In the end, Münch grew old, and
was unable to continue even his limited work. A final owner, Thomas Petsch, took
over the operation and announced the availability of the Mammut 2000, the
ultimate member of the line, certainly the most high-tech and high-speed Münch
ever produced. But, perhaps inevitably, the Mammut 2000 proved to be a true
Münch motorcycle, each example built costing Petsch almost twice what he could
charge for it. Production ended—probably for the last time—in 2002.Despite
all the problems, there is a fascination about the Mammut that puts it far above
most mass-produced motorcycles on the desirability scale. It’s rare, of course,
and that lures collectors. And it represents, as does an early Ferrari, the work
of an individualist who resolutely went his own way. But it is also something of
a technological marvel. Münch pioneered the use of a cast-alloy rear wheel on
bikes when he discovered that the torque output of his prototype inflicted too
much strain on a regular wire wheel, and may have been the first to use fuel
injection on road bikes. Most of all, any Münch represents the kind of
challenge to a rider that few who have a chance to climb aboard would wish to
resist: Make a Mammut perform to its full potential, and you have tamed a wild
and woolly beast indeed. There will never be another bike even remotely like
it. www.muench-mammut-2000.com
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