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LEOPOLDO TARTARINI AND ITALJET

Leopoldo Tartarini was born in Bologna on 10 August 1932. His father, Egisto, is a motorcycle dealer, who repairs in the attached workshop, and a good rider riding a Moto Guzzi sidecar with which he participates in local competitions, such as the Circuito dei Giardini Margherita and the climb to Colle dell'Osservanza. With these premises, Leopoldo, Poldino for all, can only grow with a passion for two wheels, so much so that his father builds a mini-sidecar on which he can ride happily with his sisters at the age of four. After the war, after completing his studies, he enrolled in the faculty of Architecture in Florence, but returned to Bologna after a year due to the death of his father following injuries sustained during a competition.

In the early 1950s, the Milan-Taranto was a myth for all Italian motorcyclists. Tartarini is no exception and, on the strength of his father's teachings, he decides to sign up for the fantastic race in 1952 with a sidecar he has assembled around a second-hand BSA engine. At the start he is laughed at by all the participants of his category who consider his vehicle absolutely unsuitable. The young Tartarini, with his partner Sergio Calza, amazes everyone and at his first motorcycle competition he wins the category in front of much more renowned and titled riders. It is the beginning of the adventure.

These are the years of the country's economic recovery and all young people own or dream of a motorcycle as a means of freedom and emancipation. But not a big bike: a 125 or, at most, a 175 with which to go to work during the week and do some local races on Sunday is enough. This enormous popularity of the light motorcycle could only flow into a great national sporting event that glorified the vehicle and its riders.

In 1953, the MotoGiro d’Italia was born in Bologna, organized by the newspaper "Stadio", and the Bolognese Tartarini, now infected by the sacred fire of competitions, is ready to participate on a Benelli 125 that he himself has prepared. The race, which lasts six days, is exhausting for the men and for the vehicles, but Tartarini does not feel the fatigue and wins the overall classification in front of even larger bikes. Last but not least, the victory takes on greater significance because it is lived in his city. A few weeks later the Milan-Taranto takes place and once again the class victory, with the official Benelli 125, does not escape him. Now Bologna can certainly acclaim its great driver. 

On the commercial front, Tartarini opens the Benelli dealership for Bologna in Porta Mazzini. The second edition of the Giro d’Italia sees him still riding the Benelli 125, again winner in his class and 2nd overall, thus becoming one of the most popular riders in Italy. At the Milan-Taranto he must instead, for the first time, feel the regret of retiring, in the early stages, due to engine problems.

In 1955, at the height of his popularity, he changed his shirt becoming an official rider and captain of the Ducati team, to which the best bikes prepared by the racing department were destined. For him, from Bologna, it is a dream come true. In the MotoGiro d 'Italia he participates with the Ducati 100, known as Marianna, but in the seventh stage, when he is at the top of the provisional classification, he has to retire due to an accident. For the after-effects he does not participate in the Milan-Taranto. In the meantime, his dealership has changed sign and now, of course, he displays the Ducati brand. With the desire for redemption, , immediately taking the lead with the Ducati 125. Unfortunately, even in this edition, on the sixth stage, he was the victim of an accident: he flies down in an escarpment reporting serious physical consequences that preclude any sporting activity for the rest of the year. He is even afraid of the possibility of walking again, but fortunately after a few months the situation improves.

In 1957 his last participation in the Giro d 'Italy, this time in the 175 class, was again unlucky, as he had to retire at the third stage. A few months later, the competitions on roads open to traffic were abolished due to a serious accident that occurred at the Mille Miglia automobile, for which Tartarini was left without his work. This does not preclude any other activity on motorcycles and being still under contract with Ducati, he decides to honor him by attempting, with his friend Giorgio Monetti, an adventure never experienced before by an Italian: around the world on a motorcycle.

Ducati accepts the challenge, understanding the enormous propaganda success that such an operation could have brought, and entrusts two 175s to the couple leaving Bologna on September 30th amidst the encouragement of the many fellow citizens who attended and even with the blessing of the Bishop of Bologna. Cardinal Lercaro. After about a year of travel, in which they live a thousand adventures narrated in a series of letters that are regularly published by the entire press in the sector, creating an enormous emphasis, they triumphantly return to Bologna on September 5th, 1958. At this point Tartarini, the "First" motorcyclist from Bologna and one of the most popular in Italy, he thinks the time has come to capitalize on his fame by becoming a motorcycle manufacturer himself.

