In 1906 a Danish engineer, J. S Rasmussen, founded a manufacturing company in the small German town of Zschopau. The company initially built machinery and steam fittings for the textile industry, but in 1919 produced a small two stroke motor that could be fitted onto a bicycle. The engines sold extremely well in post-WW1 Germany, leading Rasmussen to begin building his own bicycles.
An DKW bicycle fitted with a DKW help motor.
Following the success of the bicycle engine, DKW began producing small stationary engines for industrial use. In 1921 DKW produced the scooter-like Golem, powered by DKWs 140cc stationary engine mounted between the riders feet.
The Golen wasn't an entirely successful design but led in its turn to the improved Lomos in 1922, which featured larger wheels and the engine mounted under the riders seat. The Lomos sold an credible 2,500 units and turned DKWs attention towards building real motorcycles.
The Lomos was a great improvement over the Golem, not just in name. Large wheels added to stability and the placement of the engine under the seat was also a vast improvement. Although very old fashioned, many Lomos' continued to be ridden well into the 1930s.
DKW's first real motorcycle was only a small step up from the motorized bicycles the company had been manufacturing to date. The stationary engine that had powered the Lomos was now mounted to the front frame of the bicycle with belt drive to the rear wheel. It was very simple but pointed the way to the future. Year on year the design was improved and sales steadily rose.
DKWs bicycle origins are clearly apparent in this 1922 machine. The 140cc engine was a real workhorse for DKW during this period. It was originally designed and sold in large numbers as a stationary engine but it also went into the Golem and the Lomos and the first generation of DKW motorcycles. Both the Framo and Phanomen used the engine in their triporter delivery vehicles.
In 1927 DKW's engine design took a leap forward when DKW purchased the exclusive rights to Dr Ing Schnuerle reverse loop scavenging patent that is still the basis of all modern two stroke design. The efficiency of DKW's new Schnuerle patent engine made all other two-stroke engines obsolete. By 1928 the company had become the biggest motorcycle manufacturer in the world, producing 65% of all motorcycles in built in Germany as well as supplying engines for many other German marques.
Nothing demonstrates the simplicity of DKW's two stroke engines more that their own 1939 DKW-Front brochure. The diagram on the left shows the Schnuerle process. On the right are comparisons of the moving parts inside the DKW engine and a standard four stroke.
DKW soon expanded its range to include a range of singles and twins. that were used in motorcycles and cars. Nowadays, two stroke powered cars are looked at as an odd dead-end development, but that's just an accident of history. In the 1920s and 30s DKW built a wide range of quality cars powered by their little two strokes engines that were the equal of any of their competitors in styling and quality, but were cheaper, lighter and more economical. They also experimented with synthetic body panels. DKW soon became one of the biggest car manufacturers in Germany. http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2011/01/dkw-germanys-wonder-car.html
The DKW range of two-stroke cars in 1937.
DKW's advanced, production line construction techniques meant that DKW were able to pump out a record 60,000 units in 1932, the pinnacle year of their production. It was such a robust and reliable design that versions of this motorcycle would continue to run off production lines around the world for 30 years.
Despite being the biggest motorcycle manufacturer in the world, the Great Depression took its toll, leading DKW to join with three other Saxon auto manufacturers, Horch, Wanderer and Audi to form Auto Union,the union symbolized by the four interlocking rings that we recognize today as the Audi logo. To avoid competition, each company was given a particular market segment to focus on. Horch retained the top end of the car market, building expensive luxury cars. Audi was virtually retired as a brand, building only a small volume of large saloon cars, and Wanderer built mid range cars. DKW however took the lions share of the 1930s market - low cost cars and motorcycles.
As with all other serious motorcycle companies, DKW took to motor-racing to demonstrate the power of its engines. In 1937 and 1938 bikes won the European championships, and in 1938 a 250cc racer achieved a world record speed of 183kph.
The 1939 DKW 250 split-twin supercharged racer.
For more information on the development of DKW's racing motorcycles http://www.odd-bike.com/2014/02/dkw-supercharged-two-strokes-force-fed.html
Despite DKW's commercial success, the German army never showed any real interest in their motorcycle products, instead preferring the heavier 750cc BMW R21. Once the war started however, they adopted the NZ 350 as a dispatch rider's bike. The bike saw service in all theatres.
