If you saw an ad that said "First-generation Motom — extremely rare" and the photo showed a stick shift, you were probably about to pay too much for something much more common than you were led to believe.
What is a stick shift?
On the Motom, the gearshift was operated from the left side of the handlebar using a knob. On older models, this knob was connected to the gear selector via a rigid rod—the so-called "stick." In later models, the rigid rod was replaced by a flexible cable, the classic cable-operated gearshift.
A necessary clarification: only the gears were operated by a lever. The brakes have always used cables—just like on modern bicycles. Don’t confuse the two systems.
The myth to debunk
When someone sees a Motom with a stick shift, they tend to think: it’s the first Motom, it’s from the first series, it’s extremely rare.
Wrong on all three points.
The stick shift was fitted to all Motom models produced from 1947 to 1957—a span of ten years of continuous production. During this period, approximately twenty different models and versions were produced, ranging from the original Motomic to the Motom 48 L and the 48 Sport.
We're talking about certain models produced in tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of units. The Motom 12E, for example, has been produced in four different versions over the years.
The first series doesn't mean anything
The term "first series" as applied to the Motom does not have a precise technical meaning. There is no official classification into series. Instead, there is a progression of models with different names and specifications.
The very first Motom was called the Motomic, produced starting in 1947. Then came the 12A, then the 12C, and so on—a long and varied series that lasted until 1957 with the Motom 48 L and Sport, all featuring a rod-shift transmission.
Defining any Motom with a gearshift lever as a "first series" is like saying that all 2CVs from the 1950s and 1960s up through the 1990s are the same because they have a front-mounted gearshift lever
What does that mean in practice?
If you're considering a Motom with a stick shift from an ad:
- It's not necessarily rare
- It is not necessarily from the first production run
- It isn't automatically worth more than the others
What matters is the specific model, its condition, and the completeness of the original parts. A 1947 Motomic in good condition is indeed rare. A Motom 12E from the 1950s is not as rare—and it doesn’t have to be.
In the Models section, you'll find all the models and versions, along with a detailed comparison of their differences.
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