In 1959 he develops the idea and prepares commercial agreements but, officially, Italemmezeta was established in Bologna on February 4th, 1960 with the purpose of "building and importing motorcycles and mopeds". First operational headquarters, a semi-basement in Via del Piombo; registered and administrative office in Via Ugo Bassi. The company immediately devoted itself to the construction of its own models with 125 cm3 engines of the East German MZ (Motorradwerke Zschopau), leaving out the import of complete motorcycles.

Already from the beginning we notice the audacity, almost the temerity of Tartarini who, thanks to his reputation as a runner and probably "tempered" in interpersonal relationships by the experience of the World Tour, does not hesitate to establish commercial contacts with East Germany, then absolutely impenetrable in its "iron curtain". But the incredible is not so much in having asked, as in having obtained. Which, then, he will succeed again several other times with manufacturers who never before had agreed to supply their products to others. In any case, his will was to remain a "semi-constructor" business for the first twenty years, since the first motor with its own brand will only be produced in 1980.

From the very beginning, however, we find an element that will characterize all subsequent production: innovation in style and the ability, even with a few small details, to jump beyond the bar set up until then by the generalized taste of the motorcycle market. The first major success was already in the making in 1962. It is a sporty style moped with a name that could not have been more appropriate: Italjet (also a wonderful idea). Its two-tone metallic paint echoes that of the Ducati 125 and 200, almost ideally alongside them, giving it an implicit meaning of “younger sisters”. In this too, Tartarini immediately proves to be skilled, that is, trying to amalgamate some of the elements that characterize the best motorcycles on the market at that time.

In 1964 the Mustang series was born with the SS model. Once again, the innovative power, in its small size, is enormous: double cradle raised frame, never seen before; large tank surmounted by two caps (one of which turns out to be the seat of the kilometer counter) flanked by a very light and daring saddle (patented by him); very sporty low handlebar; finally, the front brake, beautiful, ventilated with double plate and four jaws (almost a competition brake that serves, even “visually”, to justify the need to brake a motorcycle with a decidedly “racing” appearance). This extreme characterization of a simple moped immediately remains etched in the minds of the boys of the time, creating a myth. The raised double cradle frame is an absolute novelty, later taken up even by the most important motorcycle manufacturer in Italy, Moto Guzzi. The tank and saddle were later modified, giving life to the Mustang Veloce, a "wink" in the shape of the tank, to the Aermacchi Ala series that were at the time raging both on the road and on the track. Once again, we are connected to larger displacement motorcycles, as if to entice the fourteen-year-olds to take an Italjet because in some elements it resembles the bike of their older brother or older friend, which they can only dream of for the moment.

In the same years Tartarini begins to export to Europe, North and South America, Africa. This is another ability which must be acknowledged and which can ideally be linked to his "year lived dangerously". There are very few Italian firms that, in those years, proposed themselves in the United States, obtaining some success; besides Italjet, probably only Garelli, Benelli, Ducati and Parilla. Having your own distributor in California is a huge success for a company that's only five years old. Tartarini's period of greatest creativity begins and the models that will arrive in series production will be only a part of what the "workaholic" department "studies, design and development", that is, himself and a couple of trusted collaborators, will realize.

At the end of 1965 the Vampire 60 was born, expressly designed for the speed competitions of the newborn Cadet category. Tartarini again anticipates the market by raising the bar of style again. The bike is an admirable example of lightness and power, while the yellow-red color highlights its characteristics more. On the track the bike defeats all the competitors from the first race. But Tartarini ranges across the board, from mopeds to super bikes, and at the Milan Motor Show, at the end of the year, he presents the Grifo 500 motorized with the English Triumph. An incredible result: a small company that until then had essentially operated in the field of mopeds, he launched himself into the world of large motorcycles by accepting to challenge the famous British brands then dominating. And it does so by choosing the most important engine on the market at the time, from a company that had never before had the slightest idea of entrusting its “heart” to other manufacturers.

