1937 Böhmerland

Not an extravert extra from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, but a serious production bike that featured groundbreaking technology... and seating for your entire family

In black and white times cars were an extravagance few families could afford, so sidecars became a must-have accessory. Obviously attaching a chair sacrificed the advantages of two wheels, and so Albin Liebisch came up with a different idea – why not make a motorcycle long enough to accommodate the entire family?

Made between 1925 and 1938, his bikes were built in Bohemia, part of what is now the Czech Republic. They were badged Böhmerland (Bohemian country) for Germany or Cechie for Czechoslovakia. With local roads notorious for breaking bikes Liebisch wanted his machines to be as robust as possible, so used a substantial steel frame and huge 24-inch cast alloy wheels – the first on a production bike. Front suspension was by rugged leading-link forks with coil springs and friction dampers. Moving the Böhmerland was a 600cc pushrod single with exposed valve gear and a hand-forged con-rod, drilled along its length with varying size holes. Like a piece of Meccano. There was 16bhp originally, rising to 25bhp over the years. A ‘sport’ version had room for two, and a ‘tourer’ used a longer frame with space for three. But the Langtouren (‘long tours’) was the best. This substantial device had an exceptional 3170mm wheelbase (more than two BMW R1250GSS) and a bench seat that accepted four people, with foot boards the length of each side. Extra fuel tanks were bolted on the rear mudguard, with a luggage box out back. Hauling so many folk was asking a lot of the single, so there were two gearboxes and nine ratios. For comedy reasons the second ’box was stirred by a passenger. There were no dealers. You ordered directly from the factory and each Böhmerland was hand built, to varying specification, and tested by Liebisch himself before going to the customer. There were black bikes, and green, but striking red was most popular. Total production of all models hit 1600 before the political landscape caused the firm to fold. This glorious Langtouren is from 1937. It was flogged at the Autumn Stafford Sale by Bonhams (bonhams.com) in 2018 for £63,250, including premium. Worth every penny.