Ziro
Ziro is a former motorcycle manufacturer. The company was founded in Fürth in 1920 by the mechanic Karl Zirkel and the designer Albert Roder . The company name is an acronym formed from the initial syllables of the surnames of the two company founders.
Initially, Ziro produced a model designed by Roder with a 150 cm³ two-stroke engine and a rotary plate valve as inlet control on the crankcase. After the company moved to the new partner Rachinger's premises in Forchheim in 1921, improved versions came onto the market. The displacement of the horizontal single cylinder was increased from 150 cm³ over 250 cm³ up to 350 cm³. The power was transmitted via a three-speed gearbox and belt or chain drive to the rear wheel. The engine sat in an advanced tubular double-loop frame.
These sporty machines have been very successful in various races. In 1922 Ullein from Bamberg won the Franconian reliability race in the class up to 250 cm³ on a Ziro , as well as a year later in the Ködelberg race in the 350 cm³ class. Hartmann won the Würgauer hill climb in the class up to 350 cm³.
Compass and Roder left towards the end of 1923, the company and founded together with three other shareholders in nearby Erlangen the EMAG . Ziro then existed until 1925.
literature
- Tilman Werner: From Ardie to Zündapp . Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-613-01287-1 .