 

It is significant that in the correspondence between Triumph and Italjet there are communications in which it is expressly requested the cancellation of each Triumph brand from the engines supplied to Tartarini: almost as if he does not want to mix his noble name with the small and "crazy" Italian assembler. Of course, Tartarini's “nerve” and “lucid madness” reach high peaks here. Also in the original correspondence there are letters in which he confirms production plans for thousands of pieces, blatantly bluffing the actual operational capacity of the company, its commercial possibilities and technical assistance. And all this breaks through an English industry that is already showing signs of imbalance, in the face of the emerging challenge launched by the competition from the Rising Sun.

In those years the collaboration with the English group Triumph Ariel BSA also led to the presentation of a 160 cm3 motorcycle with the ARIEL brand and a Minarelli engine. Unfortunately, the studio does not pass the prototype phase due to conflicts that have arisen within the British group but, it is worth repeating, Tartarini is still a pioneer, both as a designer and as a producer, in the collaboration with the British industry.

In the thick web of activities in 1965 we also find the commercial agreement with Jawa-CZ for the supply of engines of various displacements. The already existing collaboration with MZ certainly contributes to the successful conclusion of this contract, allowing him to break down again the great wall of trade between West and East Europe. This relationship will be profitable for several years until the period 1969 -71, when Tartarini will also become an importer in Italy of the multi-victorious motocross bikes produced by CZ.

In 1966 Italjet also opened its business to external customers by providing prototyping, industrialization and assembly of finished motorcycles. Over the years, agreements will be signed with Mi-Val, Vi-Vi and especially Ducati, a company with which Tartarini has always continued to have excellent relations. Later, towards the second half of the seventies, the collaboration will be very intense, so much so that Tartarini is also known as a Ducati “stylist”. He is credited with making models attractive (for example the series of parallel twin cylinders or the 860 GT) up to that moment of little interest for the public. Tartarini performs this task very well, becoming one of the best Italian motorcycle designers.

In 1967 Italjet revolutionized the market once again by launching the line of low wheel mopeds with the Gò Gò, Scout and Ranger series. The novelty now lies in considering the moped no longer, or rather, not only a means evocative of the "goddess of speed" or of simple transport, but also a means of recreation with which to savor the conquest of greater freedom, strongly desired by the youth revolution of the time. The high cradle frame is always in evidence (almost a trademark) but the singularity, especially in the Gò Gò, is the strange tank located so forward as to leave the space between the legs free, almost like a scooter, and embrace the steering head instead. On the front there are two large cartoon eyes similar to those of the great driver Renzo Pasolini's helmet. And Tartarini hits the mark, so much so that the Gò Gò is so successful that it is also widely sold abroad.

Exports to many European and non-European countries continue to grow, to the point of making it necessary to adopt different brands on some markets, including: Tarbo for France, Rome for the USA, Ital for Northern Europe, in order to have different production lines with different distributors. In the meantime, having ceased commercial relations with MZ for some time, the company officially changed its name in 1967 and became Italjet.

During this period, Gianni Cinelli joins the company, a talented collaborator who will be entrusted with the technical management of both the experimental and competition department and the technical assistance department linked to the brands gradually imported over the years.

But Tartarini's mind is tireless and always on the move so that the following year, 1968, the first Italjet folding moped was born: the Kit-Kat. This time we turn to a particular niche of the market: that of two wheels as a complementary means to another means of transport. The Kit-Kat is really tiny, has very small 5-inch wheels, and is designed to be inserted, once the handlebar and saddle are folded, into a special bag and stored in the trunk of the car, in a camper, on the boat, accompanying the owner even on train journeys.

