BMA

BMA (Bicyclette Moteur Auxiliaire)

The BMA was exempt from registration and taxes, thus enabling many of the French to progress from bicycles to petro-engine vehicles. Introduced in 1926, these are the rules for a BMA:

1. Engine must be 100cc or less (most often 98cc)
2. Total weight under 30kg
3. Top speed 30kph
4. Pedals required

In 1928 Allright of Germany built a 98cc motorcycle referred to as the "Hermännchen" (The Little Hermann), named for the corpulent Hermann Goering who attended a press conference announcing the "people's motorcycle". The term persisted into the 1950s as a humourous reference to the German 98cc BMA-style motorcycles.