Mosquito
About 2 million built, the most popular bicycle engine of its kind in Europe.
Photo: Rikita, CC BY-SA 4.0
Home / Moped Library / Garelli
Garelli
Italian two-strokes since 1919
// The story
Garelli was founded in Italy in 1919 by engineer Adalberto Garelli and built small two-stroke motorcycles and mopeds until it shut down in 1987.
Its best-known moped engine is the horizontal NOI, a 49cc piston-port motor with the pedal gear built inside, sold in one-speed and two-speed versions. There were also the vertical VIP and Monza engines. The Monza GT was imported to the US, along with models like the Super Sport XL.
Garellis have a weird one: a rubber clutch that needs no adjusting and runs on a thin film of oil. The catch is it only wants non-detergent oil, since regular oil swells the rubber.
// The models
Garelli models
Gulp
One of Garelli's most successful mopeds, built in many versions.
Photo: Gilerius450, CC BY-SA 4.0
Ciclone
A tube-frame moped, later the Super Ciclone.
Photo: Jonny 1988 at Italian Wikipedia, Public domain
Monza GT
The one Garelli model that made it to American showrooms under its own name.
Photo: John Goetzinger, CC BY-SA 2.0
More Garelli models and versions (no free photo yet. Got one? DM us)
- Eureka / Eureka Flex Horizontal-cylinder mofa. 1972–79 in Europe, US 1974–76
- Sport / Gran Sport / Gran Sport LTD One-speed horizontal engine. US 1977–84
- Rally Sport One-speed horizontal cylinder. US 1977–86
- VIP Two-speed vertical cylinder. 1978–91
- Gulpmatic Two-speed. US 1977–78
- Monza Step-through two-speed. US 1981–84
- Basic One-speed. 1981–87
// Made from real bikes
Want your Garelli on a shirt?
Every Moped Motel design starts as a photo of a real bike. Send us a shot of yours and it could be the next one.