Now, it is not our task here to identify whether Tartarini was absolutely the inventor of these small means of transport, but certainly he was the one who made them an industrial product in Italy, giving them, more than any other, a certain diffusion. To corroborate the idea of "all-out" activity, in the same year the Grifon superbike goes into production, powered by a Triumph 650 engine, the same as the legendary Bonneville. Here the unequal challenge, which has always fascinated Tartarini since the days of motorcycle racing, reaches a high level: Davide against the Goliaths of the world motorcycle industry, Italjet against the famous Italian, Japanese, English and German brands. In fact, the originality lies precisely in proposing itself, unlike the large houses, as a very flexible manufacturer, ready to satisfy even the particular needs of its customers, creating real "specials" with an English heart and an original frame equipped with the best of Italian components.

In fact, the chassis is very respectable and far superior to many competitors. Unfortunately, this cannot be said for the engine which, despite its noble pedigree, is no longer in step with the times. The bike is beautiful, agile and light but the engine is not up to par and the price, given the quantities produced, cannot be competitive. In the following two or three years, stylistic changes and also versions closer to American taste are proposed. There remains in history a result that no other small Italian motorcycle industry of those years achieved, perhaps positioning the Grifon a step above its direct competitors of the time.

In 1968 the collaboration with Floyd Clymer was also born for the production of models with the Indian brand destined exclusively for the American market. He is a well-known character in the Yankee motorcycle world, formerly a famous pilot in the 1920s, subsequently a dealer, first Harley Davidson and then Indian, and now editor of the most important American motorcycle magazine, “Cycle”. The projects are big, how big that market is. Clymer is endowed with the same "madness" of Tartarini and launches himself into this new activity perhaps in a way that is not adequate for his strength, both physical and economic. Initially he sought collaboration with the German Friedel Munch, from whom he imported Mammuth motorcycles equipped with the NSU automotive engine, but, it happens that he is materially unable to support it, he finds in Tartarini, whose products he had admired at the Milan Show, the right ally for this historical adventure.

Tartarini produced several models for him in the following years, from mini to maximoto bikes, the latter with Velocette 500 and Royal Enfield 750 engines, as well as a good series of prototypes, including Norton and Horex engines. However, it is above all the minis that immediately conquer the market, while the maxi, due to various problems, will be produced in very limited numbers.

Unfortunately, Clymer died suddenly in the early 70s and those who continue his business definitively cancel any request for large-displacement bikes. Until the mid-seventies, he will continue to sell the mini motorcycles in large quantities, shipped in an innovative packaging totally made of polystyrene.

Meanwhile, on the domestic front, the limited series production of models intended exclusively for off-road racing begins: Piranha 50, Cross Casa 50-60 and Zorro 175, particularly well-finished and competitive bikes. Paola Dolci competes with Zorro in Lazio, the only woman motocross rider of those times to obtain results of some importance. Tartarini also tries to enter the medium-displacement market by offering models with the Jawa 350 two-cylinder engine. Totally outside his motorcycling interests, but equally connected to speed, he is a prototype of Ski-Bob, a winter sport specialty widespread in those years. On it he applies a front suspension and a tapered fairing allowing the Swiss team that commissioned him to win in all competitions.

1968 ended with the inauguration of the Speed Center, defined by the magazine "Motociclismo" as "the paradise of Italian motorcyclists". It is an idea of American origin, strictly commercial and absolutely new: it was certainly the first in Italy and, probably, also in Europe. Basically, it is a department store dedicated exclusively to motorcycling where you can find large-displacement and racing bikes, as well as the widest range of accessories, special detached parts and clothing. In total, over a thousand articles. The success is enormous and large groups of enthusiasts come from far away to visit and shop.

In 1969 the off-road mini-bikes saw the light, another progenitor of Italjet production. Initially with Franco Morini 50 engine, they are intended for children of all ages. Mini-Mini Bambino and Junior Cross are the first of a series that will go on for over thirty years with models of various sizes and specifications, produced specifically to follow the growth of little centaurs, from 5 to 14 years old, step by step. The great innovation consists in the fact that these are not toy bikes but real miniature motocross bikes, gradually getting bigger and more performing. With them they started to race and win riders of different nationalities who then became internationally famous, both in cross and in speed. In this sector Italjet will be recognized world leader.

