The Meoni family has a rich history in two-wheeled off-road racing, ranging from enduros and rally raids to even trials and mountain biking. Fabrizio Meoni was a legend with his two Dakar Rally victories, while his son Gioele has been following in his footsteps as a Dakar alum.
On Tuesday, Gioele hosted Tutte le Moto di Casa Meoni, an open house at his place where he put his family’s motorcycles on display. Excluding his personal bicycles like the childhood bike he plans to give to his son Fabrizio Jr., 22 were showcased. It did not include every bike that he and his family ever rode as the collection was missing Fabrizio’s Fantic Caballero 125 and Gioele’s Yamaha TT-R125 that he started his career on.
A tour of the collection was posted to YouTube on Tuesday.
- 1971 Lambretta Lui: Purchased by Fabrizio’s grandfather Sergio at a shop in Castiglion Fiorentino, it was intended for Fabrizio’s sister Daniela. However, she only rode it a few times whereas Fabrizio was the main user.
- 1978 Ancillotti 250: Fabrizio’s first enduro bike. He also had a Fantic Caballero 125, though Gioele admitted he and his dad were never able to find it.
- 1980 SWM 350: Fabrizio’s factory bike that he ran in the ISDT. He also rode it in vintage enduro races decades later.
- 1982 Yamaha XT500: Registered in the name of Fabrizio’s wife Elena.
- 1988 KTM mountain bike: Obviously not a motorcycle, but this was technically Fabrizio’s first time with KTM.
- 1988 KTM 250: Fabrizio won the 1988 Italian national junior enduro championship on this 250cc.
- 1990 KTM 500 2T: Fabrizio won the 1990 Incas Rally with this 500cc bike, effectively marking his full-time switch to rally raids.
- 1992 Yamaha XTZ660 Ténéré: Making his Dakar debut, Fabrizio finished 12th in the 1992 Paris–Cape Town Rally and won the marathon subclass.
- 1991 Yamaha WR490: Fabrizio used the much lighter VR490 in the 1992 Rallye des Pharaons.
- 1994 Honda XR600: Fabrizio built this bike from scratch at home for the 1994 Paris–Dakar. This was the only year that he raced malle moto (after which his wife insisted he never do it again, as Gioele quipped) and finished fourth.
- 1995 Honda XR600: Unlike the 1994 bike that used a Dallara kit, Fabrizio’s 1995 XR600 used a full set from HRC. Still, it had plenty of home cooking like the water tanks being welded on himself. Fabrizio finished third at Dakar.
- 1998 KTM LC4 620: Fabrizio’s debut as a factory KTM rider. He finished runner-up to Stéphane Peterhansel after suffering a technical issue with his GPS.
- 2001 KTM 660 Rally: Now bearing the familiar KTM orange, Fabrizio finally scored his first Dakar victory in 2001.
- 2001 KTM LC4 640 Dakar Edition: A special, gold-colored commemorative bike that KTM gave to its 2001 Dakar factory riders.
- 2003 KTM 660 Rally: Fabrizio’s personal and training enduro bike. Despite the name, the bike has a 700cc engine.
- 2003 KTM 525 SX: Fabrizio wanted Gioele to tag along with him for desert training, so he got him this 525 when he was 13. Given the limited fuel space, he recalled climbing steep dunes when he ran out of gas and using gravity to trickle it into the tank.
- KTM 525 SX: Fabrizio’s training bike.
- 2003 Beta 250 Rev 3 250: While trials weren’t Fabrizio’s forte, Gioele was in the discipline at the time. With his son’s accompaniment, he got some track time on this Beta on three occasions.
- 2003 Beta Alp 200: Has a 200cc Suzuki engine.
- 2002 KTM 950 LC8: A bike that Gioele described as “half Italian and half Tunisian” with a “little bit of Austrian in it”, the KTM 950 LC8 brought Fabrizio to his second Dakar triumph. It also has an adventure trim, with which Fabrizio won the 2001 Rally des Pharaons. Nicknamed the “Desert Empress”, the bike saw Dakar action in 2003 and 2004; while it finished third at the former, Fabrizio retired from the latter due to an engine problem caused by a piston melting in the heat and the rear mousse breaking while he was leading.
- 2005 KTM 660 Rally: With the ban on twin cylinders, Fabrizio switched back to a 660 for the 2005 Dakar. Gauloises had become the team’s sponsor in 2003, so the bike was adorned in blue rather than orange. Tragically, this would also be Fabrizio’s last ride as he was killed in a crash at the 2005 Dakar.
- 2026 KTM 890 Adventure R: Gioele’s ride for the 2026 Italian Motorally Championship.
Of course, none of the bikes are for sale.
TUTTE LE MOTO DI CASA MEONI on YouTube
Featured image credit: Gioele Meoni


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