WEIRD AND WONDERFUL
The Megola: possibly the most bonkers bike ever built.
Yes. The engine is inside the front wheel. Also be aware that it has five cylinders, that the crankshaft turns faster than the cylinders, that it has no gearbox and no clutch, and the brakes are, at best, marginal. This is a Megola, made in Germany between 1921 and 1924, and not exclusively as some kind of elaborate joke.
Even by the standards of 1921, when most motorcycle makers had accepted that singles and Vtwins were a logical means of propulsion and that clutches, gearboxes and drive chains were desirable, the Megola was eccentric, but there was a smattering of logic to the idea. Rotary engine technology developed quickly during WW1 as participants in the emerging sport of aerial combat fought for supremacy in the skies over Europe. It’s a clever idea for a compact, highoutput engine with multiple cylinders and ecient cooling. But it makes a lot more sense in an aeroplane than a motorcycle.
The workings of a rotary engine are complicated to explain and more dicult to manufacture, and in this application they provide some insoluble problems amongst which the hefty unsprung weight and appalling front heavy handling seem like the least worrying. For a start there’s no way of fitting a clutch or gearbox – so you can’t stop, or even ride slowly. Lubricating oil is flung by centrifugal force to the top of the engine, then the spark plugs and then the tyre. Next comes the rider. And imagine the aggravation if you got a puncture.
The wheel is mounted on two hollow stub axles, the crankshaft turns on the same axis, but faster than the wheel, with power delivered by reduction gear, and the ‘camshaft’, which isn’t a shaft, is static. The carburettor is mounted at the end of one of the stub axles through which the fuel mixture is sucked. It might be a ridiculous idea, but it’s also a marvel of ingenuity, mathematics and precision engineering. And it did go (even if it couldn’t stop). Period literature suggests a top speed for the 11bhp 640cc machine of 60ishmph. Even at half that it’s terrifying. A 14bhp race version won the German championship in 1924. Maybe it felt safe compared with a Fokker triplane.