About me

I have been collecting italian motorcycles for almost 10 years. Why? How come? That's quite simple. Italy was always the country in Europe which impressed me most, the love to motorcycles I had to acquire first. Into that love I was seduced by some of my relatives. The combination made it eventually. I am not at all interested in the heavy racing bikes from Italy but more in the small four-stroke bikes, which contributed tremendously to the mobility of the Italians after World War Two. They stamped the street scenes of italian towns in the fifties and early sixties. I am especially fascinated by the engine technology. The different producers distinguished themselves by a tremendous individuality. That was quite different when it comes to accessories like lighting. In that area the Italians achieved already in the fifties a huge degree of standardization. That's how I limited the range for my collection: Italian four stroke bikes, models from 1945 to 1965 with capacities up to 125 ccm; the main focus is on models with less than 80 ccm When you click at the button "collection" , you get an overview on some of the models out of my present collection. The condition of the bikes is quite different, it varies between "scrap" and "piece for a museum". There exist restored ones as well as such in original conserved conditions. Again and again something was being added, quite seldom I part with a piece. As of 2001 that changed totally. The seducer, my father in law, died and therefore there occurred two essential changes: Fun and joy were with the hobby were cut by half as well as the available space. Therefore I have been parting with a portion of the collection and I am still offering pieces for sale; which ones you can see when you press the button "Sale". Please contact me if you are interested. Concerning me personally: I'm a 1949 model, married and I've got two children who are already adult. My wife shares my love to Italy and partly the joy at motorbikes as they lead us to Italy approximately once in a month. Neither our son nor our daughter are presently interested in my collection. The time that I can spend for my hobby is very limited. Being in charge of Internal Audit of an important semiconductor company, I hardly find time for private activities during the week. Even weekends are used for business trips again and again. Franz Ruiss