the very beginnings! |
5/2008: A cousin just sent me this nice, early picture. I think it was
taken on a visit to his family, as the machine is definitely not mine. I
remember I owned a horrible wooden scooter with tiny hard rubber tyres
first, and later a very good FERBEDO one with balloon tyres.
But maybe this ride gave me the first idea what life on two wheels is about
(you see, the apprehensive look just tells I am aware that I am taking a big
step! ) |
| ca. 1955 NSU Quickly |
I just came around the corner when our chimney-sweeper was about to hand
it over to the scrap man, this gave me my very first automotive ride at the
age of 12 or 13. |
first automotive rides! |
5/2024: A friend recently sent me this lovely picture.
I can still remember this moped, I bought it for 5DM from the scrap collecters van.
It had a hole in the petrol tank which I patched up with a big tube repair patch,
and the handlebars were made fom a piece of water piping painted white.
But look at how apparently happy I am riding it, even in winter!
|
| ca. 1955 Heinkel Perle Moped |
A very advanced design, having a cast aluminium frame and the rear chain
enclosed in an oil bath, but its gearbox was noisier than the exhaust! |
| ca. 1956 NSU Max |
I was 14 then, and the bike was 1 year older than me. A 250cc ohc engine
and a lot of iron for a small boy. We kept it hidden in a friends garden and
I remember having a big problem reaching the ground from the saddle! |
legally on the road! |
A ca. 1968 Victoria "Mofa". This was my first legal ride, but very soon it received some serious
tuning which put an end to legality...
The one on the pic is not mine. I hope the seller from whose advert I picked the photograph does not mind showing
his nice example here (if so, sorry, and please let me know!) - mine was rather a bit scruffy.
|
Hercules K50.jpg |
my first real rebuild, 2 bikes into one. With 50cc, 5.3 bhp, 5 speed
gearbox and a very effective front brake, it would do 60mph on a slight
downward gradient!
Mine did not have the cool updraught exhaust, but was otherwise quite similar to this one.
Thanks to www.moped-muesum.de for their picture - I hope you don't mind my using it!
|
| ca. 1960 Zündapp Combinette |
Not as fast as the Hercules, but its fan cooled motor would never get
tired, and I went all the way down to the French Massiv Central on it. |
| 1952 Maico Blizzard 200cc |
This was my first legal real motorbike, it took me everywhere but it
handled like the proverbial greasy pig. |
1936 NSU 200cc Pony |
My first pre-war bike. It was simple and robust with its 200 cc
two-stroke engine and unit 4-speed gearbox, but a bit harsh in the
transmission department, especially on the overrun. |
1935 NSU 201S |
Its little 200cc ohv engine would revv lustfully and would really get
you moving. As far as I know it is a design by Walter Moore who came from
Norton's to NSU in the 30's and designed the famous 500cc ohc NSU 'Bullus'. |
NSU & Ariel |
This bike did not only live in a museum, as the above picture might
suggest. My brother has recently found these lovely pictures taken at
a Rally near Nürnberg around 1980. He is the happy owner of the 550cc Ariel,
incidentally, and doesn't he seem to ejoy it? |
1931 FN 350cc Sahara combination |
I have finally found a few old b&w photographs of this one. It had an
incorrect front end and a badly repaired crankcase. I hitched a chair to it
and we had some real fun, even in the winter!
In the background of the picture, leaned against the fence, there is still
my trusty Zündapp Combinette. |
1952 NSU 500 cc Konsul |
On a trip to Great Britain (still as a solo bike at that time), it took
me up to John O'Groats, down to Devon and back home. It behaves very well as
a combination, too. I've still got it. |
1952 AJS 18S |
My first British bike; I built it from a few boxes full of pieces. I
wrote a lot of letters to England to obtain the missing pieces. I remember
Russell Motors sent me a new piston for the princely sum of 8.50 GBP in
those days, a set of hi-lift cams was some 14 GBP!
I went down to Spain and back on this bike without much trouble, but once
broke a timing side main shaft two miles from home. |
1928 500cc D-Rad |
This is the one called the 'Spandauer Springbock', for good, as I found.
I restored it from a rusty heap, rode it for about 30 miles and got rid of
it very soon.
I am afraid the bike on the picture is not mine really, but mine was the
same. |
1972 Triumph Tiger TR6R |
I have done a lot of travels on this one, and it always got me back
home. Well, sometimes only just. I remember one time we limped home from
France running more or less on one pot, due to a burnt exhaust valve, and
another time back from England with blue smoke from the exhaust due to a
piston ring which had broken to pieces and found its way out into the
exhaust pipe! But I admit having thoroughly abused it, two up plus camping
gear.
This is the most modern bike I ever owned! |
1926 Indian Scout |
I had started this project when an ex wall of death frame, petrol tank
and saddle offered at an auto jumble caught my imagination . I learnt an
important lesson during this project: You have to travel quite a lot until
you find all the correct bits to build a bike!
The bike was amazingly lively for a 600cc sidevalve, no doubt this
impression was helped by the strangeness of the controls, i.e. foot clutch
and left hand throttle!
Unfortunately it had to go in order to finance the second Brough project... |
