MOTA was a motorcycle brand created by MOTA Maschinenbau GmbH in Nagold,

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

History

MOTRA Maschinenbau was founded in 1946 in

Nagold Nagold is a town in southwestern Germany, bordering the Northern Black Forest. It is located in the ''Landkreis'' (district) of Calw (Germany/Baden-Württemberg). Nagold is known for its ruined castle, Hohennagold Castle, and for its road viaduc ...

by Wolfgang Schlegel, an amateur pilot and constructor. At first, the company manufactured different components for the automotive and

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

industries in Germany. In 1950 MOTRA renamed the company to MOTA Maschinenbau GmbH and also enlarged the production of components:

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

engines,

moped A moped ( ) is a type of small motorcycle, generally having a less stringent licensing requirement than full motorcycles or automobiles. The term used to mean a similar vehicle except with both bicycle pedals and a motorcycle engine. Mopeds typic ...

s, lightweight motorcycles and

vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...

s were established. In 1954 there was a merger of the companies MOTA Maschinenbau GmbH and EUGEN METZGER to become METZGER & SCHLEGEL KG to produce

bicycle frame A bicycle frame is the main component of a bicycle, onto which wheels and other components are fitted. The modern and most common frame design for an upright bicycle is based on the safety bicycle, and consists of two triangles: a main triangl ...

s, mopeds, lightweight motorcycles and vices. The merged company moved from Nagold to Fellbach near

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

where they tried to sell their engines to other companies and motorcycle producers. After another change of name in 1959 from Metzger & Schlegel KG to SCHLEGEL KG, the company relocated to Öhringen near

Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. From the late Mid ...

and stopped motorcycle production at the same time. In 1979 there was a hiving off of the SCHLEGEL vice production and founding of new company DURBAL GmbH & Co. KGCompany history of MOTRA Maschinenbau GmbH - Durbal
/ref> which manufactured vices, clevises, angle joints, throttle control linkages, heavy-duty plain bearing and anti-friction bearing rod ends. Further information about MOTA Maschinenbau GmbH and METZGER & SCHLEGEL KG are stored in the archives of the

German Museum The Deutsches Museum (''German Museum'', officially (English: ''German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology'')) in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of science and technology, with about 28,000 exhibited objects from ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Models

Mota - „Wiesel“

Mota Maschinenbau GmbH developed a two-wheel-vehicle between 1948 and 1952 which should unite the advantages of a scooter and motorbike: The Wiesel had leg shields and a carrier on the backside. The engines were produced by the company itself in different variations: 50, 75 and 98 cm³ of cubic capacity. Often the saddle wasn't height-adjustable, but adjustable to the front or back. A toolbox was installed just behind of it. The Wiesel was produced with the following high-quality components: *lamps from

Hella ''Hella'' is an American slang term that originated in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is used as an intensifying adverb such as in "hella bad" or "hella good" and was eventually added to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' in 2002. It is possibl ...

*saddles from VELEDA *hubs and brakes from Pränafa *speedometer from VEIGEL The product manager and some of the engineers took part in a cruise through Germany with three of these motorcycles, organized by the German Automobile Club, named

ADAC ADAC, officially the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (), is Europe's largest motoring association. ADAC is the largest club (Verein) in Germany with around 21 million members. It would be more aptly described today as an individual mobi ...

, in 1950. Notwithstanding of the international success, there were not more than about 300 Wiesel produced before their production was stopped in 1952. Image du

Motte 1

After the termination of production of the Wiesel, the company still sold another small scooter with a one-gear engine and a cubic capacity of 43 cm³. This two-wheel-vehicle was produced by the Metzger and Schlegel KG in Fellbach during 1954 and 1959 and sold for about 485,-

Deutsche Mark The Deutsche Mark (; English: ''German mark''), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was ...

.Technical details about "Motte I".
/ref>

Technical details

*measurements: l = 190 cm, w = 62 cm, h = 95 cm *weight: 36 kg *engine: 1 gear *frame: sheet metal *tyres: 26 x 2,00 *breaks: backpedal and front brakes *tank capacity: 5.5 litres *consumption: average consumption: 1.8 L/100 km

External links

Website of "Durbal", original "MOTRA Maschinenbau"

GTUE Oldtimerservice

References

{{reflist Motorcycles of Germany Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1946 1946 establishments in Germany Nagold