please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . october 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message this article possibly contains original research . please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations . statements consisting only of original research should be removed . october 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message motob cane type private industry bicycles mopeds motorcycles founded 1923 defunct 1981 headquarters france products bicycle and related components mopeds and motorcycles website www.motobecane.com a motob cane head badge . motob cane nomade with a mixte frame mounted on the bike rack of a madison metro bus . motob cane was a french manufacturer of bicycles mopeds motorcycles and other small vehicles established in 1923 . motob cane is a compound of moto slang for motorcycle ; b cane is slang for bike . in 1981 motob cane filed for bankruptcy and was purchased by yamaha and reformed in 1984 as mbk . the french company continues to make motorscooters.they also made fingerbar mowers clarification needed at least up to 1981 it has no relation to motobecane usa which imports bicycles from taiwan manufactured to their specification by kinesis industry co. ltd. under the motob cane trademark . contents 1 motorcycles 2 bicycles 3 mopeds 4 cars 5 scooters 6 sources and further reading 7 external links motorcycles edit for many years motobecane was france s largest manufacturer of motorcycles . charles benoit and abel bardin joined in 1922 and designed their first motorcycle in 1923 a 175 cc 10.7 cu in single cylinder two stroke engined bike . by the 1930s motobecane was producing a best selling range of motorcycles . in 1933 they produced their first four stroke machine with 250 cc 15 cu in capacity . during the 1930s they manufactured a longitudinal shaft drive inline four engine motorcycle in 500 and 750 cc 31 and 46 cu in . during this period the firm entered road racing competitions and won the bol d or endurance race . after the second world war they produced the single cylinder d45 motorbike that filled a need for cheap transportation . the successor was the z46 equipped with modern suspension . like many european motorcycle manufacturers the 1960s proved difficult for motob cane as cars became affordable . as a result sales decreased . the arrival of cheap efficient japanese motorcycles also hurt sales . they continued to produce two cylinder 125cc motorcycles throughout the 1970s . they also manufactured a small number of two stroke three cylinder 350cc and 500cc bikes . for a time in the late 1970s and early 1980s the company competed in grand prix motorcycle racing claiming several victories in the 125cc class and finishing second in the 1980 125cc road racing world championship . bicycles edit motob cane was a major manufacturer in the french bicycle industry . motobecane is known for designing very light weight mountain bicycles . motobecane was the first french maker to start using japanese parts in the late 1970s . this was a very good move on their part because at that time japanese derailers and crank sets were much better than the older french designs common on mid priced 10 speeds . the change was largely due to the influence of their u.s. importer ben lawee . the frames on motob cane s mid to upper bikes were typically double butted lugged steel made from vitus or reynolds 531 molybdenum manganese steel tubing with nervex lugs . unlike most french makers of the era motobecane used swiss thread bottom brackets for most models . motob cane finished their frames in beautiful and high quality paint a practice not often followed in the french industry . considered the second most prestigious french bicycle after peugeot whose more durable design they emulated but ahead of gitane motob cane s mid range bikes were good value ; the company kept prices reasonable by matching high quality frames with lower priced but higher quality components from japan at a time when competitors were putting higher priced lower quality french components on mid range bikes . motob cane bicycles included the nomade mirage super mirage super touring grand touring sprint super sprint jubilee grand record le champion and team champion . in addition to the standard diamond frame bicycles motob cane produced mixte frame versions ; the mixte frame grand touring had twin lateral stays in place of a top tube extending from the head tube to the seat tube while the super touring and grand jubil had a single top tube sloping down towards the seat tube but diverging into twin lateral stays just before the seat tube . later mixte grand touring models also used this design . motob cane also produced a tandem bicycle . french bicycles before 1980 often used french threaded bottom brackets now difficult to find replacement parts for . french bottom brackets like italian ones used right hand threading on the fixed cups making them subject to loosening by precession . motob cane broke ranks with most other french manufacturers in the mid 70s using swiss threaded bottom brackets also difficult to find replacement parts for now . swiss bottom brackets were identical to french save that the fixed cups were reverse threaded like english ones making them immune to loosening by precession . for more information see bottom bracket specifications . in addition french headsets are sized and threaded slightly differently from the more common english