At the end of the year on the Monza circuit, Tartarini himself beat some World Speed Records with a three-wheeled cycle car (two front steering and one rear driving) powered by a liquid-cooled CZ 250 engine. The rainy day does not allow him, unfortunately, to complete the planned program. However, the choice of competing in a category totally unknown in Italy, with English records dating back to several years ago, finds its logical explanation in the principle, precisely of Tartarini, for which it was important to achieve the greatest possible promotion with an economic effort. relative but, in any case, in a striking way and outside the orthodox advertising schemes.

On this subject, it is essential to point out the innovative advertising campaign launched in those years, still in the minds of motorcycle magazine readers today, in which Italjet models can be seen flying over what turns out to be the profile of a beautiful female body. Again in the field of promotion we remember the Club Bielle Roventi, whose name was already a whole program, born with the aim of retaining, as we would say today, young people to the Italjet brand, giving free, behind the shipment of a coupon to be cut from the magazine “Motociclismo”, cards and personalized gadgets. The success was so overwhelming and unexpected that the company was forced, after only a few months, to publish an advertising page with which it requested the suspension of mailings, "stifled" by requests.

In 1970 Italjet launched the Ossobuco brand which includes a series of low-wheeled motorcycles intended for easy fun and commonly known in the United States as "funny bikes". Reduced to the bare minimum, with a frame consisting of four bent tubes and an engine most often originally intended for mowers or similar, the overseas models have the only advantage of their very low cost. The Ossobuco are far superior to their American counterparts, and this is corroborated by what Tartarini says, with an observation that reflects his thoughts on all types of motorcycles, in a letter sent to Clymer: "The products where one looks only for low cost makes manufacturers and importers work badly. An economic article, in fact, will always create annoyances of all kinds and also the customers that are acquired are the poorest and at the same time the one that has the greatest demands. Furthermore, these minibikes that you define as 'built by a blacksmith' are not suited to the character and settings of the Italjet".

However, this is another production line that Tartarini is the first to carry out in Italy and that others will subsequently follow. Furthermore, for the first time on a motorcycle, polyurethane foam is used to model the fake tank-saddle assembly (the real tank was positioned in the central beam of the frame). But Italjet does not forget the competitions and in that same year prepares two motorcycles destined for the speed Grand Prix. The first, equipped with the CZ 250 engine with which Tartarini had beaten records at Monza, makes an appearance on the Cervia-Milano Marittima circuit entrusted to senior driver Gianni Ribuffo, while the second, powered by a twin-cylinder Yamaha 125 engine, is led by Mario Lega in the Italian Junior Championship.

During the same year, the collaboration with Yamaha was officially born, which will lead to a much more consistent commitment difficult and fruitful in the following years, until 1976. In fact, Italjet became the sole importer of the entire range of the Japanese house, including the customers' racing bikes.

Due to the known legislative limitations, however, he must limit himself to selling motorcycles over 350 cm3, therefore, for the lower displacements he decides to produce on his own models equipped with the Japanese engine. To circumvent the regulation that prevents the importation from Japan of even just the engines, a triangulation system is devised that sees them first arrive in a Yamaha branch in Turkey, where they are partially assembled with frames and wheels; everything is then imported into Italy to be disassembled and reassembled again according to a more precise assembly line procedure. With this agreement Tartarini marks another important success in his career, considering that a prestigious manufacturer like Yamaha, in those years victorious in the World Championships in various classes, had chosen Italjet as a partner for Italy, a market that was certainly difficult at that time for the not italian motorcycles.

In the following years, the company's major commitment focused on the marketing of Japanese motorcycles, while the new one responds to another name that has become very successful: the Buccaneer. Presented at the Milan Motor Show at the end of 1972 and marketed the following year, it immediately reveals itself with the characteristics suitable for making it a Junior competition bike, a class that includes derivative series motorcycles. With its two-cylinder two-stroke engine it is clearly above the other bikes, all single-cylinder, so much so as to immediately induce some competitors to follow its path.

