Fritz Egli

Fritz Egli, born on 30 June 1937 in Zurich, is a Swiss former motorcycle racer who became better known as a motorcycle frame specialist and engine tuner. He founded his motorcycle speed shop in 1965 and made his name with a signature large diameter central backbone tube, first seen on a Vincent Black Shadow that won a 1968 motorcycle hill climb championship. Through the 1970s he became famous for frame designs built around the large Japanese engines of the era, especially the Honda CB750 Four and the first big four-stroke Kawasaki motorcycles, enhancing the engines for more power and fitting them into his own chassis. His designs use straight pipes only, with a main tube about 12 cm across, avoiding the bends of frames such as the Norton Featherbed, and from 1979 a honeycomb section inside the tube made the frame much stiffer. His approach influenced other frame builders, including the Healey brothers, and owners of Egli-framed machines still meet every year.