The Motobi Page

The Motobi name began as a sprout off the Benelli brand in 1951. My personal fascination with Motobi began with a 1963 brochure I have in my collection. The four pages of that simple little folder are shown below. I know very little about Motobis, other than they were one of several Italian brands imported into the U.S. in the late '50's and early '60's. The company built OHV four-stroke singles, and even a few two-strokes. The thumpers may have been the only Motobis imported, and certainly only in very small numbers.

The Motobi thumpers were built in sizes up to 250cc, all with distinctive, horizontal, egg-shaped cylinders. If you spot a machine that looks sort of like an early Harley-Davidson Sprint with a rounded, rather than sharply squared, cylinder head, it is probably a Motobi. The motorcycles were quite generically Italian, sporting narrow seats that were probably as stiff as boards. Since I have never actually seen a Motobi, I cannot swear to this in court, but other Italian motorcycles seem to be better suited for hanging onto, rather than comfortably lounging. The suspension is probably equally stiff, too. The headlamp nacelles appear long and clunky, but the gas tanks are long and elegant. The four-speed foot shifters were on the right side, but the kickstarters were on the left. Light weight was of course one of their claims to fame. You can see on the brochure that the Catria Sport 175 weighed only 220 pounds. Would anyone else like to own a pint-sized Ducati Diana?