Malaguti not something you see every day!

[canuck750]

Never heard of this Italian manufacturer, looks fast standing still, and the 'V4' emblem on the tank, V4??



https://www.ebay.com/itm/1976-Other-Makes-Malaguti-Olympique/183136327939?hash=item2aa3c69903:g:XtEAAOSwki1asAJU&vxp=mtr

[JJ]

Never heard of this Italian manufacturer, looks fast standing still, and the 'V4' emblem on the tank, V4??



https://www.ebay.com/itm/1976-Other-Makes-Malaguti-Olympique/183136327939?hash=item2aa3c69903:g:XtEAAOSwki1asAJU&vxp=mtr

Cool beans!!      I would FLOG that...frumpy seat and all!!

[arveno]

They used to make cool sports bikes
Google Malaguti rst 50
When I was 14 it was my dream bike...

[oldbike54]

 When I was 5 years old there was a group of older kids (probably 13-16 years old  ) who hung around on our street in a very old part of Tulsa . They were probably some delinquents , but I always thought they were cool . Anyway , that was in 1959 , before Japanese motorbikes became ubiquitous in America . Several of those teenagers had beat up motorbikes , Cushmans , a Whizzer , a couple of really worn out Hummers , a few I can't remember what the brand was , and one Malaguti 50 CC something . They would match race around the block , sometimes coming down an alley behind the house . The "big" bikes would give the "little" bikes a head start , except for that  Malaguti , it was a fast little bugger in its day . Heady stuff for a 5 year old boy already infatuated with motorcycles , I would sit and watch until the Tulsa PD would show up and make them disperse, or someone's parent would start questioning the judgement involved in the activity  I remember it taking about a week to learn how to pronounce Malaguti 
 Good times indeed 

 Dusty

[Sheepdog]

I’ve always loved those “Sunburst” heads on air-cooled strokers...

[JJ]

They used to make cool sports bikes
Google Malaguti rst 50
When I was 14 it was my dream bike...

[Triple Jim]

That's one kludged exhaust system.  Someone rigged up an expansion chamber that's hanging so low it'll scrape on a mild right turn, and the silencer broke off, leaving just its mounting flange.  You have to wonder sometimes.

[Vagrant]

at that very time my boss decided he should get into the motorcycle business so he bought a couple of warehouses of them. All 50CC non injected 2 strokes and not a one was street legal in the US. a fun fact he didn't find out about until after he paid for them. It took a long time to dump them.

[Sasquatch Jim]

  Maybe he only turns left when he rides.

[voncrump]

These are a few pics of a Malaguti 50 restored by Tarcisio Pirelli in Mandello.











Tarcisio and his sons Marco and Giorgio do absolutly perfect restorations of Italian bikes. Guzzis included.

Cheers, voncrump.

[Sasquatch Jim]

 The wicked pedia says that Malaguti closed its' doors forever in 2011.  started in 1930.
 81 years, not a bad run.

[Groover]

My very first bike was a Malaguti moped, Fifty / Gabbiano. It was the Variated version of this one. Got pulled over the first day I had it because I got busted trying to pop wheelies. I was a few weeks away from being able to legally ride it (13, but 14 is the legal age). Cop was mean, I cried and got out of it. Got to do what you got to do sometimes 




https image

[JJ]

Of course, on the German side, there was the mid-1970's KREIDLER Florett RS!!  I saw an example in  a museum when I lived in Germany.  Very cool little bike!! :1:

[Sasquatch Jim]

 I remember that back in the 60s a Kriedler 50cc motorcycle was timed at 120 MPH.
 Not bad for a tidller.

[Mark Dasher]

Of course, on the German side, there was the mid-1970's KREIDLER Florett RS!!  I saw an example in  a museum when I lived in Germany.  Very cool little bike!! :1:

When I grew up in Germany in the late 60s through 70s and lusted after these as a kid.   Yes, they were fast!  My intro to bikes was an NSU Quickly I dug out of a scrap yard near Munich.  That little thing took me everywhere!

[sign216]

I used to rebuild mopeds with my son.  We had a yellow Italian Pacer Super Sport, a red Dutch Batavus, and currently have a blue Sears/Gilera 106cc Super Sport.  The Gilera is actually a "real" motorcycle, with a 4speed manual transmission. 

The moped community is good, but declining (see Moped Army https://www.mopedarmy.com/ ).

[tazio]

My very first bike was a Malaguti moped, Fifty / Gabbiano. It was the Variated version of this one. Got pulled over the first day I had it because I got busted trying to pop wheelies. I was a few weeks away from being able to legally ride it (13, but 14 is the legal age). Cop was mean, I cried and got out of it. Got to do what you got to do sometimes 



https image

I STILL try​ that stunt! Lots of skill involved but I can't seem to pull it off,
not the wheelie, the OTHER thing. (Cop Crying is a fine art)

[Perazzimx14]

The wicked pedia says that Malaguti closed its' doors forever in 2011.  started in 1930.
 81 years, not a bad run.

How do you think those doors felt about being closed?

[sign216]

How do you think those doors felt about being closed?

It's a reflection of the motor industry.  There used to be countless small brands, but they are consolidated now to just a few.  Even the minor brands that still exist (like Guzzi) continue only because they are under a larger corporation.

Why?  Not sure.  Is it the way technology has increased, so that no longer two guys in a garage can design anything?  Or is it the economics?  Perhaps it's too costly for small shops.

[JACoH]

Fully restored, except for the oil filler plug!