The Buccaneer officially entered competitions the following year and Aermacchi, hitherto absolute master of the championship, immediately became old. The Italjet won the Italian Junior 125 Championship from 1973 to 1975 with the drivers Marino Maspes, Domenico Battilani and Giorgio Avveduti, also placing many other drivers. The policy adopted by the Bolognese company is simple: every year there are only four official bikes, while all the other riders have bikes that they manage themselves, but with the possibility of obtaining directly from Italjet, at a cost of 200,000 lire, all the spare parts needed for the season. The road Buccaneer has evolved over the years by adding new technical components that always keep it at the top of its category. His successful career ceases after eight years, not for its specific causes, but for the changed taste of the young people of the late 1970s, attracted to off-road bikes. It was certainly the Italjet bike that was most successful.

Once the relationship with Yamaha ended, Tartarini, who has always understood the importance of having a commercial partner to complete his range, in 1977 signs a collaboration with Bultaco for the import and distribution in Italy of his models, all intended for off-road vehicles, thus managing in part not to "miss the train" of change in the tastes of young motorcyclists. A specific company called Sun International is created for this activity.

In 1978 the Pack-A-Way was presented, a folding moped with low wheels, inspired by the previous Kit-Kat, but with a central beam frame, which also acts as a tank, covered with a single matte black superstructure in foamed polyurethane . It is, in part, the revival of some themes from the previous Ossobuco series. Due to its innovative shapes and construction concepts, this model will become part of the permanent collection of the New York Museum of Modern Art, the prestigious MOMA, in 1980.

In 1982 the model evolved into Pack 2, adopting the mechanical and transmission parts of the Piaggio Ciao. And so even the largest Italian motorcycle manufacturer grants the privilege of supplying engines, previously never granted to anyone and, I believe, not even later. Over time, the model becomes a must for owners of large boats and is also supplied as standard on some of them. Become the folding moped par excellence.

 

The Pack will remain in the catalog until the mid-90s. Again with Piaggio mechanics and transmission, this time from the Ape series, Tartarini “invents” a trike, a motorcycle with two large knobby rear driving wheels and a front center similar to the previous ones, steering, which he calls Ranger. The name clearly indicates its ability to move on mountain terrain, adding a good load capacity. It is a completely new type of motorcycle, never placed on the market in Italy until that moment.

In the following years, on the same line, but with only two wheels, the Skipper was produced which adopts a Honda Italia 125 4-stroke engine. And this time it is even the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world to agree to Tartarini's requests. The bike is part of that vein said of the "sand bikes", sand bikes. In any case, on closer inspection, both Piaggio and Honda accept Tartarini's proposals as the final product can be classified in a specific niche that is never in direct competition with the models in the range of the two great manufacturers. However, one fact remains: in any case they feel satisfied with the seriousness of the Italjet brand.

All these “strange” ideas, in fact, despite being the result of a synthesis of his mind, draw inspiration from the Japanese market for which Tartarini has always had great consideration. In fact, since the end of the 60s, he visits the Tokyo Motor Show and receives Japanese motorcycle publications from which he "extrapolates" what he then remodels according to his taste, creating a new and different product, suitable to interest the domestic market.

In 1979, focus was on commercial and technical assistance activities at Bultaco, which was then very busy in the field of trials, both competitive and amateur. The following year, the economic situation of the Spanish manufacturer worsened, so much so that production and even competitive activities were suspended, whose assistance was still entrusted to local importers. During a two-day international test held in Italy, the Italjet technician Gianni Cinelli manages in one night's work to repair the bike of the top Bultaco rider, the world champion Bernie Schreiber, which had suffered serious damage to the engine, allowing him to win the second day of competition. At that point Schreiber, who had been left on foot by Bultaco, asks Tartarini to compete for Italjet, which however does not have a motorcycle to entrust to him. The decision was made in a few days: with the help of the Spanish technician Manuel Marqués, who had always followed the Bultaco trial racing department, Italjet entered the Trial World Championship in effect. The second official driver will be the Italian Ettore Baldini who will also compete in the Italian Championship. The immediate possibility of retaining Bultaco customers, offering them an Italian product on par with the previous Spanish one, also weighs heavily in favor of this decision.

