No, it's not a spelling mistake... 
Those who know me from the four-wheel side of the forum will remember my fascination with The Miller Dynasty, but this is about Jörg Möller, the German 'two-stroke Pope', and in this thread I hope to be able to untangle the 'web' of the (mostly) Italian small capacity bike constructors and makes: Morbidelli, MBA, Benelli, Minarelli, Ringhini, Guazzoni, Garelli, Sanvenero, Ad Maiora, Villa, Morini, UFO, and how they were all connected. Contributions, memories and questions appreciated!
Jörg Möller answered a job ad by Dutch Kreidler importer Henk van Veen in the late sixties while still studying engineering in Essen, I believe, and soon made the little 50cc Kreidler a weapon to fear, extracting more than 20 hp from those tiny engines! It's true that the Japanese factories had lost much of their interest in the tiddler category by then, but the Van Veen Kreidler marked the definite end of Japanese supremacy, and more: never again would Japanese bikes score as much as even a single World Championship point after 1970. But Yamaha was still the marque to beat in the 125cc when Giancarlo Morbidelli came knocking in 1974, offering a job for Möller who then moved to Pesaro, where he stayed until his death last year.
The first Möller Morbidelli was a rude shock to the system, and Yamaha left in a hurry - Möller was later often quoted as having made "a mistake, the Morbidelli was just too fast - it had five hp more than it needed". In fact, the basic design of the two-stroke twin dominated the category in its various forms until it was banned in 1988! It also reclaimed the small capacity ('ultra-lightweight') class for European manufacturers; Japanese companies no longer competed, didn't even built production racers until the singles made their comeback in preparation for 1988. And Möller's services were a highly sought-after and paid-for commodity in those years! When Morbidelli faltered, he designed the Minarelli in 1978 which dominated until it became the Garelli four years later, and dominated still further. Around this time, Möller even attracted overtures from the Ferrari Formula One team, but rejected. Yet his glory days were soon over - by the end of 1983, he had signed two contracts for a 250cc design, with Swiss Michel Métraux and German Mike Krauser, respectively! Métraux (with Elf and Parisienne money) won over, but the resultant bike was not the success hoped for, and soon abandoned. Maybe Krauser would've been the better option, for he had Toni Mang under contract, one of many riders to have scored his first GP win on a Möller-designed bike, the Morbidelli way back in 1976...?
Edited by Michael Ferner, 25 August 2023 - 09:48.
