Portuguese motorcycles from the 70s and 90s

My youth was lulled by the sound of Zundapp, Casal, Sachs, Famel, Macal... Portuguese motorcycle manufacturers included Famel, Casal and Macal. Every summer, I'd see my uncles, cousins and friends riding them. Most of them were 50 cm3s, but there were also 125 cm3s.

These bikes all had gears ranging from 2 to 5 speeds, depending on the model. Macal was more of a cross-country specialist.

Casal was a brand from Aveiro (a fishing town 50 km from Porto). The brand was founded in 1953 and began by manufacturing agricultural engines. The brand was equipped with German Zundapp engines under license.

In 1984, Pierpaolo Bianchi won the first two races of the season in the 80 cm3 class and finished 3rd in the world championship on a Huvo-Casal.

FAMEL (Fábrica de Produtos Metálicos Ltda) was the other major Portuguese motorcycle brand, a leader from the 60s to the 80s. The brand went bankrupt in the 1990s. The last model to leave the factory in 1997 was the Famel Electron, an 800-watt electric scooter. This scooter was supposed to be innovative for its time, and to turn around an already failing brand. The brand failed to withstand competition from Europe (Piaggio in particular), Japan and the bankruptcy in 1984 of the German brand ZUNDAPP, which supplied a large proportion of the motors for Portuguese production. The brand's best-known model was the Famel Xf17, powered by a Zundapp 5-speed air-cooled engine developing 7.1 hp. Other models enjoyed great commercial success: the Xf21 and Xf25.

For lovers of the FAMEL brand and other Zundapp models, check out the Zseft-Zundapp.com blog. You'll find a wealth of information and photos gathered over the last few years by enthusiasts, as well as a section for the famous FAMEL brand. Enough to make you want to restore an Xf17 :) This site tells the whole story of Zundapp and is translated into several languages.

Below are the photos I took this year during a trip to Portugal. They're still on the road.

A tired Zundapp Mirage-75