The first racing prototype, completed in a few weeks, is largely taken over, as far as the chassis is concerned, by Bultaco and has an engine obtained by coupling crankshaft and Bultaco thermal to a Ducati Scrambler 125 gearbox. The debut is in the Swiss test where both Schreiber and Baldini, for reasons attributable to the too fast route, finish out of time. But the results were not long in coming and, thanks also to the extraordinary shape of the two riders, the bike won the International Two Days of Pinerolo in the second part of the season with a triumphant pace, the last four world tests and two tests of the Italian Championship, so that at the end of the year Italjet is Vice-champion of the Trial World with Schreiber and Senior Italian Vice-champion with Baldini. An unimaginable result a priori, if we consider that we started from nothing in mid-season.

From the following year Italjet officially entered the trial motorcycle market, becoming for the first time also a manufacturer of its own engines, in the conventional displacement of 350 and 250 cm3. The motorcycles were immediately successful, driven by the phenomenal exploits of Schreiber and Baldini. The engine is the industrial version of the one already built by the Racing Department for racing bikes, but the innovation inspired by Tartarini and designed by the technician Renzo Nieri, a pupil and collaborator of Fabio Taglioni, consists in having thought of the same base that it could equally accommodate a 2 or 4 stroke distribution, both air and liquid cooled. This is to allow the motorcycle range to be expanded by offering road or off-road models even with 4 strokes.

The competitive Trial activity continues in the following years both in the World Championship and in the Italian Senior, Junior and Cadet Championships.

1984 saw the presentation of the Tiffany, a high-wheeled moped, also distributed by Yamaha Europe, a direct descendant of the old motor bicycles of the immediate postwar period, driven by the same mechanics of the Pack, namely that of the Ciao Piaggio. It is a retro style start that will be successfully revived in the following decade with the Velocifero scooter.

A new era begins in 1988, that of scooters, which will see Italjet and Tartarini still active and protagonists of the scene until the early years of the new century with models such as Velocifero, Formula, Dragster and Torpedo. But Tartarini's motorcycle soul at the turn of the century is not yet satisfied and so at the Milan Motor Show in 1999 a "naked" named Grifon 900 with an English Triumph three-cylinder heart was exhibited. The model wows the audience and gets the best comments from all the insiders. Once again Tartarini has hit the mark. Once again he asked for and obtained the collaboration of a famous brand, reborn and in full ascent.

Driven by the good company results and by a never dormant desire for competitions, Tartarini, in 1999 also launched into another great adventure: participation in the World Speed Championship in the 125 class. Two motorcycles were set up, finished in a beautiful bright blue. , and the team, managed by Andy Leuthe, includes Jaroslav Hules and rookie Leon Haslam, now vice-champion of the Superbike world. After a couple of seasons of running in, the development is entrusted to a technician with proven experience such as Jorge Moeller, several times World Champion with Morbidelli, and the bike begins to give some good results, especially in the hands of the expert rider Stefano Perugini.

In the last decade Italjet was among the first companies in the world to believe in the e-bike phenomenon, launching a complete range of very elegant vintage-style pedal assisted bicycles exported and sold all over the world. Today Italjet is one of the few motorcycle companies in the world that belong to and have been led by the same family since the beginning, always keeping the same DNA and innovative spirit outside the box. Through huge investments in Research and Development, Italjet is implementing a strategy that aims at "total quality" and maximum constructive originality, a commitment in which all the staff are personally involved and motivated. Always new technical and stylistic solutions to satisfy or stimulate latent desires of the modern consumer, increasingly attentive to design and the emotional meaning of owning anything, even a motorcycle.

In the Castel Guelfo plants, a few kilometers from Bologna, the Italjet Marketing office, heart and engine of research and development, designs and produces significant innovations in the international motorcycle scene. A recent history of creativity and innovation that joins the past full of anecdotes and successes always on the border between design and technology, a truly unique combination of eclecticism and rigor. Since 2018, the company has focused on the planning, design and launch of the new Dragster, enjoying global success since the presentation of the first prototype at Eicma 2018, a success that was confirmed by the thousands of bookings received from all over the world at the time of the presentation. of the final vehicle in 2019.

Today Italjet exports to over 40 countries around the world with the usual mission, to create "works of art on two wheels".