Killinger & Freund motorcycle
The Killinger & Freund motorcycle from 1938 is the prototype of a front-wheel drive motorcycle . The development was based on the Megola motorcycle.
history
The model was designed and built by five Munich designers around 1938 and presented at the 1938 automobile exhibition. The project ran under the names "Dove of Peace" and "End Sieg". Robert Killinger was responsible for the engine, on which Fritz Cockerell also contributed. Walter Freund designed the frame. With front-wheel drive in the front wheel and streamlined fairings, the motorcycle weighed only 135 kg. In the front wheel, three two-stroke engines were arranged in a star shape; the displacement was 600 cm³, the weight - with two-speed gearbox and clutch - 50 kg. Both wheels were sprung. Overall, this motorcycle can be seen as a further development of the Megola.
It is not known how many machines were built. One machine was captured by the US armed forces in 1945. The motorcycle was examined and considered too technologically complex. In the 1960s, the car enthusiast Harry Buck discovered the machine near Philadelphia in the basement of a woman whose father had been involved in the project and brought it with him from Germany. After the death of his father, Harry Buck bought the machine. Harry showed the partially disassembled motorcycle at a meeting in Oley, Pennsylvania, of which there are pictures.
The motorcycle still exists. It's in the American Midwest with a motorcycle enthusiast who wants to remain anonymous. It has not yet returned to Germany. It is also in its unrestored original condition. (Status: 2010)
technology
The special feature of the drive consists in three star-shaped two-stroke engines , each with its own crankcase. The drive is not a radial engine . Further details can be found in the following extract from the technical description:
“The three-cylinder two-stroke engine is controlled by a rotary valve. The mixture is sucked in as usual by means of negative pressure in the three crankcases. The rotary valve controls all three cylinders. The engine is not a radial engine, as it is known to us from aircraft construction, and there is no need for a flywheel. All three cranks apparently work separately on a common gear. This arrangement and the recoil of the pistons in the direction of rotation are intended to ensure perfect mass balance. The cylinders made of KS liners disappear almost completely in the silumin housing. Light alloy cylinder heads with rich ribbing are the only thing that can be recognized as the engine between the spokes of the light alloy cast wheel, apart from the exhaust pipes. These flat spokes are positioned so that they act as a kind of turbo fan. "
See also
literature
- Karl Reese: Motorcycles from Munich. Kleine-Vennekate Verlag, Lemgo 2005, ISBN 3-935517-17-3 .
- Erwin Tragatsch : All motorcycles - 1894 to 1981. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1976, ISBN 978-3-87943-410-7 .
- Matthias Murko: motorcycle legends. Nuremberg two-wheel history. Tümmels, Nuremberg 1994, ISBN 3921590272 .
Web links
- Motorcycle Robert Killinger & Walter Freund Project "Dove of Peace" ( Memento from October 23, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Pictures, construction drawings, correspondence (German)
- Killinger and Freund Motorcycle , pictures and information
- Killinger & Freund Motorcycles (English)
- [4] (English)