A moped is a type of small motorcycle, generally having a less stringent licensing requirement than full motorcycles or automobiles. Historically, the term exclusively meant a similar vehicle with both bicycle pedals and a motorcycle engine. Mopeds typically travel only slightly faster than bicycles on public roads.
Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start of the twentieth century and large national events were often given the title Grand Prix. The foundation of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme as the international governing body for motorcycle sport in 1949 provided the opportunity to coordinate rules and regulations in order that selected events could count towards official World Championships. It is the oldest established motorsport world championship.
KTM is an Austrian motorcycle, bicycle and motorsports brand which traces its foundation in 1934 as Kronreif & Trunkenpolz Mattighofen. Today, Pierer Mobility AG operates as the manufacturer of KTM branded motorcycles; whereas KTM Fahrrad AG operates as the manufacturer of KTM branded bicycles.
Puch is a manufacturing company located in Graz, Austria. The company was founded in 1899 by the industrialist Johann Puch and produced automobiles, bicycles, mopeds, and motorcycles. It was a subsidiary of the large Steyr-Daimler-Puch conglomerate.
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.
JAWA is a motorcycle and moped manufacturer founded in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1929 by František Janeček, who bought the motorcycle division of Wanderer. The name JAWA was established by concatenating the first letters of Janeček and Wanderer. In the past, especially in the 1950s, JAWA was one of the top motorcycle manufacturers and exported its 350 model to over 120 countries. The best known model was the 350 Pérák, and in the 1970s the 350 Californian. It appeared in typical black and red coloring from the US to New Zealand. After 1990 a significant loss of production occurred. A successor company was formed in 1997 in Týnec nad Sázavou, continuing the name as JAWA Moto.
The six main types of motorcycles are generally recognized as standard, cruiser, touring, sports, off-road, and dual-purpose. Sport touring is sometimes recognized as a seventh category or integrated with the touring category.
Gas Gas is a Spanish motorcycle manufacturer established in 1985 by Narcìs Casas and Josep Pibernat in Salt, Girona. The company specializes in off-road motorcycles for trials and enduro competitions. Gas Gas was purchased by KTM motorcycles in 2019. After the sale to KTM, Spanish motorcycle manufacturer Rieju bought the right to produce old Gas Gas off-road models.
A motorized bicycle is a bicycle with an attached motor or engine and transmission used either to power the vehicle unassisted, or to assist with pedalling. Since it sometimes retains both pedals and a discrete connected drive for rider-powered propulsion, the motorized bicycle is in technical terms a true bicycle, albeit a power-assisted one. Typically they are incapable of speeds above 52 km/h (32 mph), however in recent years larger motors have been built, allowing bikes to reach speeds of upwards of 72 km/h.
Derbi is a manufacturer of motorcycles, scooters, mopeds and recreational all-terrain vehicles produced by Nacional Motor S.A.U., a Spanish subsidiary of Piaggio & Co. SpA.
Mini Choppers are scaled-down versions of custom-built motorcycles known as choppers. Commercially available Mini Choppers are available from various retailers, some utilizing similar production methods to Minibikes, while others use Scooter, Moped sourced parts/engines. Custom Mini Choppers are generally constructed from 1" steel tubing or 3/4" steel black pipe. The tube or pipe is bent and then welded together to get the desired angles and shapes of the frame.
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.
Beta is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer, specialising in off-road motorcycles. Beta is best known for their popular observed trials bikes. In 2005, they launched a range of enduro motorcycles using KTM engines. In 2010 they launched the new RR series, with a new engine made in-house. Beta motorcycles have been used by world trials champions such as Jordi Tarrés, Dougie Lampkin, Albert Cabestany and Enduro riders Steve Holcombe and Brad Freeman. Production in 2018 was expected to be in excess of 20,000 motorcycles, ranging in size from 50 cc to 480 cc.
The A-AC10 Honda NSR50 is a motorcycle produced by Honda Motor Company. It was offered in a street legal format in several countries including Japan, France, Spain and more. It was also offered as an off-road use race bike variant in both Japan and the USA. The USA received it as a one-year only 2004 model designated as an NSR50R. In Japan it was offered in both 2004 and 2009 as the NSR Mini.
Husqvarna Motorcycles GmbH is an Austrian company which designs, engineers, manufactures and distributes motocross, enduro, supermoto and street motorcycles.
The Aprilia RS50 is a sport moped made by Aprilia. The model made until 2005 was powered by a single cylinder two-stroke aluminium cylinder block, liquid cooled 49.7 cc (3.03 cu in) Motori-Minarelli AM6 engine. The new model, made since 2006, uses a single cylinder two-stroke aluminium cylinder block, liquid cooled 49.9 cc (3.05 cu in) engine made by Derbi, the D50B0. The bike is popular in countries that have restrictions on motorcycle engine size at specific ages. In restricted form the RS50 is capable of speeds of 50 km/h (30 mph), as per the laws in many European countries for those aged 16. In derestricted form, the 1997 model was tested at a speed of 105 km/h (65 mph). This and other similar machines such as the Derbi GPR 50 and Yamaha TZR50 have also been popular choices as a more adult-sized option for MiniGP racing, which is otherwise more commonly participated in by riders of smaller bikes such as the Honda NSR50.
Fabbrica Candele Accumulatori Maserati S.p.A. was an Italian manufacturer of motoring components, as well as mopeds and motorcycles. It was part of Adolfo Orsi's large industrial corporation, that was divided among siblings (1953). His sister Ida Orsi received over the component branch that was not doing well at the time. By purchasing the Bologna-based motorcycle manufacturer Italmoto (1953), the company entered a new market and sold well locally and had an export line to South Africa, Europe and North America as well. The products were allowed to continue the use of the well-known Maserati name and the company's trident trademark.
The Norton ES2 is a Norton motorcycle produced from 1927 until 1964. From 1965, a different machine was produced for a short time by parent manufacturer AMC, based on a Matchless but badged as Norton ES2 Mk2.
Fantic Motor is an Italian manufacturer of motorcycles.
A sport moped is a moped that resembles a sport bike and often performs better than standard mopeds. They were created to circumvent UK legislation, called the "Sixteeners Laws", aimed at taking young motorcycle riders off the road. The new laws, introduced in 1971 by Conservative Party Minister for Transport John Peyton, forbade 16-year-olds from riding motorcycles of 250 cc (15 cu in) capacity, thus limiting them to 50 cc machines until they turned 17.
