European Motorcycles

Today in Motorcycle History

Motorcycle Engine Manufacturers

Motorcycle engines from France, Britain, Germany, Switzerland...

Notes:

Ajax engines are believed to have been built by AJS and supplied to Italian manufacturers such as Astoria.
See also HO Twins and Fours

Desmo systems
Henk Cloosterman of Desmodromology has devoted a great deal of time and effort to documenting desmodromic systems.
Among them:
Azzarati built desmo engines for Benelli in the 1930s.
BMW aircooled twins by Franz Pohn
BMW R1 Project 1989-1992
Brüdersdorf, Roland, desmo engines, Sweden.
Capriolo of 1954 using a Kürchen desmo system from the 1920s
Demm 1957 DOHC 49cc desmo
Ducati (many pages)
ESO 250 GP 1962
Horak, Karel. 250cc bevel-drive desmo 1969
Howarth two-stroke triple with desmo inlet valves.
JAP 1924 Desmo
Kürchen
Lantenhammer, Otto, built a desmo engine. He is also mentioned under GM.
Mangoletsi, G.A. 1930
Morini 250GP 1962
Moto Guzzi, Hans Peter Länge
MTRM by Carlo Mazzucato
MV Agusta 1959 DOHC 125cc
Neander, Kürchen desmo
NP by Nerio Pancaldi
Norton Manx 1957
Norton 350 1. Harry Hinton. 2. Bryan Thomas.
Norton, James Lansdowne. Patent 209,882 Nov 15 1922.
NSU Ultramax, Willi Hartung
Orionette OHV two-stroke.
Rudge DDS by David Downer
Treen 350 desmo
Velocette desmo conversion kit by BMG. Dennis Quinlan has information on this.
Velocette 1964 by Tony Foale of FF fame.


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Mercury Engines fitted to Vaschetto, Mello and Tomaselli.

Morris engines were fitted to Hobart lightweights in 1922

Piazza and Ladetto & Blatto engines were used on a variety of Italian machines.

SMW, Bosch Stockdorfer Motorenwerke AG, Stockdorf, near Munich. This engine was used in the early 1920s by Bison, Linsner, SBD, and the wooden-framed Hirsch.

Whitley engines were supplied to Mills and Fullford in 1903-1904.

Sources: Sergio Scalarandi et al

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