Zündapp Motorcycle at Best Motors in Pyrgos

Zündapp was a German manufacturer, founded by Fritz Neumeyer, in 1917 and which folded in 1984.  Those involved with the company make a list that's like the Who's Who of heavy metal in Germany and Fritz Neumeyer was later involved with Formula One racing as well.  You can read more about the Zündapp company in the Wiki.

You can see the motorcycle in this feature at Best Motors Loutas (ΛΟΥΤΑΣ) in Pyrgos, Greece.  Talk to Harry and maybe you can make a deal but he knows motorcycles and he likes to ride.  He's also a businessman so, who knows, maybe you can make a deal.


The motorcycle featured here appears to be from circa 1950 and here are some pictures:

Here are some detail shots:

If you're thinking this brake wouldn't stop a bicycle, then we're thinking the same thing.  The front brake is, by far, the most important and any modern motorcycle or scooter will have at least a single disc and quite often they will have two.

If you're wondering where is the rear brake in this picture then we're again thinking the same thing.  It appears to be a quite small drum brake on the right side of the hub.  The bizarre apparatus to connect the frame to the axle may be some type of suspension, your guess is as good as mine.


Of course a shot of the motor:

It's a big ol' single-cylinder thumper but it would have the advantage of being quite simple to maintain.  The displacement is unknown but I'd guess at least 250 cc.

So that was a piece of motorcycle history and I enjoyed seeing the bike as I was not familiar with this manufacturer so I was quite interested to see this machine.  It looks to be in fairly decent condition so its riding days may not be over.  More likely it will end up in the hands of a collector but that's cool too as this would be one massively rough ride so doing that on any regular basis would require some serious masochism.  You would be lookin' cool, tho!