Quasar (motorcycle)

quasar

Quasar rear view

The Quasar was a covered motorcycle , produced in 1968 in Great Britain by Malcolm Newell and Ken Leaman, initially equipped with an 850 cc four-cylinder engine from Reliant Motors, which reached a cruising speed of 90 to 100 mph (145 to 160 km / h) and even exceeded 160 km / h under favorable circumstances.

design

In contrast to a conventional motorcycle, the driver of the Quasar sat with his feet facing forward inside the vehicle instead of on it in front and was dominated by a roof. For tall riders with modern motorcycle helmets, this could be a problem, although it was also possible to take a passenger with you in tight spaces.

The front of the motorcycle had a laminated glass windshield with wipers like the car and a heater. The use of a semi-open body created blind spots that forced the driver to move his head to make sure the viewing angle was not blocked by the windshield brackets. Behind the driver was a transport space of 60 liters and panniers were available from the factory. These were no wider than the narrow mirrors.

history

In 1968, after his idea for a trike called Revolution failed and which forced him to close his motorcycle shop in Devizes , Malcolm Newell met his future partner Ken Leaman in Scotland and the two decided to build the first Quasar prototype. The first regularly produced copy was built in Bristol by Ken and Malcom at Wilson Brothers, where Ken worked full time, and sold in December 1976. The rights to the vehicle remained with the Wilson Brothers, although Ken designed and built the vehicle alone.

Although heavily advertised, demand was too low to cover production costs. Only six copies were sold between December 1976 and October 1979.

In 1980, the designer of the fluorescent taillight, John Malfoy, convinced his then employer Romarsh in Calne , Wiltshire, to produce five quasars under license from Wilson Brothers. All five motorcycles produced were sold through December 1981 and a further production of ten examples was started in August 1981.

When Romarsh went bankrupt, John Malfoy bought the leftover parts and assembled them into more motorcycles. Separately, Malcolm Newell produced at least one more copy from other spare parts. Only 21 bikes were built with the Reliant engine in total , but Newell went on to manufacture more in his own shop in Heddington. These were equipped with motorcycle engines.

Later copies included engines from Suzuki's GS series , both chain and cardan drive, one with the engine of a Honda VF750 and even one with the six-cylinder engine of the Kawasaki Z1300 . Malcolm also built a series called Phasar , which, unlike the Quasar, had an open roof. These were powered by engines from the Honda Gold Wing and VT500, Moto Guzzi V50 and Convert, the Kawasaki Z1300 and the Yamaha RD 250 and RD 350. He was working on a trike with two front, reclining wheels when he died in 1994 at the age of 54.

Due to a lack of finance, only 21 quasars were built in the original design, of which 10 were officially approved as of 2012.

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