Updated: 14 May 2004
 
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The early history of motorcycle design shows a great deal of variation. This page, in accordance with the philosophy of The Museum of RetroTech, deals only with really unusual motorcycles.
| Left: The pusher-assisted bicycle. Italy 1893.
The engine on the little trolley at the rear appears to be a single-cylinder unit with a big flywheel, pushing a conventional bicycle. The rider has his feet on what appear to be two platforms each side- possibly because the bicycle had no freewheel, so the pedals would have been whizzing round.
No control connections are visible between bicycle and engine, which is rather puzzling.
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| Left: The Anzani propellor cycle. 1906.
Anzani were a well-known maker of aircraft engines, so putting a tractor propellor on an adapted bicycle was presumably a logical move for them. This machine may have been intended for racing or as a promotion for Anzani engines, as surely no could have thought this was a practical vehicle for use in busy streets...
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| Left: The Böhmerland/Cechie Three-Seater motorcycle: 1935.
The three-seater "long-touring" motorcycle was manufactured by Böhmerland/Cechie in Northern Bohemia at Krásná Lípa. (Now Czechoslovakia) This was just one of their models. The company existed from 1925 to 1939, being brought down by the Second World War. Böhmerland is German for Bohemia; Cechie is a colloquial Czech word for the same area.
This machine was designed by Albin Liebisch, who also designed the OHV 598cc single-cylinder engine. (600ccm is written on the black box by the back wheel) The disc wheels were made of light alloy. There were two cylindrical petrol tanks on either side of the rear wheel, supplementing the usual tank at the front. There was no rear suspension. If you felt the seating was inadequate, you could add a sidecar, so you could carry as many people as in a motorcar.
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| Left: The Böhmerland/Cechie Four-Seater long-touring motorcycle: 1929.
This is an apparently unique four-seater version of the "long-touring" motorcycle above; it is 10.5 feet long.
598cc does not seem very much capacity to move four people...
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