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Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Motorcycle Throwback - The 1928 Neander With its futuristic look, this bike was something straight out of the Jetson's garage.
While some motorcycle companies didn't have the innovation to stay afloat during the highly competitive and quickly evolving motorcycle years of the 1920's, others popped up just for a moment to cause a stir. Neander motorcycles were manufactured in the very short years between 1926 and 1930 but introduced a whole new style of body frame that would have an influence on the motorcycle industry long after Neander motorcycles were in extinction.
Designed by Ernst Neurmann-Neander in Germany, the Neander-Rahmen, or Neander frame, was the Jetson Family motorcycle of the time. It had a very futuristic look compared to the motorcycles that were already on the market. Neander then dropped a Swiss engine known as M.A.G. and sold nearly 2,000 before shutting them down. Because of their unique look, these bikes created a fair amount of attention and the frame design was even sold to Opel, a German automobile manufacturer that produced a racing version of the bike. Not surprisingly, these motorcycles did rather well in the motorcycle racing industry which prompted the company to make a rocket-powered version as well. This racing bike had a foot pedal that would activate rockets after the bike reached 75 mph. Opel boasted that this would propel the motorcycle up to 132 mph. Unfortunately, this record was never set as German authorities weren't too fond of the concept and made sure it never hit the track.
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| The original was accented with a very stiricking red leather. |
The original 1928 Neander was made of Duralumin and then plated with cadmium. However, when this featured bike was restored, cadmium plating was no longer allowed in Germany. Instead, the restored bike was painted with dull aluminum paint. Most of the bikes were accented by red leather and tires which gave the motorcycle a very distinct look. Yet none of this was enough to keep these motorcycles in production. After 1930, the Neander motorcycle died out.
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