Prague: During the First Republic, two dozen companies produced motorcycles in it
ITAR, Satan, Sagitta or AZA. That these motorcycle brands don’t tell you anything? Maybe they can’t, because Unfortunately, there are also few witnesses. The stellar moments of these companies ignited a hundred years ago, and just as brightly lit, they just went out.
The first motorbike from Prague
At the beginning of the 20th century, Czechoslovakia was in an economic boom. In many respects, Prague has become the center of industrial production, which at that time was promisingly developing into a city of today’s size – Vysočany, Žižkov, Karlín or Holešovice were developing. It is no coincidence that motorcycle factories began to appear here, among many others.
However, the first one blew his motorcycle before the First World War. “This happened in 1902 in the small workshop of Josef Walter in Kinského Street in Smíchov., “We will read in the book Prague Historical Motorcycles. This was followed by the first ever historic motorcycle made in the Czech lands, built by Laurin and Klement in Mladá Boleslav.
The faded glory of small brands
However, the real “boom” in the production of motorcycles occurred after 1918. “Few people know that In Prague, there were a total of 23 motorcycle manufacturers in the 1920s and 1930s, “He says in the book. However, many literally had a poppy life. For example, such a brand AZA, whose motorcycles were created in Holešovice in the years 1927 to 1929. “The attempt to produce a folk motorcycle was not a commercial successbecause at the time it was sold for a non-popular price of CZK 8,000, ”we will learn the reason why the company ended.
The high purchase price was also behind the fall of the AVON brand. No, it was not a seller of cosmetics known today, but originally a manufacturer of bicycles, which tried to establish itself in the field of motorcycles. “The concept was based on bicycles, “We learn. AVON even launched both men’s and women’s motorcycles. However, the business took over due to the “relatively high price of CZK 3,300 to 3,800.” The company was based in Prague 10.
The Prague Sagitta, which was produced, ended up similarly “infamous” in Legerova street. “It was created in 1928 and two years later the steel products factory, which had no experience with motorcycles, had to admit that it was not so easy to produce well and sell them successfully,” we learn from Prague’s historic motorcycles. The factory produced “machines” that were not unlike today’s scooters. “It was two-speed and reached a top speed of 40 km / h.”
He produced more inflated machines at the small manufacturer BAF. The BAF company also used “German-made Kühne engines in both touring and sports versions. You should have according to the manufacturer’s instructions output of 16 horsepower and reach speeds of up to 145 km / h“States a publication from 1987. BAF motorcycles were created in the years 1927 to 1930 on Palackého Square.
The SKO alias Skopec brand also had a short existence. These motorcycles were manufactured in Nové Město and also in Nusle since 1924. “It simply came to our notice then problems with lubrication and cooling and with a short service life of the spark plugs. Before the construction stabilized in the required quality, Aries stopped production in 1927. “
Devil’s moped
It is also worth mentioning the brand of motorcycles, which bore an extremely eloquent name – Satan. “A motorcycle with this devilish name was created in the late 1920s in a plant that did not have much experience in the production of motorcycles, ”We learn. “The production of motorcycles succeeded in the production of tricycles, which, however, were not so popular compared to other countries.”
The star of Czech motorcycles
Not every of the First Republic’s brands has experienced its rise and fall. The shining exception is JAWA motorcycles. Their history began in 1929, when the company was founded by František Janeček on the border of Krč and Pankrác – on the Green Fox. The company still exists successfully today, and despite the various difficulties that have encountered it in history, it exports its machines to South America and Asia, for example.
“The production of this motorcycle was too complex and materially expensive, which was reflected in the sale price“We read that they were nicknamed for the robustness of the very first JAWA motorcycles Winch. Nevertheless, the company successfully avoided the crash and in the 1930s it became mostly Czechoslovak hegemonem, as for the production of motorcycles in our country. “About the success of the manufacturer (…) testifies to 45,000 manufactured machines until the beginning of II. world war. ”To this can be added the numerous successes at the sporting motorcycle races that some JAWY models achieved at the time.
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Author: Blesk.cz