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Motobecane MB1
First launched in 1923, and available in gentlemen's and ladies' versions (also called "modèle ecclésiastique") from 1924, the model proved an immediate and outstanding success. This was largely due to its innovative design.
Like their four-wheeled counterparts, the motorcycles of the day were quite complicated machines. They had many controls, were expensive to buy and to maintain, and heavy and awkward to handle.
These disadvantages were recognised early on, but French motorcycle manufacturers were in a difficult position in the period after the First World War because of economic recession.
Money for investment and new product development was in very short supply. At the same time, surplus militairy motorcycles from the United Kingdom (Triumph and Douglas) and the United States (Harley Davidson and Indian) were on the market at particularly low prices. But it was soon found that while these machines were cheap to buy, they were expensive to run and maintain.
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