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Hoffmann Motorcycles
Hoffmann was a bicycle manufacturer in Ratingen-Lintorf, Germany. Between 1948 and 1954 the company also manufactured motorcycles. It made a range of models using engines from 125cc to 250cc made by ILO, and the Gouverneur, which had a transversely-mounted 248 cc flat twin four-stroke engine designed by Richard Küchen, and shaft drive. The Gouverneur was developed into the MP 250-2 and finally, in 1953, the S 300 model. From 1949 to 1954 Hoffmann also made at least 60,000 Vespa motor scooters under license. A licensing dispute brought this to an end in 1954. At the same time, Hoffmann also withdrew from making its own motorcycles, and had further legal problems with their microcar, the Auto-Kabine. Beginning Jakob Oswald Hoffmann moved his Solinger Bicycle Factory to Lintorf, near Düsseldorf, shortly after the end of World War II. In the immediate postwar era, the factory made household goods, tools, and bicycles. The factory began making motorcycles in 1948. Vespa prod ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ratingen-Lintorf
Lintorf is a village at the transition of the Berg region into the lower Rhine plain in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Since 1975 it has been a quarter of the city of Ratingen. History, geography & transport Lintorf was suburbanised in 1975. Ratingen belongs to the Mettmann district in the Düsseldorf region (North Rhine-Westphalia state). Before then, Lintorf was an independent municipality and seat of administration of Amt Angermund (since early 14th century; 1929-1950 ''"Amt Ratingen-Land"''; 1950-1974 ''"Amt Angerland"''). Lintorf is on the Cologne-Ratingen-Duisburg line, but since 1985 has had no train stations. The place is connected by autobahns A52 (Essen—Düsseldorf, exit Ratingen Tiefenbroich), A524 (autobahn interchange Breitscheid—Krefeld, exit Ratingen-Lintorf), A3 (Oberhausen—Cologne, exit A52). The old boundary lies in the northern edge of the approach lane of the Düsseldorf Airport (3 km runway). Lintorf was the site of a displaced persons camp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vespa 125 Hoffmann, Deutsches Museum
Vespa () is an Italian luxury brand of scooters and mopeds manufactured by Piaggio. The name means wasp in Italian. The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A. of Pontedera, Italy to a full line of scooters and one of seven companies today owned by Piaggio. From their inception, Vespa scooters have been known for their painted, pressed steel unibody which combines, in a unified structural unit, a complete cowling for the engine (enclosing the engine mechanism and concealing dirt or grease), a flat floorboard (providing foot protection), and a prominent front fairing (providing wind protection). History After World War II, in light of its agreement to cease war activities with the Allies, Italy had its aircraft industry severely restricted in both capability and capacity. Piaggio emerged from the conflict with its Pontedera bomber plane plant demolished by bombing. Italy's crippled economy, and the disastrous state o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motorcycle Manufacturers Of Germany
A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising, sport (including racing), and off-road riding. Motorcycling is riding a motorcycle and being involved in other related social activity such as joining a motorcycle club and attending motorcycle rallies. The 1885 Daimler Reitwagen made by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Germany was the first internal combustion, petroleum-fueled motorcycle. In 1894, Hildebrand & Wolfmüller became the first series production motorcycle. Globally, motorcycles are comparably popular to cars as a method of transport. In 2021, approximately 58.6 million new motorcycles were sold around the world, fewer than the 66.7 million cars sold over the same period. In 2014, the three top motorcycle producers globally by volume were Honda (28%), Yamaha (17 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suicide Door
A suicide door is an automobile door hinged at its rear rather than the front. Such doors were originally used on horse-drawn carriages, but are rarely found on modern vehicles, primarily because they are perceived as being less safe than a front-hinged door. Being rear-hinged, if the vehicle was moving and the door opened, the driver/passenger would have to lean forward and out of the vehicle to close it. As seat belts were not in common use at that time, the risk of falling out of the car and into traffic was high, hence the name "suicide door". Initially standard on many models, later they became popularized in the custom car trade. Automobile manufacturers call the doors coach doors (Rolls-Royce and Lincoln), flexdoors (Opel), freestyle doors (Mazda), rear access doors (Saturn), or simply describe them as rear-hinged doors. History Rear-hinged doors were common on cars manufactured in the first half of the 20th century, including the iconic Citroën Traction Avant. In the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isetta
The Isetta is an Italian-designed microcar built under license in a number of different countries, including Argentina, Spain, Belgium, France, Brazil, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Because of its egg shape and bubble-like windows, it became known as a bubble car, a name also given to other similar vehicles. In 1955, the BMW Isetta became the world's first mass-production car to achieve a fuel consumption of . It was the top-selling single-cylinder car in the world, with 161,728 units sold. Initially manufactured by the Italian firm Iso SpA, the name ''Isetta'' is the Italian diminutive form of ''Iso'', meaning "little Iso". The Isetta was featured on “Family Matters” as Steve Urkel’s car starting in season four. __TOC__ Iso Isetta (Italy) The car originated with the Italian firm of Iso SpA. In the early 1950s the company was building refrigerators, motor scooters and small three-wheeled trucks. Iso's owner, Renzo Rivolta, decided to build a small car for mass di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Four-stroke Cycle
