The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May and June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907. The event begins on the UK Spring Bank Holiday at the end of May and runs for thirteen days. It is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world as many competitors have died.
NSU Motorenwerke AG, or NSU, was a German manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles and pedal cycles, founded in 1873. Acquired by Volkswagen Group in 1969, VW merged NSU with Auto Union, creating Audi NSU Auto Union AG, ultimately Audi. The name NSU originated as an abbreviation of "Neckarsulm", the city where NSU was located.
MV Agusta is a high end motorcycle manufacturer founded by Count Domenico Agusta on 19 January 1945 as one of the branches of the Agusta aircraft company near Milan in Cascina Costa, Italy. The abbreviation MV stands for Meccanica (mechanics) Verghera, the hamlet where the first MVs were made. The modern headquarters and main production facilities are located in Varese, Italy on the shore of Lake Varese.
Zündapp was a major German motorcycle manufacturer founded in 1917 in Nuremberg by Fritz Neumeyer, together with the Friedrich Krupp AG and the machine tool manufacturer Thiel under the name "Zünder- und Apparatebau G.m.b.H." as a producer of detonators. In 1919, as the demand for weapons parts declined after World War I, Neumeyer became the sole proprietor of the company, and two years later he diversified into the construction of motorcycles.
Malaguti is an Italian bicycle, scooter and motorcycle company based in San Lazzaro di Savena, founded by Antonino Malaguti in 1930. Producing bicycles until 1958, they then entered the motorcycle market. Noted for their use of small engines in their bikes. In October 2011, Malaguti laid off its remaining employees in Bologna, Italy as the company eventually folded.
Derbi is a manufacturer of motorcycles, scooters, mopeds and recreational all-terrain vehicles produced by Nacional Motor S.A.U., currently integrated into the Italian (2009) Piaggio Group.
The Cotton Motor Company, was a British motorcycle manufacturer of 11a Bristol Road, Gloucester, and was founded by Frank Willoughby Cotton in 1918. F.W. presided over the company until his retirement in 1953. The company was reconstituted as E. Cotton (Motorcycles) Ltd, and traded until 1980. The marque was later resurrected in the late 1990s by a business which manufactured replicas of earlier machines.
Moto Morini is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer founded by Alfonso Morini in Bologna, in 1937.
The Ducati singles were single cylinder motorcycles, made by Ducati from 1950 to 1974. Chief Engineer Fabio Taglioni developed a desmodromic valve system in these years, a system that opens and closes the valves using the camshaft, without the need for valve springs. This valve system has become a trademark feature of Ducati motorcycles.
Metalurgia Casal was the largest Portuguese motorcycle manufacturer, based in Aveiro. It was founded in 1964 with João Casal as the managing director and Robert Zipprich and other ex-Zundapp engineers as the technical managers. Its first products included agricultural machinery and two strokes' moped engines based on Zundapp ones. By 1967 it was producing complete motorcycles, the first one being a scooter, the S170 Carina - a copy of the Zundapp R50 - with a 50cc and 4 speed engine. Shortly after it rolled out its first mopeds, the K160, K161, K162 and K163 with two speeds, and the K181 with four speeds. Although most of its production were mopeds, it also produced 125cc bikes, namely the K260, K270 and K276 all, and it had an advanced plan for a 250cc, the K280. Its range included some 30 or more models, with automatic engines, 2 speed, 4 speed, 5 speed and 6 speed engines Even though its main market was, by far, the domestic market, it also exported some 10% of its production, mostly to the UK, Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden. It also had a promising joint venture with Solo of Germany under which some models were sold in the German market under the Solo brand. Car production was also planned, but not realised. As the increased purchasing power in their home country Portugal, their most important market, slowed the sales of mopeds, bankruptcy was a fact in February 2000. In connection with this, unfortunately, parts of the company's archives were destroyed.
William David Ivy was an English professional Grand Prix motorcycle racer from Maidstone, Kent. He died during practice for a race in East Germany.
Beryl Swain was a female road racer of solo motorcycles from the London area. In 1962, she was the first woman to compete in a TT race for solo motorcycles on the Isle of Man TT course.
Rieju is a Spanish manufacturer of mopeds and motorcycles from Spain. It is based in Figueres. They specialise in small-displacement motorcycles using Minarelli engines. Their products are available in almost all European countries.
The Triumph Bonneville T120 is a motorcycle originally made by Triumph Engineering from 1959 to 1975. It was the first model of the Bonneville series, which was continued by Triumph Motorcycles Ltd. The T120 was discontinued in favour of the larger 750 cc T140 in the early 1970s.
Fantic Motor is an Italian manufacturer of motorcycles.
The Honda RC110 was the Honda racing team's first 50cc Grand Prix motorcycle racer. It was conceived in 1961 and raced during the 1962 season. As the machine was developed during the season, it was renamed the RC111 and most surviving Honda records do not distinguish between the two designations. Despite extensive development efforts throughout the season by the factory, the bike achieved only a single Grand Prix victory.
Malanca was an Italian motorcycle maker. The company's founder, Mario Malanca, started the venture by building mechanical parts and hubs for motorcycle wheels before producing his first complete motorcycle in 1956.
Santamaria was a company in North-West Italy producing motor bikes with 49cc, 69cc, 98cc, 123cc and 147cc engines produced by Franco Morini, JLO, Minarelli, Sachs, Zundapp.
Bridgestone motorcycles were a division of the Bridgestone Tire Co. of Kyōbashi, Tokyo, Japan that produced mopeds and motorcycles from 1952 to 1970. Initially producing power assisted bicycles, the division moved on to producing mopeds and then motorcycles. The motorcycles were technologically advanced and powered by two-stroke engines. The high technical specification resulted in the machines being more expensive compared to other manufacturers models. Production was stopped in 1970 to protect the supply of tyres to other manufacturers.
