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British Motorcycles

Today in Motorcycle History

Clua Motorcycles

A Brief History of the Marque

Manufactured by Construcciones Mecánicas Clúa S.L. in Barcelona and connected with the Alpino concern, Clua constructed motorcycles and tricycles with 74cc to 173cc two-stroke engines from 1949 to 1964. They also built microcars.

The founder was Joan Clúa i Maluquer, and the company address was 6 Pau Casals Avenue (formerly General Goded Avenue)

"With very good commercial vision, in 1954 he launched a moped that would become the "Gorrión" [Sparrow] school, which was the workhorse of the brand for a long time.

Many units of this moped were manufactured; the engine was a single cylinder two-stroke of 49 cc (42 mm stroke by 38.5 bore) that with compression of 6: 1 and 4,500 rpm rendered power of 1.8 HP.

The distribution was by ports through a cast iron cylinder with an aluminum cylinder head, lubrication mixture 9%. An idea of ​​the low consumption of this moped (estimated 1.6 l. per 100 km) is given by the small tank, capacity 4 litres.

But the standard of living of the Spanish people was on the rise, asking for more and more and Clua in 1958 launched the "Gorrión II" version of the sports line and replaced the old fork with a telescopic set, with swing-arm suspension at the rear.

As for the Gorrión II engine, the most notable differences with respect to the previous model were basically the following: 5,000 rpm, 55 km / h speed and 13 mm constant level carburettor feed. Like its older brother, the clutch and gear change were operated by the left grip and the two brakes (rear and front) in unison from the right grip, completely synchronized."

(fullettortuga.iespana.es)

Sources: wikiwand.com/ca, et al.


Fri Dec 01 2006
bakhirun at gmail dot com
very first bike, over parents' objections
1958 Clua single 2smoke

My dad was stationed in Spain, with radar operations in Zaragoza, in 1958-59. The whole family followed, and I was dying for a motorcycle - which (pleasing to parents) was strictly forbidden by Air Force regulations for dependants.

I skirted the law by getting a Clua, so weak that, as they say at MIT, it wouldn't pull a sick whore off a pisspot on a cold morning. I tried to ride it to Madrid but at the first steep grade it gave up the ghost. 

Sad story. Had pedals. Anyhow that was the time that I saw Carlo Bandirola ride the MV Agusta 500cc Four in a demo race through the city park, and that got my blood boiling. Fifty plus years later, blood still boils: TZR-250 (4), TZ-250, ZXR-750, RG-500/500 (3).
Jakarta, Indonesia


Mon Sep 26 2005
stephen.allport1 at ntlworld.com
Clua
i have been given a Clua it is a 2 stroke approx 125cc in nearly complete condition with a bit of work could be a nice little runner i need as much information as i can get on these bikea so far i have nothing the internet has little please help