Flying Merkel
The Flying Merkel (1911–1915) was a motorcycle made by the American manufacturer Merkel in Milwaukee , later Middletown , Ohio .
Beginnings
The company's founder Joseph F. Merkel (1872–1958) designed built-in engines for motorcycles as early as 1902, and since 1903 he has been producing motorcycles independently with a 316 cm³ single-cylinder engine , which was also used in the Indian of that time. In 1908 the company merged with the Light Manufacturing and Foundry Company in Pottstown. Motorcycle models now bore the designation "Merkel-Light" on the tank. The first two-cylinder V-machine from Merkel appeared in 1910, and in 1911 the company was taken over by the “Miami Cycle and Manufacturing Company” from Middletown, Ohio . As a result, the tank lettering and equipment of the motorcycle changed with the lettering "Flying Merkel" and the paintwork in bright orange, later referred to as "Merkel orange".
technology
The Flying Merkel had a valve control system that was conservative even for the time : an automatic inlet valve and a controlled exhaust valve for each cylinder . The initially 884 cm³ two-cylinder V-engine developed 6 HP and enabled a top speed of 97 km / h with a two-speed gearbox and belt drive. A racing version without brakes appeared with a ball-bearing 997 cm³ engine, Bosch magneto ignition, Schebler carburetor and chain drive. A street version of this was offered with a band brake on the rear wheel for $ 325 .
The innovative feature of the Flying Merkel was the motorcycle fork, the "truss fork" patented by Joe Merkel, which is considered a forerunner of the telescopic fork . Although the valve control of the engine did not correspond to the state of the art, the Flying Merkel had an automatic drip oiler controlled by the throttle cable, which was later copied by Indian and Harley-Davidson . In 1913 the Flying Merkel was revised: The engine now received a controlled intake valve and a kick starter that operated a spring mechanism via a pedal. Production was stopped in 1915. The Flying Merkel already achieved cult status at the time with the shape of its petrol tank and the "Merkel Orange". In January 2012, a replica of the Flying Merkel racing machine was auctioned off at Bonhams for just under 30,000 euros.
Well-known racing drivers
Web links
- TheFlyingMerkel.com (English)
- theworldofmotorcycles.com: Vintage Motorcycle Merkel (accessed November 3, 2013)
- howstuffworks.com: Flying Merkel (1911) (English) (accessed November 3, 2013)
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c d Jerry Hatfield: Standard Catalog of American Motorcycles. 1898-1981. Krause Publications, 2006, ISBN 978-0-89689-949-0 , pp. 378-384
- ↑ a b c d The Art Of The Motorcycle. Guggenheim Museum, Las Vegas, 2001, ISBN 0-89207-207-5 , p. 114.
- ↑ bonhams.com auction 19679, lot 303 (accessed October 18, 2013)