Eibar, in the Pays Basque, was one of the most significant centres of motorcycle production on the Iberian Peninsula, outside of Catalonia. This was, in part because of the presence of Lambretta there. The Armeria Eskola (Armoury School) was founded there in 1912 to promote the industrial development of the area, which was initially closely linked to the arms industry.
In 1948, Lorenzo Zabala, a mechanical engineering student at the Armeria Eskola, developed a 60cc, single cylinder, auxiliary engine, with one gear, which he mounted onto his Orbea bicycle. He used his initials, branding the engines as LZ and this was the beginnings of the brand – MOTOBIC. The name was taken from the merging of motorcycle and bicycle and Motobic remained there from 1948 until 1965, when they relocated to a larger facility at Abadiano.
Motobic N-80 Motorcycle photographed at the Museo de la Moto y el Coche Clasico 10700 Hervás (Cáceres)
Given an increasing demand, he decided to manufacture the complete velomotors and acquired from Orbea the frames to which he incorporated his kit, a parallelogram fork and lighting system.
The Motobic N-80 light motorcycle was released in its earliest version in 1954. Over the course of its production run, the engine size increased slightly from 80cc to 82cc in the search for more power. Unusually for the time, Motobic chose not to resort to the Hispano Villiers engines that were the mainstay of the smaller manufacturers. Instead, they designed and built their own engines in house with a range of capacities.
Catalogo Español de Motocicletas 1957 (Finanzauto SA)
Motobic MTB 75cc Scooter with the forced air-cooled engine in the shroud is in the Team Lazpiur Collection at Bergara, Gipuzkoa.
The Motobic MTB 75cc scooter of 1960 was both light and sturdy and was presented as (and aimed at being) an economical alternative to the Vespa and Lambretta. When first released, it suffered overheating issues but, from January 1961, it was modified to incorporate forced air cooling and remained in production until 1963.
This Motobic 60cc Moped with protective covers on the chains etc is in the Team Lazpiur Collection at Bergara, Gipuzkoa.
This advertisement is reproduced with the kind permission of the Lamaneta website http://www.lamaneta.com
Changes in tastes, demands and disposable incomes put pressure on all Spanish motorcycle manufacturers and Motobic were no different. They continued motorcycle production until 1972 but then switched over to building engines for smaller, agricultural uses, including small tractors. For the production of these engines, the company chose the name MINSEL – taken from “Motores INdustriales DieSEL”
Spanish Motorcycles 
Leave a comment