Early veteran cafe racer

A rather amazing photo of a modified early veteran. A cafe racer of its day, it dates from around 1905. The engine is certainly a NSU (though I would have expected to see a magneto in front of the motor) and the frame parts generally match that id - there is a NSU in the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu that is very similar and is dated as 1906.

Most striking though is how far the bike has been modified, the front brake (contracting band) seems to have been removed, the petrol tank has been changed to a torpedo style one in plain brass, pedal gear has been swapped for footrests and the rear stand is abbreviated. The saddle has been lowered and positioned further back and the handlebars lengthened to match.

Veteran NSU, early custom bike!

Family photo with NSU Max

Absolutely no idea where this photo was taken, all I can say is nothing about it looks very British, the bike is German, the foliage looks vaguely tropical or at least in warmer climes and the building perhaps Asian though just maybe from the Dolomites or even South America. And the family? No idea.

What is easy though is to identify the bike as a very distinctive NSU, either a Max or a Super Max. It looks rather well used, though is evidently cherished enough to include in a family photo.

Make up your own back story for
this photo of a family and their NSU.

1962 NSU Quickly / Peugeot Mopeds Layford Automotive brochure

Layford Automotive of Hammersmith were the UK importers for a number of different continental mopeds. This brochure promotes both the NSU Quickly and the Peugeot BB ranges. Strange to have two competing brands on one advert but I guess Layfords didn't mind too much which they sold.

The Grom Motorcycle Museum, Vransko, Slovenia part III

The final tranche of photos from the Grom collection in Vransko, Slovenia.

Cracking unrestored german Imme R100.
Very unusual and striking design. A lot of features
ahead of its time. Imme is German for Bee.

A late vintage swiss Motosacoche in the background
and a german Standard Rex Sport model from 1938
to the fore.

A trio of Indians. A 4, a Scout and a Prince.

Tomos 50cc racer.

ABC Scootermota.

Military corner. A Kettenkrad in the background,
a Welbike hiding away up on a shelf and a Moto
Guzzi Nuovo Falcone in the foreground.

Closer up on that Kettenkrad and a Zundapp KS750 Wehrmacht
combo from 1940 in front of it.

Late thirties DKW SB200 two stroke.

Lovely Jawa 500cc ohc twin. A beautifully
styled bike. The headlamp nacelle was allegedly
copied by Turner for Triumph and the engine
is fairly obviously inspiration for Kawasaki's
W650 despite claims that it is a Triumph clone.

Difficult to find an angle to take a photo of this
machine but I wanted to include it as it is a
bit unusual. On the face of it it looks like a fifties
NSU but look at the tank and it says NSU Pretis.
More below..

When NSU discontinued the 175 OSB Maxi model in 1963
production of it was taken up by the Pretis factory in Sarajevo,
former Yugoslavia. Pretis stands for Preduzeće Tito Sarajevo,
they also took on production of the Prima scooter and Prinz car.
Production continued until 1967 when the factory closed. 

The Grom Motorcycle Museum, Vransko, Slovenia part II

More pictures from the Grom collection in Slovenia....

Apologies for the poor photography here but I'd never seen one
of these before so thought it was worth including. An American
Salsbury Autoscooter.

A mighty beast. Polish Sokol v twin. This is one
of the collection's regular riders. Normally with
a sidecar it was detached at the time of visit
and undergoing some attention.

Weird and wonderful French built Majestic from the late
twenties undergoing restoration. 

Late thirties NSU two stroke.

1938 Zundapp DB200.

Slovenian pride is represented at the museum by a number of
Tomos machines. Some road but also a collection of 50cc
racers. This is a Colibri VS50 from 1957.

Tomos Colibri T12 from 1967.

1929 NSU 201R in the background. Typical fine unrestored
condition of much of the machinery in the collection.

I love this bike and it's not just personal vanity over the name.
It's rare, it's unusual, it's red and the condition is perfect.
250cc Miller made in Balsano, Italy.

That Miller again. 

Something very appealing about this little machine. A 1924
Atala made in Milano.

Absolutely wonderful MV Agusta Monoalbero

NSU Supermax brochure 1956

The NSU Supermax is a machine that's firmly on my bucket list of bikes to own for a while and try out. Quirky but functional design, high quality and high performance. What's not to love! This brochure from 1956 is a lovely piece of fifties teutonica.

For more on the NSU Supermax visit this site: http://www.nsusupermax.com/

NSU Supermax brochure front cover.

NSU Supermax brochure page 1.

NSU Supermax brochure page 2.

NSU Supermax brochure page 3 (plus part page 4 so
as not to crop the bike).

NSU Supermax brochure page 4.

NSU Supermax brochure page 5.

NSU Supermax brochure page 6.

NSU Supermax brochure rear cover.