DKW RT125 review

Dampf-Kraft Wagen or DKW is a historic car and motorcycle marque. In 1916, the Danish engineer Jorgen Rasmussen founded a factory in Saxony, Germany, to produce steam fittings. In the same year, he attempted to produce a steam-driven car, called the DKW. In 1932, DKW merged with Audi, Horch and Wanderer to form the Auto Union, and all brands continued until SecondWorldWar. After the war, Auto Union changed ownership a couple of times, first passed into the hands of Daimler-Benz in 1957, and was finally purchased by the Volkswagen Group in 1964. DKW motorcycles used 2-stroke engines which were technically advanced; the best-known one in the UK is the DKW RT 125. As reparations after World War2, the design drawings of the DKW RT 125 were given to Harley-Davidson in the US and BSA in the UK. The HD version was known as the Hummer, while BSA used them for the Bantam. Designs from the DKW 2-stroke engine was also used in the Ariel Leader and Arrow.

During the War, DKW engineers also created the Cyclemaster motorcycle. The plans for that were also confiscated, and the contract for production awarded to EMI in Great Britain. As has been remarked before, from German engineers, America got the H-bomb while Britain got the Cyclemaste.IFA and later MZ models continued in production until the 1990s, when economics finally brought production of the two stroke to an end. Other manufacturers also copied the DKW design, officially or otherwise, including Yamaha, Voskhod and Polish WSK.

Vintage DKW motorcycles enjoy an excellent reputation for design and engineering and are sought-after machines today. Spares are obtainable from Germany. Theres an active club in Germany, and Bernie of the British 2-stroke Club runs an enthusiastic section for German machines in the UK. More specs and user manual of DKW RT you can see in next overview.