An Afrika Korps NZ350-1 at the Audi Museum. Between 1939 and 1943 DKW simply produced its civilian NZ350 for the army without making any changes to design or build, but in 1943 lack of aluminum led them to produce the NZ350-1 with cast iron pistons.
In 1938 DKW released the RT 125cc motorcycle. This new, lightweight, motorcycle had an ultra-efficient new engine that gave it performance far exceeding the meagre cubic capacity would have suggested. The motorcycle had just begun being exported when the war arrived.
The RT 125 - DKW's "little wonder" would become one of the most influential motorcycles in history.
Surprisingly, DKW's Zschopau factory wasn't damaged during the war but it by fate it was in the Soviet occupation zone. Some of the captured Auto-Union management were executed by the Soviets for their use of slave and forced labour during the war, then the factories were stripped of everything of value and shipped it back to the Soviet Union. Surviving engineers and executives fled to the west, taking whatever intellectual property they possessed with them.
All the Allies were keen to get their hands on DKW's designs. The British and Americans claimed them as war reparations, but the Soviets were less concerned with legalities and simply shipped the Zschopau plant to Izkevsk in Russia and between 1946 and 1951 the Russians built 127,000 NZ350's under the IZH trademark.
The Minsk Moskva - the start of a long and venerable line of Soviet 125ccs.
The IZH 350 wasn't the only DKW knock-off the Soviets produced. They also began manufacturing a version of the RT 125 as the M-1A Moskva in a factory outside Moscow. In 1951 the plant was relocated to Minsk in Belarus. From then on Minsk specialized in 125cc motorcycles, exporting hundreds of thousands all across the socialist world. The collapse of communism and direct competition with cheap Japanese exports placed the company under extreme financial pressure however, and in 2005 the Belorussian government intervened to prevent the company going into receivership. Although its survival remains tenuous, Minsk continues to produce 125cc motorcycles today. http://www.belarusguide.com/industry1/Minsk_motor.htm
Richard Hammond rode one during the Top Gear Vietnam special. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOmtzvBKsAY
And meanwhile in England
In Britain, the designs for the RT 125 were handed over to BSA, but initially no one knew what to do with them. Such a small engine just seemed to have no market in Britain where four strokes dominated the market. In 1948, BSA took a leap and developed the RT 125 into the Bantam in response to a potential export contract. The contract fell through however and so the Bantam was released in Britain, where its low cost and reliability made it an instant winner. The Bantam would become one of the best selling British motorcycles of all time, with a production run from 1948 to 1973 turning out almost half a million units.
For many in post-war Britain, the 'little rooster' was their first ride.
Across the Pond
In the US, Harley-Davidson had also received the designs for the RT 125 and in 1948 released their version as the Model 125. For Harley-Davidson, who specialized in big twin four strokes, this was their first foray into two stroke engines. In 1953, the engine size was increased to 165cc, but in 1955, they reverted back to the 125cc engine and renamed the bike the Hummer. It would continue in production until 1959.
Not quite the whole hog... and a two stroke to boot!
In 1960 Harley-Davidson used a 165cc DKW two-stroke in their scooter, the Harley-Davidson Topper. The engine was built by the Italian motorcycle manufacturer, Aeromacchi, whom H-D had partnered with to build the Topper. Ultimately it wasn't a successful venture.
Long regarded as a failure (it was), the Topper is now quite sought after due to its rarity.
And in the far east
Even in far away Japan the RT 125 was making its mark. In 1955 Yamaha reverse engineered an RT125 and releasing it as the YA-1. Exactly where they acquired their pattern is uncertain. It could have been from a German import, a Soviet version picked up in China, or even a copy of a Harley-Davidson Hummer acquired from US occupation forces. Regardless, the YA-1's design origins were clear. In later years Yamaha would copy the NZ350 and other German machines, like the Adler 250cc. Parallel twin two strokes following the DKW/Adler design would be copied by other Japanese manufacturers including Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki and be produced in their millions right up to the present day.
