KTM motor vehicle construction

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The KTM KG was an Austrian manufacturer of mopeds , driving and motorcycles .

The company, founded in 1934, began series production of motorcycles in 1954 and celebrated numerous successes in motorsport. The company went bankrupt in 1991 and was broken up in 1992. The production of motorcycles was continued by KTM Sportmotorcycles GmbH , today KTM AG , the bicycle production by KTM Fahrrad GmbH .

history

Founded as a locksmith and vehicle trade

In 1934 Hans Trunkenpolz from Innviertel founded a locksmith's workshop on the market square in Mattighofen ( Upper Austria ). The sale and repair of DKW motorcycles followed in 1937, and Opel cars in 1938 .

Start of motorcycle production

After the war, in 1952, the idea of ​​one's own motorcycle began to take shape, and a year later the first prototype with a 98 cm³ Sachs engine Rotax plant in Gunskirchen, Upper Austria was on the wheels - the Moser-KTM 100  - Moser, because Hans Trunkenpolz had a certain Moser as a partner after the war and was not yet allowed to operate under the name of KTM. The name KTM, however, was already existent before occurred nor the 1953 newly added partner Ernst Kronreif in the company and the "K" of the then long-standing valid full corporate wording KTM Motor vehicle KG , K ronreif & T runkenpolz M contributed attighofen. Series production of motorcycles began in 1954, with the company producing almost all components, such as brakes and radiators, in-house. The engines came from Rotax in Gunskirchen, rarely also from Puch and for the export variants (e.g. to Switzerland ) from Fichtel & Sachs .

In the 1950s, motorcycles such as the Tourist , Mustang and Tarzan models were produced. And in 1957 the world's first moped scooter was presented to the professional world: Mecky. But also KTM motorcycles developed for racing. Initially it was motors from MV-Agusta, later Ludwig Apfelbeck constructed a new motor from them. In 1960 the popular Ponny I scooter came on the market, two years later Ponny II . From 1964 the production of bicycles began . In the mid-1970s, KTM was the first moped manufacturer to bring a 50 cm³ moped with cast magnesium wheels on the market, which already reached a top speed of 100 km / h. In addition, bicycles continued to be made. It was around this time that the brand's first domestic successes in motocross sports began.

After the sudden death of the engineer Kronreif in 1960 and the death of the second company founder, Hans Trunkenpolz, the company was again called Krafträder Trunkenpolz Mattighofen , which achieved a turnover of 3.5 million euros with 180 employees and from his son Erich Trunkenpolz to his Death in 1989. The subsidiary KTM North America Inc. was founded in Lorain (near Cleveland , Ohio , USA ) in 1978 ; the export share at that time was 72%. In 1979 the company received the state award and thus the right to use the federal coat of arms in business dealings. In 1980 the company was renamed KTM Motor-Fahrzeugbau KG .

Bankruptcy and filleting

Although KTM achieved sales of over 50 million euros with scooters and mopeds in 1983 , scooter production was discontinued in 1988 and bankruptcy was filed in 1991 . At that time, KTM AG was managed by banks that filleted the company. Four new, independent companies were created:

  • KTM Sportmotorcycles GmbH , since 2003 KTM-Sportmotorcycle AG : Specializing in sporty off-road motorcycles
  • KTM Fahrrad GmbH : production of bicycles
  • KTM Kühler GmbH : has been developing and producing cooling systems for the automotive and motorcycle industry as well as for stationary systems since 1984 and employs over 350 of the 470 employees at the Mattighofen production site
  • KTM Werkzeugbau GmbH , as MBT again part of KTM-Sportmotorcycle AG

Motorsport

As early as 1954, two 125 cm³ KTM tourist motorcycles with a three-speed Rotax engine were at the start of the International Alpine Tour .

In 1955 the entry into road racing took place. With a full fairing, the KTM (Agusta) racers were the sensation at the 1st Rupert Hollaus Memorial Race on May 1st, 1955 on the Salzburg-Liefering motorway circuit. Paul Schwarz and Erich Trunkenpolz, the son of the company founder, took first and second place.

From 1957 Erwin Lechner brought home numerous successes in cross-country sport for KTM with the new KTM racing engine, which was designed by the Austrian engineer Ludwig Apfelbeck . Apfelbeck was brought into the company by Trunkenpolz in 1955. Since 1965, KTM has been involved in off-road sports , where the company still achieves world successes to this day. In 1974 the Russian Gennady Moissejew won the 250 cc World Championship for KTM for the first time.