headset . the name motob cane is also used for current bikes of taiwanese manufacture . these vehicles bear no relation to the older french made bicycles other than the name . mopeds edit motob cane mobylette motob cane introduced a moped the mobylette in 1949 ; over the next 48 years motob cane manufactured 14 million mobylettes . in india the same model was manufactured under licence by mopeds india ltd under the name suvega . in the uk raleigh manufactured mobylettes under licence from motobecane as the rm series from 1960 until 1971 . in the late 1960s these raleigh mopeds accounted for 38 % of uk moped sales . american retailer montgomery ward imported motobecane mopeds and sold them via their catalog under the riverside captive import brand . in 1978 canadian walter muma rode a 50v 11 500 miles on a 3 month trip that began in toronto brought him to alaska and back to toronto . 1 after being acquired by yamaha mbk continued producing mopeds becoming a force in french moped racing . cars edit in 1942 responding to the disappearance of civilian fuel supplies the directors instructed an engineer called ric jaulmes to look into the possibility of producing a two seater pedal car to compete with the v locar . 2 the result was a three wheel pedal car . 2 pedal power reached the single rear wheel via a chain and an 8 speed cycle style gear system . 2 the emphasis was on weight reduction and the vehicle weighed just over 30 kg of which approximately 28 kg was accounted for by mechanical components and just 4 kg by the light metal lozenge style body . 2 a single central fin on the tail piece of the body was featured not for aerodynamic reasons but in order to accommodate the rear wheel . 2 during the 1950s and 1960s automobile use and ownership in france grew consistently and much of this growth came at the expense of motorcycle producers . long lens photographs appearing in l auto journal in december 1961 showed the results of a serious motob cane project to fight back by developing a small quadricycle format automobile . 3 one of the pictures showed the motob cane prototype on a boulevard near the company s plant and the porte de valette being overtaken by a renault 4cv the little renault looked uncharacteristically large and the motobecane positioned between the renault and a paris bus looked barely larger than a child s pedal car . 3 in fact the prototype was 2730 mm long and 1180 mm wide which was enough to accommodate two people side by side in a fashionably boxy little body from the side at first glance it was hard to tell which end was which however the cut out sections on each side covered with a dark coloured fabric door was angled towards the front of the car . 3 4 5 although the manufacturer was unfamiliar with automobile technology they were happy to incorporate into the design a form of the innovative infinitely variable transmission which a few years later became a defining feature of daf cars . 3 power came from a 125 cc two stroke engine installed at an angle of 7 degrees from the vertical in order to keep the flat front hood bonnet low enough for the windscreen to be foldable forwards over it in the manner of a traditional jeep . 3 the prototype s motor cycle connections were apparent from the large spoked wheels which might not have survived on a production version of the car . 3 both a two seater km2 microcar and a km2u microvan were foreseen . in the event however neither passed beyond the prototype stage . 3 scooters edit under the name mbk the company continues to manufacture scooters for the european market . sources and further reading edit al strange july 5 1978 . moped traveler likes to see the country . the record gazette . peace river alberta canada . access date requires url help a b c d e automobilia . toutes les voitures fran aises 1940 46 les ann es sans salon . paris histoire & collections . nr . 26 47 . 2003 . a b c d e f g automobilia . toutes les voitures fran aises 1962 salon paris oct 1961 . paris histoire & collections . nr . 19 page 36 . 1200 . a picture of a motob cane microcar km2 prototype another picture of a motob cane microcar km2 prototype external links edit official website v t e major and notable french motorcycle marques cemec dresch gnome et rh ne motob cane peugeot motorcycles ratier scorpa solex terrot voxan v t e french bicycle manufacturers current peugeot cyfac gitane lapierre look louison bobet motob cane solex time v losolex vitus defunct alcyon cl ment corima follis gladiator gnome et rh ne ren herse hurtu matra manufrance mochet olivier brothers stella terrot urago velocar components cl ment tyres hutchinson sa look mafac mavic michelin simplex retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title motob cane & oldid 740612813 categories moped manufacturersmotorcycle manufacturers of francescooter manufacturerscompanies established in 1923cycle manufacturers of francehidden categories pages using citations with accessdate and no urlarticles needing additional references from october 2009all articles needing additional referencesarticles that may contain original research from october 2009all articles that may contain original researcharticles prone to spam from june 2012 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version in other projects wikimedia commons languages deutsch nederlands edit links this page was last modified on 22 september 2016 at 04 47 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is