After the loss of its Zwickau factory DKW re-established itself in Ingolstadt in West Germany and began manufacturing the RT 125 and NZ 330 motorcycles. Car production didn't restart until 1948. In 1955 DKW attempted to break into the scooter market with the Hobby. Powered by a small 75cc engine, the enigmatic little scooter featured automatic, variable speed drive that gave it a surprisingly nimble performance. But the Hobby didn't sell as well as DKW hoped so they sold the manufacturing rights to the French scooter company Manhurin which continued producing it into the early 60s.
I almost bought this gorgeous 1955 Hobby when I bought the Troll in 2008. It was very tempting but I decided that buying three scooters would just be a little too extravagant.
In 1958 DKW re-entered the moped market with the beautifully styled 49cc Hummel, but once again it failed to be the success they hoped for. In 1960 DKW's moped arm merged with Victoria and Express to form Zweirad Union. ZU continued with the Hummel and various derivatives for a number of years.
The DKW Hummel was space age in its styling but never a big seller.
Daimler-Benz bought out DKW and the Auto-Union in 1957 but its continued financial decline led them to sell it to Volkswagen in 1964. Volkswagen was not so keen on maintaining DKWs line of economical two stroke cars and wound up DKW in 1966, reviving the Audi brand instead.
East Germany - A life at half speed
But of course that wasn't the end. In East Germany, the Zschopau factory was resurrected by VEB, the state owned auto conglomerate in 1948. In 1950 they began producing versions of the RT 125 and NZ 350 under the name IFA (Industrieverband Fahrzeugau AG).
An IFA and a MZ version of the RT 125cc at the East German Motorcycle Museum in Berlin.
IFA even resurrected DKW's racing heritage to compete in European championships.
In 1956, IFA was renamed Motorrad Zschopau, or MZ for short, and were soon producing a range of engines for their motorcycles varying in size between 125, 150, 175 and 250. MZ supplied the engines for the IWL range of scooters and Simson mopeds. In fact, VEB cancelled all four stroke engine development for cars and motorcycles in favour of the cheaper and simpler MZ engine.
IWL's Pitty and Wiesel featured the DKW 125cc engine. Whilst it could push the little RT 125 along at a cracking pace, the engine really struggled to move these heavy beasts. In 1959 MZ increased the engine size to 143cc for the IWL Berlin and Troll. They were still under-powered though.
In 1962 the DKW 125cc engine, now more than 30 years old appeared in a new generation of MZ motorcycle - the ES125. The ES range led on to the distinctive styling of the MZ Trophy, East Germany's successful export motorcycle.
A group of early MZ ES and ETS models at the East German Motorcycle Museum.
MZ stuck with its two strokes until 1990 when it introduced the MZ 500-R four stroke. Unlike other Eastern European motor companies, MZ had built a strong export market for their motorcycles which enabled them to survive the transition from socialism to capitalism a little better than most. However, by 1993 MuZ (as it was then known) had pretty much lots its domestic market to Japanese imports and went into receivership. Its motorcycle production facilities were sold to the Turkish Kanuni motorcycle company, which still produces new bikes and spares for almost the entire range of MZ machines - which makes restoring an IWL or MZ bike far less taxing than it could be!
In 2010 the MZ company was revived by two former MZ racing identities. The company is once again manufacturing motorbikes and scooters, albeit on a small scale. http://www.muz.de/en
Here is a German video documentary about DKW and MZ.
Audi's production facilities at Chemnitz was given over manufacture a range of heavy duty trucks and the East German 'people's car', the Trabant. The Trabant was powered by an air-cooled, two cylinder two-stroke based on a prewar DKW designed engine used by the Framo affiliate. 3 million Trabants would be built before production ceased in the mid 1990s. http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/trabant-east-german-peoples-car.html
The infamous two stroke Trabant engine was the direct descendant of DKW's two stroke heritage.
When it comes to longevity, there is little to compare with DKW's two-stroke engines. Their 125cc really was the first modern, reliable two stroke and its modern derivatives are still manufactured by Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki and Minsk today - almost a century after they were first invented.