MF (MOTO FRANÇAISE)

650 R - 1982

A bike with the heart of a shopping cart

Louis-Marie Boccardo was the original engineer of the BFG project, in association with the financier-managers Dominique Favario and Thierry Grange, but a restructuring of BFG saw him replaced by Michel Guichard in a revision of the company's technical base. Boccardo then interested an industrialist from Vend6me named Yves Bannel in a new project along the same lines, using the flat-twin engine from the Citroen LNA economy car instead of the four-cylinder Citroen GS power unit used on the BFG.

Noble Aims, Quirky Engine

Boccardo's plan – as with BFG – was to sell to the public sector and to private clients seeking an effortless touring machine. Named the MF, it managed to conceal the quirky design of its engine under a square-cut fairing and used a Guzzi VSO transmission.

Slow, Ugly and Expensive

The aim was to compete with the BMW R45 and R65, which the German manufacturer was soon to withdraw from the market because they were selling badly. The MF was offered in three variants – the "R" roadster, the "RT" grand tourer (with fairing) and the "TC" trail bike – but only the R was seriously marketed. Expensive, underperforming and aesthetically challenged, the MF only found a few customers before it was a victim (or the cause?) of the collapse of Yves Bannel's business. Subsequently Boccardo was to build – under his own name – a final variation on the same theme, this time using four-cylinder Peugeot gasoline or diesel engines. Once again, it all ended in 1992.

SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 652cc (77x70mm) air-cooled flat-twin four-stroke

Power Rating: 36 hp @ 5500 rpm

Valves: overhead

Fuel System: Solex twin-choke carburetor

Transmission: 5-speed, shaft final drive

Suspension: telescopic forks (front); swing arm (rear)

Brakes: disc (front & rear)

Wheels: 4.10/85x18 inch (front); 4.25/85x18 inch (rear)

Weight: 395 lb

Maximum Speed: 100 mph

Too slow and too expensive: Only around 200 MFs were sold, and the marque vanished in the wreck of its sponsor's business empire.