morbidelli footballer gianni morbidelli and 5596 morbidelli . morbidelli industry motorcycle manufacturing machine tool founder giancarlo morbidelli headquarters pesaro italy products motorcycles woodworking machine parent scm group website www.museomorbidelli.it morbidelli was an italian motorcycle manufacturer founded by giancarlo morbidelli in pesaro . during the late 1970s and early 1980s the company was particularly successful in grand prix motorcycle racing . the team won the 125 cc world championship in 1975 1976 and 1977 and won the 250 cc championship in 1977 . 1 contents 1 history 1.1 racing 1.2 morbidelli v8 2 morbidelli today 3 see also 4 sources 5 external links history edit the firm began as a woodworking shop building furniture and wooden coach bodies for automobiles . morbidelli s business grew to have 300 employees however his greater passion lay in motorcycles and motorcycle racing . he used the woodworking business to finance his racing interests . 2 racing edit morbidelli 50 cc grand prix 1971 at the barber vintage motorsports museum . in 1969 he entered a team in the grand prix motorcycle racing italian championships with a 50 cc machine . in 1971 he also commissioned the construction of a water cooled disc valve 125 cc two stroke of ringhini design inspired by the engine of an ex works suzuki 125cc . 3 the team won two 125 cc grand prix races with italian rider gilberto parlotti at the beginning of the 1972 season but tragedy struck when parlotti was killed during the isle of man tt race . despite parlotti s death morbidelli persevered with his racing effort . starting in 1974 jorg muller previously the designer for van veen kreidler took over development . 3 in 1975 he was rewarded with his first world championship when paolo pileri won the 125 cc crown . 4 his morbidelli team mate pier paolo bianchi finished in second . bianchi won the 125 cc championship a year later . 5 the 1977 grand prix season would mark the height of morbidelli s accomplishments when the team won both the 125 and 250 classes . mario lega won the 250 crown and pier paolo bianchi would take the 125 honors . 6 up until 1976 morbidellis were not available for sale to private racers only the team s own works riders could race on them . a new factory was built with help from benelli armi in pesaro called the mba factory morbidelli benelli armi to produce morbidelli motorcycles of 123 cc and 248 cc in quantity . 3 these were raced successfully for several more years . 2 the mba team won the 125 cc world championship in year 1978 with eugenio lazzarini and in 1980 with pier paolo bianchi . morbidelli continued in grand prix competition until the 1982 season . giancarlo morbidelli s son gianni morbidelli became a successful racecar driver reaching formula one where he achieved a podium finish . morbidelli v8 edit morbidelli v8 at the barber vintage motorsports museum . in 1994 morbidelli constructed an innovative shaft drive five speed 32 valve liquid cooled 847 cc 90 v8 sport touring motorcycle but its high price meant it would not be economically feasible to produce . the guinness book of world records listed it in 2001 as the world s most expensive motorcycle . 7 because of the bike s exotic design it was displayed in the art of the motorcycle at the guggenheim museums in new york bilbao and las vegas . an example can also be seen at the barber vintage motorsports museum in birmingham alabama usa . morbidelli today edit today the former morbidelli factory in pesaro houses a classic motorcycle museum that reminds visitors of the company s former glory . the complete world championship story is represented among the exhibits as well as many antique motorcycles . see also edit italy portal companies portal list of italian companies list of motorcycle manufacturers list of motorcycles by type of engine sources edit noyes dennis ; scott michael 1999 motocourse 50 years of moto grand prix hazleton publishing ltd isbn 1 874557 83 7 a b morbidelli is it a lemon.com retrieved december 5 2006 a b c erwin tragatsch ed . 1979 the illustrated encyclopedia of motorcycles 1988 ed . new burlington books quarto publishing p. 215 isbn 0 906286 07 7 early grand prix racing 1975 motorcycle.com retrieved december 4 2006 early grand prix racing 1976 motorcycle.com retrieved december 4 2006 early grand prix racing 1977 motorcycle.com retrieved december 4 2006 footman tom 2000 guinness world records 2001 london guinness world records p. 139 isbn 9781892051011 external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to morbidelli . museo morbidelli official site morbidelli official site v t e major and notable italian motorcycle marques current aprilia benelli beta bimota borile cagiva ducati fantic ghezzi & brian gilera italjet minarelli mondial motobi moto guzzi moto morini mv agusta paton piaggio polini swm terra modena vespa vyrus defunct abra 1923 1927 accossato aermacchi aeromere capriolo aetos agrati 1958 1965 aim 1974 1982 alano 1923 1925 alato 1923 1925 aldbert 1953 1959 atala autozodiaco bianchi caproni ceccato 1947 1962 cimatti 1937 1984 cna 1920 1934 della ferrera 1909 1948 fb mondial frera 1905 1936 fusi 1932 1957 galbusera 1934 1955 garelli 1919 2012 innocenti 1947 1997 iso rivolta 1953 1974 lamborghini lambretta laverda 1949 2006 malaguti mas 1920 1956 maserati motorcycle morbidelli moretti 1925 1989 parilla rumi retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title morbidelli & oldid 717253286 categories industrial machine manufacturersdefunct motor vehicle manufacturers of italymotorcycle manufacturers of italycompanies established in 19601960 establishments in italycompanies based in le marcheitalian brandshidden categories commons category with local link same as on wikidata 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 catal deutschespa olesperantofran aisitalianolietuvi lumbaartnederlands edit links this page was last modified on 26 april 2016 at 16 19 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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