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 Alpha - 240 Micra Trial 252
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Photo ou archives :
2411

Capacity : 240
Model : Micra Trial 252
Production : 1988 -
Category : (Off-Road) Trial

ALPHA

Micra 252 -1990

The days of Jacques Coli

The sad tale of Alpha Motors underlines the pitfalls awaiting any small company that tries to make it big. Despite the excellence of its trials bikes, this little French marque only remained in production for eight years.

An Amazing Career

Alpha's creator, Jacques Coli, had an amazing career. The son of a farmer, he worked as a builder's merchant. By burning the midnight oil, he became a respected naval architect who created fine 22-meter sailing yachts with stainless steel hulls. For his own amusement, he designed and built a motorcycle and began small-scale production of his first Alpha trials bike (inset) in 1983. It was a magnificent - and extremely lightweight -four-stroke, built from stainless steel with a single-damper suspension and a completely reworked Honda engine.

A Real Show-Stopper

Jacques Coli stunned visitors to the 1987 Paris Salon with his show-stopping Micra, a 250 powered by a two-stroke engine of 100 percent Alpha manufacture. It was an excellent machine, which won a French championship during its first season in competition. Sadly, though the quality and performance of this hand-crafted machine were beyond reproach, producing it in sufficient numbers proved a problem and sales remained negligible. Nevertheless, two years later, Alpha unveiled the greatly improved Micra 252. But, before it had a chance to launch its own liquid-cooled engine in 1991, and despite Jacques Coli's efforts, Alpha Motors faded from the scene.

SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 239cc (72x58.8mm) air-cooled single· cylinder two-stroke

Power Rating: 20 hp @ 5000 rpm

Valves: automatic intake valves

Fuel System: carburettor

Transmission: 6-speed, chain final drive

Suspension: upside-down telescopic forks (front); Technoflex unit with single damper (rear); travel 6.7 inches (front & rear)

Brakes: disc (front & rear)

Wheels: 21 inch (front); 18 inch (rear)

Weight: 183 lb

The Alpha Micra 252 was a trials machine of the highest quality, with well-balanced handling and excellent finish, doomed by inadequate production facilities.





Le fichier Moto Passion réalisé par François-Marie Dumas réunit près de deux mille photos accompagnées d'un historique très complet des machines présentées.
Il sera progressivement mis à jour ici et toute information complémentaire est la bienvenue sur info@moto-collection.org.

Cette documentation unique, qui constitue sans doute l'encyclopédie la plus exhaustive jamais écrite sur l'histoire de la moto, a été réalisée avec l'assistance de nombreux spécialistes dont principalement Didier Ganneau, Christophe Gaime, Mick Woollett, Jean Goyard, Bernard Salvat, Christian Rey, Yves Campion, Helmut Krackowizer, Michael Dregni, Michel Montange, etc. que je remercie ici.

Disponible sur demande :
- Les fiches originales sur papier
- Les photos et archives signées de mon nom en haute définition ou les documents originaux.
Me contacter sur info@moto-collection.org pour les conditions et droits d'utilisation.