash. His designs are truly inspired.
evan ford says
romanelli is quiet a briliant designer.he has been envolved in projects through out the world.I was lucky enough to know him and see his machines when he lived here in pa.He made quiet a few different bicycles and motorcycles.He was just startinga 60deg v2 completely from the ground up when i saw him last.His mother had gotten ill and he moved back to montreal ca.he had been the only importer years ago for motot guzzi,benelli and ducati,quiet the man and would a great one to track down write about.
Decline says
What is Peripheral Plasma Ignition? Is this as in a way to ignite the fuel in combustion chamber without a spark plug? And..whats the peripheral part?
Tom Lyons says
It appears from the diagram that the spark plug is recessed into a little sub-chamber off the periphery of the combustion chamber.
I suppose this means that there is some kernel of ignition in that sub-chamber which theoretically will spread out to the rest of the combustion chamber.
I’ll refrain from giving any personal assessment of such a design.
Decline says
Ah, thanks for that. I’m still curious about it, but that clears up a bit.
Tony says
What you see in the drawing is the injector.
The peripheral plasma ignition works without a spark-plug. This is what I saw in Romanelli’s lab. It’s a ring around the combustion chamber, toroidal in shape, made of a tantalum and tungsten alloy. It’s held in place as a gasket recessed in the cylinder head.
Another version of the plasma ignition, combines injector and ignitor in one unit. It looks like a large injector, screwed in the middle of the chamber.
Decline says
Ah cool, thanks Tony.
Old Yeller says
Ahh! Only from a French-Italian-Canadian, nothing else to do in the cold north during winter but to conjure up great things.
jurneyman says
Thank you for the article, this is why I keep coming back, not to just enjoy, but to learn as much as I can. To me what is impressive is just how varied the innovations of Francesco Romanelli are. He is another genius, and I do not use that word lightly, just like the venerable Jim Feuling one of those few who has that special talent and ability to contribute to many of the different disciplines that involves Motorsports.
Klaus says
What’s up with the six valves per head? Is there an advantage in having six smaller valves compared to four bigger ones? Yamaha made several engines with five valves but none of the other makers did – too costly to build compared to the gain?
WRXr says
More valves=Better Breathing. Maserati had shown an engine with a 6 valve configuation very similar to this back in the 80’s. Ultimately they declined to produce it. Probably either too costly to build or too inconvenient to maintain.
cWj says
I wonder if he ever put that single side rear bicycle with a Cannondale Lefty fork.
Lovely,
Dr. Gellar says
A W-3 for MotoGP!? That would have awesome to see come to fruition, as would have the Drysdale V-8. Too bad…
David says
Romanelli is an old fashioned character, brilliant but eccentric. I interviewed him a number of times and rode the prototype of the six-valve Ducati. Very promising.
He really is brilliant but he gets bored with his projects quite quickly. despite the potential of the six valve head, it ended up just getting laid by the wayside.
David
Paul Crowe says
I spoke to him at some length a few days ago, he’s currently off to Europe. I found him to be a very interesting engineer and designer and our conversation ranged widely, but he seems to have many projects he wants to work on and hasn’t found the right partners to market and produce any one of them.
Right now he is focused on his Olinto Energy System so his various vehicle projects are waiting on the sidelines. We’ll be talking again when he returns and I’ll write a follow up to this article at that time.