Hercules (motorcycle)
Encyclopedia
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
until 1992.
The Hercules Company was founded in 1886 and began producing motorcycles in 1904. It was merged with Zweirad Union after being purchased by ZF Sachs
ZF Sachs
ZF Sachs AG is a German manufacturer of automotive parts, producing powertrain and suspension components. It was formerly known as Fichtel & Sachs, Mannesmann Sachs and Sachs...
in 1963.
In the 1950s and 1960s Sachs was the largest European fabricator of two-stroke motorcycle engines. Many of these engines were used in the Hercules line of small motorcycles, scooters and mopeds.
In 1974 Hercules became the first company to offer a Wankel-engined
Wankel engine
The Wankel engine is a type of internal combustion engine using an eccentric rotary design to convert pressure into a rotating motion instead of using reciprocating pistons. Its four-stroke cycle takes place in a space between the inside of an oval-like epitrochoid-shaped housing and a rotor that...
motorcycle for sale to the general public. The W-2000 had a single-rotor air-cooled engine of 294cc that produced 25 bhp, later increased to 27 bhp (20 kW). Engine lubrication
Lubrication
Lubrication is the process, or technique employed to reduce wear of one or both surfaces in close proximity, and moving relative to each another, by interposing a substance called lubricant between the surfaces to carry or to help carry the load between the opposing surfaces. The interposed...
was by manually adding oil to the fuel in the tank.
In 1976 Hercules launched the W-2000 Injection in which engine lubrication was from a separate oil tank via a pump. In some countries the W-2000 was sold as a DKW
DKW
DKW is a historic German car and motorcycle marque. The name derives from Dampf-Kraft-Wagen .In 1916, the Danish engineer Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen founded a factory in Zschopau, Saxony, Germany, to produce steam fittings. In the same year, he attempted to produce a steam-driven car, called the DKW...
.
Partial product line
- Hercules Moped, 49cc (1957)
- Hercules Scooter, 50cc
- Hercules Ultra III Sachs 50 SW
- Hercules Lilliput, 98cc
- Hercules M4 Moped
- Hercules Prior Moped
- Hercules Lastboy
- Hercules K100 (1959)
- Hercules R 200 (1959)
- Hercules 220 (1965)
- Hercules 103 (1966)
- Hercules Postie Bike (1969)
- Hercules K 105 X (1970)
- Hercules K 125 X (1971)
- Hercules K 50 RX (1971)
- Hercules K 125 Military (1971-1990)
- Hercules K 125 (1972)
- Hercules K 125 T (1973)
- Hercules K125 S (1974-1979)
- Hercules W2000 (1974-1978)
- Hercules E1 (1974)
- Hercules 175 GS (1976)
- Hercules GS250 Ice Racer (1977)
- Hercules MC250 (1978)
- Hercules DKW 250 GS (1978)
- Hercules Prima 5S (1984)
- Hercules Prima frisiert
- Hercules GS 125B
- Hercules KJBe
- Hercules K 180 Military (1991-1992)