Kreidler was a German manufacturer of bicycles,

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 typ ...

s and

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 ...

s. Kreidler was originally based in

Kornwestheim Kornwestheim ( Swabian: ) is a town in the district of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated about north of Stuttgart, and south of Ludwigsburg. History Origins and Development Kornwestheim can look back at a history ...

, between

Ludwigsburg Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is s ...

and Stuttgart. It was founded in 1903 as "Kreidlers Metall- und Drahtwerke" (Kreidlers metal and wire factory) by Anton Kreidler and started to build motorcycles in 1951. In 1959 one third of all German motorcycles were Kreidler. In the 1970s Kreidler had very great success in motorsport. Especially in the Netherlands the riders Jan de Vries and Henk van Kessel were successful. Kreidler went out of business in 1982 and the rights to the trade mark were sold to the businessman Rudolf Scheidt who had Italian manufacturer Garelli Motorcycles make mopeds under the Kreidler name until 1988. The rights to the Kreidler brand were subsequently acquired by bicycle manufacturer Prophete. Today the brand is used by Prophete's subsidiary Cycle Union GmbH based in Oldenburg, Germany, where bikes are built and distributed to dealers mainly throughout Europe. Kreidler was active in Grand Prix motorcycle with great success in the 1970s and 1980s, scoring eight world champion titles in

50 cc The 50 cc class was the ultra-lightweight class in Grand Prix motorcycle racing, and formed part of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) World Championships from 1962 until 1983; when the class was replaced by 80 cc. History ...

class: *1971 Jan de Vries *1973 Jan de Vries *1974 Henk van Kessel *1975 Ángel Nieto *1979

Eugenio Lazzarini Eugenio Lazzarini (born 26 March 1945) is an Italian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion. Lazzarini began his Grand Prix career in 1969 in the 250 class on a Benelli. He won his first Grand Prix at the 1973 Dutch TT on a Ma ...

*1980 Eugenio Lazzarini *1982 Stefan Dörflinger

Gallery

File:Kreidler 50ccm Jan de Vries.jpg, Van Veen Racing Kreidler of Jan de Vries (1971) File:ZweiRadMuseumNSU Kreidler Rennmaschine.JPG, "Kreidler Racing Florett" (1963) File:ZweiRadMuseumNSU Kreidler VanVeen.JPG, "Kreidler Van Veen GP" (1977) File:ZweiRadMuseumNSU Kreidler Zigarre.JPG, "Kreidler Zigarre" (50 cm³, record: 210.634 km/h 23 October 1965, Utah, USA)

References

Motorcycle manufacturers of Germany Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1903 {{Motorsport-stub

Gallery

See also

References