Another highlight in KTM's motorsport history was winning the Motocross World Championships in 1984 and 1985 by Austrian driver Heinz Kinigadner , who continues to work for KTM for motorsport. Later on, KTM and its drivers were able to regularly celebrate world championship titles in the disciplines of motocross , enduro sports and supermoto , as well as series victories at the Dakar Rally .

Models

Scooter

  • Mecky (The first KTM moped scooter with a Sachs engine. The first version was designed in 1957 by Ludwig Apfelbeck and Hans Trunkenpolz, it was the first KTM series engine: a fan-cooled , horizontal single-cylinder 50 cm³ two-stroke engine (2.1 PS at 5500 rpm) with three-speed draw key gear and twist grip shift.)
  • Mirabell (~ 125 cm³, 1957, scooter)
KTM Ponny, found in Graz
  • Ponny I (1960) → Ponny II (1962, was initially available with a conventional foot switch, later with a rocker foot switch)

Mopeds and mopeds

The KTM Hobby III moped (2-speed)
  • Comet (1964, the first sports moped with a fan-cooled Puch engine, then Comet Grand Prix RS with die-cast wheels and disc brakes in the mid-1970s )
  • 505 (47 cm³, Sachs 505 engine)
    • 505 S 2-speed (manual transmission, 1979)
    • 505 SS 2-speed (manual transmission, 1979)
    • 505 Cross 2-speed (manual transmission, 1979)
    • 505 L Automatic (1979)
    • 505 L 2-speed (manual transmission, 1979)
    • 505 LS 2-speed (manual transmission, 1979)
    • 505 S Automatic (1979)
    • 505 SB Automatic (1979)
    • 505 SB 2-speed (manual transmission, 1979)
    • 505 SL (manual transmission, Sachs 505 / 2b)
    • 505 Standard Automatic (1979)
    • 505 N (now 49 cm³, 1984)
  • Foxi
    • Foxi (1980) → Foxi 2-speed (manual transmission, 1982) → Foxi L 2-speed (manual transmission, 1984)
    • Foxi Automatic (automatic transmission, 1984)
    • Foxi Kj (special model with white add-on parts such as paneling and seat)
  • Pony (see Pony Motos ) (49 cm³, 1984)
    • Pony S 2-speed
    • Pony S 3-speed
    • Pony SS 2-speed
  • SM 25 (1979, Sachs 50 / 3D) → SM 25 (1981, Sachs 506 / 3B and 506 / 3BY, Bosch ignition system) → SM 25 (1982, Motoplat ignition system)
  • Bora 25 (49 cm³, Sachs 506 / 3B and 506 / 3BY)
  • GP 30 (Puch engine)
  • GP 40 (Sachs engine)
  • Hobby III 2-speed
  • Quattro (4-speed, Morini engine) (1985-1989)
  • Duo (2-speed) Puch motor
  • Ktm Okay (3-speed / continuously variable V-belt transmission / single-speed transmission)

Mokicks

  • 50 ME (1979, Sachs 501 / 4CKF)
  • 50 MS (1977–1978, Sachs 506 / 4AKF)
  • 50 MSS (1977–1978, Sachs 501 / 4BKF and 506 / 4AKF)
  • 50 MLS (1977–1978, Sachs 501 / 4CKF and 506 / 4AKF)
  • Bora 50 (Sachs 506 / 4AKF)

Motorcycles

~ 50 cm³

  • 50 RSL (1977)
  • 50 RSW (1977)
  • 50 RLW (1979, 6 volts)
  • 50 RLW (1979, 12 volts)

~ 80 cm³

  • 80 RS
  • 80 RL
  • 80 RSL
  • 80 RSL / F
  • 80 RLW
  • 80 Pro-Lever (Sachs 80SA)
  • 80 Pro-Lever (Sachs 80SW)
  • 80 choppers
  • 80 L chopper
  • 80 Bora (1982, Sachs 80SA)

~ 125 cc

Motocross

  • Penton (1958)
  • 495 MC (56 hp, 1982)
  • 250 MX (46 hp, 1982-1989)
  • 600 MX (45 hp, 1984)

literature

  • Leo Keller: KTM type compass - motorcycles since 1953 . Motorbuch-Verlag Stuttgart, 3rd revised and expanded edition 2014
  • Leo Keller: Type compass enduro and off-road motorcycles - German and Austrian manufacturers 1960–2006 . Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2006
  • Friedrich Ehn: KTM: world champion brand from Austria . Herbert Weishaupt Verlag, ISBN 3-7059-0034-X

swell

Web links

Commons : KTM Motor-Fahrzeugbau  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Helmut Krackowizer: Motorcycles - famous brands