"Megola" is a German motorcycle produced in 1921-1925. in Munich. The name came about as a result of the "mixing" of the names of the creators of the unique apparatus Meixner, Cockerell and Landgraf
1918 is the prototype of the future masterpiece.
The unique design of Megola was developed by Fritz Cockerell. The first prototype of a motorcycle, still a three-cylinder, the inventor tried to implement back in 1918. Moreover, initially the cylinders were installed inside the rear wheel. Cockerell wanted to build something with an airplane-like radial engine system.
Megola, Berlin, 1923.
In 1920, after Landgrave and Meixner joined Cockerell, the layout of the engine changed and in 1921 the first Megola was shown to the public. He used a rotary engine mounted inside the front wheel. The engine had five side-mounted valves, each 128 cc (total displacement 640 cc).
Moreover, it was also unusual that the crankshaft was the fixed part of the engine, around which both the cylinder block and the wheel rotated. The cylinders rotated around the front axle six times faster than the wheel speed. The maximum rotation speed of the cylinders was 3600 rpm, the front wheel was 600 rpm, and considering the wheel diameter this was about 97 km / h.
The advantage of this arrangement of the engine was that with a modest 14 horsepower produced by the engine, all of them were transmitted without loss directly to the wheel, because the motorcycle had no clutch or gearbox. But this arrangement of the engine created a very low center of gravity and provided excellent handling.
Promotional video:
An unusual feature on production models was the two fuel tanks. The main one was hidden under an extensive body, and fuel from it was fed into a smaller tank located above the engine. There were also two independent brakes, but both were equipped with the rear wheel. Megola received a fuel gauge, tachometer and ammeter as standard equipment.
Tourist version.
Two versions were produced - sports and tourist. The touring version had a spring-loaded rear wheel and a soft seat, while the sports version had no rear suspension but a more powerful engine. Sports "Megola" developed a speed of up to one hundred and forty-two km / h! True, using such a bike (without a clutch) was inconvenient in the city.
In less than five years of production, about 2,000 machines were manufactured and sold. Today, according to known data, about 15 have survived. And a few more replicas were collected after the 80s of the XX century.