A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either direction. The four separate strokes are termed: #Intake: Also known as induction or suction. This stroke of the piston begins at top dead center (T.D.C.) and ends at bottom dead center (B.D.C.). In this stroke the intake valve must be in the open position while the piston pulls an air-fuel mixture into the cylinder by producing vacuum pressure into the cylinder through its downward motion. The piston is moving down as air is being sucked in by the downward motion against the piston. #Compression: This stroke begins at B.D.C, or just at the end of the suction stroke, and ends at T.D.C. In this stroke the piston compresses the air-fuel mixture in preparation for ignition during the power stroke (below). Both the intake and exhaust valves are clos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flat-twin Engine
A flat-twin engine is a two-cylinder internal combustion engine with the cylinders on opposite sides of the crankshaft. The most common type of flat-twin engine is the boxer-twin engine, where both pistons move inwards and outwards at the same time. The flat-twin design was patented by Karl Benz in 1896 and the first production flat-twin engine was used in the ''Lanchester 8 hp Phaeton'' car released in 1900. The flat-twin engine was used in several other cars since, however a more common usage is in motorcycles; early models oriented the cylinders in line with the frame, however later models switched to the cylinders being perpendicular to the frame to provide even cooling across both cylinders. Flat-twin engines were also used in several aircraft up until the 1930s and in various stationary applications from the 1930s to the 1960s. The Australian lawnmower manufacturer Victa also produced a flat-twin engine push mower from August 1975 to 1980 dubbed as the ‘Twin 500’ and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Overhead Valve
An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located below the combustion chamber in the engine block. Although an overhead camshaft (OHC) engine also has overhead valves, the common usage of the term "overhead valve engine" is limited to engines where the camshaft is located in the engine block. In these traditional OHV engines, the motion of the camshaft is transferred using pushrods (hence the term "pushrod engine") and rocker arms to operate the valves at the top of the engine. Some early intake-over-exhaust engines used a hybrid design combining elements of both side-valves and overhead valves. History Predecessors The first internal combustion engines were based on steam engines and therefore used slide valves. This was the case for the first Otto engine, which was first succ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piaggio
Piaggio & C. SpA (Piaggio ) is an Italian motor vehicle manufacturer, which produces a range of two-wheeled motor vehicles and compact commercial vehicles under seven brands: Piaggio, Vespa, Gilera, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi, Derbi, and Scarabeo. Its corporate headquarters are located in Pontedera, Italy. The company was founded by Rinaldo Piaggio in 1884, initially producing locomotives and Railroad car, railway carriages. Piaggio's subsidiaries employ a total of 7,053 employees and produced a total of 519,700 vehicles in 2014. The manufacturer has six research-and-development centers and operates in over 50 countries. History In 1882, Enrico Piaggio purchased land in Sestri Ponente (Genoa) to set up a timber yard. Two years later, in 1884, his 20-year-old son, :it:Rinaldo Piaggio, Rinaldo Piaggio (1864–1938), founded Piaggio & C. The company initially built locomotives and railway carriages but in 1917, towards the end of World War I, Rinaldo Piaggio turned to the military sector ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microcar
Microcar is a term often used for the smallest size of cars, with three or four wheels and often an engine smaller than . Specific types of microcars include bubble cars, cycle cars, invacar, quadricycles and voiturettes. Microcars are often covered by separate regulations to normal cars, having relaxed requirements for registration and licensing. Predecessors Voiturette is a term used by some small cars and tricycles manufactured from 1895 to 1910. Cyclecars are a type of small, lightweight and inexpensive car manufactured mainly between 1910 and the late 1920s. Europe 1940-1970: Microcars The first cars to be described as microcars (earlier equivalents were called voiturettes or cyclecars) were built in the United Kingdom and Germany following World War II, and remained popular until the 1960s. They were originally called minicars, but later became known as microcars. France also produced large numbers of similar tiny vehicles called voiturettes, but they were rar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 October 1990. During the Cold War, the western portion of Germany and the associated territory of West Berlin were parts of the Western Bloc. West Germany was formed as a political entity during the Allied occupation of Germany after World War II, established from eleven states formed in the three Allied zones of occupation held by the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. The FRG's provisional capital was the city of Bonn, and the Cold War era country is retrospectively designated as the Bonn Republic. At the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided between the Western and Eastern blocs. Germany was divided into the two countries. Initially, West Germany claimed an exclusive mandate for all of Germany, representing itself as t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scooter (motorcycle)
A scooter (motor scooter) is a motorcycle with an underbone or step-through frame, a seat, and a platform for the rider's feet, emphasizing comfort and fuel economy. Elements of scooter design were present in some of the earliest motorcycles, and motor scooters have been made since at least 1914. The global popularity of motor scooters dates from the post-World War II introductions of the Vespa and Lambretta models in Italy. These scooters were intended to provide economical personal transportation (engines from ). The original layout is still widely used in this application. Maxi-scooters, with larger engines from have been developed for Western markets. Scooters are popular for personal transportation partly due to being more affordable, easier to operate, and more convenient to park and store than a car. Licensing requirements for scooters are easier and cheaper than for cars in most parts of the world, and insurance is usually cheaper. The term motor scooter is sometime ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
