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{gallery}motorcycles/mbk_magnum_racing_xr_2002{/gallery} Motobécane was a French manufacturer of bicycles, mopeds, and motorcycles established in 1923.  Motobécane came from two slang words:  “Moto” for motor and “bécane”  for bike.  The company was a success and during the 1970s owned Velosolex. The company filed for bankruptcy in 1984, was purchased by Yamaha Motor Company, Ltd., and was reformed […]

Russia has always had a strong domestic production base for motorcycles, having its largest plant (Imz-Ural) built to produce 400,000 motorcycles per year. The difficult realities of the post-Soviet economy are demonstrated by the fact that the plant only produced 1,800 motorcycles in 2000. Since the 1990s, motorcycles have not been as popular among the

Honda can be said to have introduced motorcycling to the masses in the U.S., with the 1959 introduction of the C100 Super Cub–the world’s best-selling vehicle. The Super Cub remained in production for 35 years and sold upwards of 30 million units! The 1960s saw the beginning of what was to become a string of

Honda’s revolutionary advertising slogan, “You meet the nicest people on a Honda,” shattered the myth that bikes were only for tough guys and rebels.  Single-handedly, Honda had made motorcycling appealing to everyone.  By 1965, Honda was selling well over a quarter-million motorcycles annually.  In 1968, Honda created a bike for the baby boomer youth market,

In 1962, Honda stunned the racing world by displaying its first 50cc-class works machine, the RC110. A commercially available model of the RC110 was also introduced at the same time under the name CR110 Cub Racing, and its domestic sales started in June 1962. The single-cylinder CR110 featured a high-tech gear- driven camshaft, dohc, and

The Hercules W-2000 was the first rotary powered motorcycle offered for sale to the public through a dealer network. The W-2000, introduced at the German Ifma Show in 1970, was labeled as a full production model but in reality it was a test to see if the public would accept a rotary powered motorcycle. Full

Fuji Heavy Industries created Japan’s first scooter, the Rabbit S-1, in 1946. The S-1 was heavily based on U.S. servicemen’s Powell scooters and was on the market a full six months before the introduction of the Vespa. Japan, like Europe, was ravaged by WWII and needed cheap economical transportation. In 1957, the Rabbit Superflow was

In 1923, the first BMW motorcycle was produced; in 1949, the first post-war bike appeared and demand for motorcycles was high. With the r51/3 model, BMW turned their attention to the engine. This engine remained, on the whole, unchanged until 1969, retaining the tried and tested boxer layout. It was universally accepted as being one

This 2004 BMWr1100s can trace its roots back to the beginning of BMW motorcycles–the 1923 boxer twin called the r32. That motorcycle was admired for its speed and excellent handling due to the cylinder placement which keeps the weight very low in the motorcycle. The museum’s 1952 BMWr51/3 represents BMW’s first 30 years’ evolution of