Münch was a German

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 ...

manufacturer which, during the 1960s, produced the ''Mammut'', a four-cylinder motorcycle using an NSU car engine. Hugo Wilson wrote of the founder : Limited production began in 1966. The 'Mammut' name was never used officially as the "Maschinenfabrik Berner & Co" owned the copyright to the name after having used it in the interwar years. Münch's motorcycles were sold as "Münch TT" instead.

Early history

Friedel Münch began his career as a mechanic and engine tuner in the late 1940s, working especially with

Horex Horex is a German motorcycle manufacturer. It was founded in 1923 by Fritz Kleemann in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe in Hesse. From 1935 to the mid-1950s, the company operated as Horex-Columbus-Werk K.G.,then as Horex-Werke KG. The brand name Hor ...

motorcycles. The Horex factory noted the success of his home-tuned racers, and offered Münch a job in their competition department. When Horex ceased motorcycle manufacture in 1956, Friedel Münch purchased the remaining stocks of motorcycles and spares, and sold his own race-tuned Horex cafe racers from his workshop in Altenstadt, Germany.

Early Mammuts

Machines were hand-built to order from Münch's workshop in Nieder-Florstadt, Friedberg, West Germany. Friedl Münch was given a commission in 1966 to build a special for ''Jean Murit'', a famous French former sidecar road-racer, who was then-President of the BMW Club of France and organiser of the ''Chamois Rally'', a summertime motorcyclists' gathering at high altitude in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

. Motor Cycle, 3 February 1966, pp.142-143 ''On the Four Winds'' by 'Nitor'. "''Other orders are said to have come from England, Switzerland and Germany. For anyone interested, Münch's address is 6361 Nieder-Florstadt, Friedberg (Hessen) West Germany''". Accessed and added 2014-07-08 Münch used a 996 cc air-cooled

NSU Motorenwerke NSU Motorenwerke AG, or NSU, was a German manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles and pedal cycles, founded in 1873. Acquired by Volkswagen Group in 1969, VW merged NSU with Auto Union, creating Audi NSU Auto Union AG, ultimately Audi. The nam ...

engine having a chain-driven single

overhead camshaft An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion c ...

housed in a specially-built, brazed-up steel tube frame based on Norton Featherbed principles. Customers could choose from one, two or four carburetors, with options for 43 or 52 bhp. A four-speed gearbox connected to a gear primary-drive and enclosed-chain final drive, and the front brake was one of Münch's famous units.Motor Cycle, 3 February 1966, pp.142-143 ''On the Four Winds'' by 'Nitor'. Accessed and added 2014-07-08 In July 1966, Murit rode his new bike at the head of a procession from the

Val d’Isère Val may refer to: Val-a Film * ''Val'' (film), an American documentary about Val Kilmer, directed by Leo Scott and Ting Poo Military equipment * Aichi D3A, a Japanese World War II dive bomber codenamed "Val" by the Allies * AS Val, a Sov ...

up to

Col de l'Iseran Col de l'Iseran (el. ) is a mountain pass in France, the highest paved pass in the Alps. A part of the Graian Alps, it is in the department of Savoie, near the border with Italy, and is crossed by the D902 roadway. The pass is part of the Route ...

, Europe's second-highest mountain pass.Motor Cycle, 29 July 1966, p.121, pp124-125 ''Rally in the clouds'' by Harry Louis. Accessed and added 2014-07-08

Production

In 1966 he created the ''Mammut'', installing an NSU 996 cc

, 4 cylinder automobile engine with 55 hp into a tubular loop frame of his own construction. The machine weighed a reasonable 480 lbs, with a maximum speed of 115 mph – good for the era. The front brake was a massive

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ta ...

casting. In 1968, Münch used the new 1177 cc NSU TTS car engine for a revised machine, which he called the Münch4 1200TTS. The new engine gave 88 hp, and the machine was prone to break the heavy-duty spokes on the rear wheel, so Münch developed a unique and much stronger cast magnesium rear wheel, while retaining a spoked wire wheel up front. The fuel tank and side panels were made of hand-hammered aluminum, while the seat, headlamp binnacle, wheels and brakes were magnesium. Despite the extensive use of lightweight materials, the Mammut weighed 650 lbs. American motorcycle entrepreneur

Floyd Clymer Floyd Clymer (26 October 1895 in Indianapolis – 22 January 1970 in Los Angeles), a pioneer in the sport of motorcycling, was a racer, a motorcycle dealer and distributor, a magazine publisher, a racing promoter, an author, and a motorcycle ma ...

invested in the Münch brand from 1968, marketing the bike in US as ''Clymer-Münch Mammoth IV'' with the slogan "''Built up to a standard, not down to a price''". Clymer died before serious production could commence. Motorcycle Mechanics, January 1968, p.17 ''Looking Ahead. "From the States comes news that the Indian Scout is to make a reappearance! The initial production figure is 1,000 machines and the man behind the deal is Floyd Clymer (same man who started the NSU Mammut machine).''". Accessed and added 2014-07-10Clymer-Münch Mammoth IV sales brochure. Floyd Clymer Products - World Distributors — Mammoth Motorcycles, 222 N.Virgil Avenue, Los Angeles, Calif., 90004 Accessed and added 2014-07-10 Muench 1000 01

The Münch, being a hand-built machine, was always expensive, and in 1969 sold for $3,995, while the BMW R69S sold for $1,695. Built to order after a $1,000 initial payment, the total price included duty, excise tax and air freight to any location in the United States. Kugelfischer Einspritzung Münch TTSE

The 1200TTS model was originally fitted with a pair of Weber 40DCOE carburetors, but by 1973 ''

Kugelfischer Kugelfischer injection (also called ''System Kugelfischer'') is the name for a mechanical fuel injection (MFI) pump. It was produced by FAG Kugelfischer and later by Robert Bosch GmbH Derived from diesel pumps from the early 1960s, the Kugelfisch ...

'' mechanical

fuel injection Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All comp ...

was available (designated Model 1200 TTS-E – ''Einspritzer'' – the German word for injection), which gave 100 hp. It is estimated less than 500 machines were produced. Notable Münch owners in the USA include

Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno (; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and actor. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show'' from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 2009 ...

and the late

Malcolm Forbes Malcolm Stevenson Forbes (August 19, 1919 – February 24, 1990) was an American entrepreneur most prominently known as the publisher of ''Forbes'' magazine, founded by his father B. C. Forbes. He was known as an avid promoter of capitalism ...

(two, one of which he gave to

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

). The 2010 French film ''

Mammuth ''Mammuth'' is a 2010 French drama film directed by Benoît Delépine and Gustave de Kervern. It was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival. For her role, Yolande Moreau was nominated for Best Actress at t ...

'' follows

Gérard Dépardieu Gérard ( French: ) is a French masculine given name and surname of Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constit ...

's character ''Serge Pilardosse'' on a journey through his past, riding a Münch "Mammut" 1200 TTS. George Barber owns a 1972 Munch Mammut TTS and is on display at Barber Motorsports Museum in Leeds, Alabama.

Notes

References

* Winni Scheibe: Die Legende Friedel Münch und seine Motorräder, German/English, 176 pages, 21 x 32 cm, Festeinband, with about 160 colour photographs, about 40 Photos b/w. Rösrath: Art Motor Verlag 1995, .

External links

Images of Münch machines under production

in: bma 01/04, accessed 13 October 2008
Friedel Münch Museum
in

Walldorf Walldorf (South Franconian: ''Walldoaf'') is a town in the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis district in the state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany. In the eighteenth century, Walldorf was the birthplace of John Jacob Astor, who emigrated and became a promin ...