The brothers Michel and Eugene Werner, Russian immigrants in Paris, built a motorcycle in 1897 based on a bicycle frame. It had a motor mounted over the front wheel, and drove the front wheel by a belt. It proved to be top heavy and hard to control, so an improved model was built with the motor mounted low on the frame. In 1900 the improved model was released using a de Dion four stroke single cylinder 230 cc engine. The 1.5 hp engine drove the rear wheel with a belt, and pedal power was retained as a back up and to get the motorcycle up to speed before the motor was engaged, since there was no clutch. The engines were small, but the frame was very light, so the Werner had a great power to weight ratio. Drawing is from Motorcycles of the 20th Century.
the illustrated picture is the 1903 werner tourist model.
Posted by: derek foxton | December 12, 2006 at 09:57 AM
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Posted by: n0b0dy | May 09, 2008 at 11:41 AM
I have a antique motor werner for sale, I am in Argentina. e-mail: [email protected]
Posted by: Marcos Fabbroni | January 25, 2009 at 05:18 AM