Heinkel 112
Os modelos mais conhecidos das Scooters Heinkel são a gama Tourist e a Typ 14. No entanto a marca fez ainda algumas incursões mais ou menos experimentais noutros segmentos com a Perle de 50cc e quadro integralmente de alumínio e ainda um modelo de 125cc, o Heinkel 112, que nunca chegou a ser produzido. Acredita-se que foram fabricados apenas 5 protótipos, cujo paradeiro tem sido um mistério.
Estes cartazes publicitários e esta mão cheia de fotos é quase tudo o que se conhece do modelo. A ideia seria criar um scooter ágil e citadina, segmento de mercado dominado pelas Italianas.
Até à pouco tempo.
Em Julho deste ano, apareceu à venda na Alemanha uma scooter incompleta de modelo desconhecido e a ostentar o logótipo da Heinkel na tampa do motor! Avisado por um sócio, de imediato o clube alemão a adquiriu e analisou ao pormenor.
Trata-se efectivamente do protótipo da 112! Tem o Nº de quadro 112V4, rodas 3,50-10 (curiosamente nos cartazes ela aparecia com rodas bem maiores, 12 ou mesmo 14), motor de arranque, carburador Bing 1/20/46 com colector de admissão em borracha, entre outros pormenores que serão num futuro breve divulgados, pois ao que parece já começou a reconstrução deste achado.
A intenção da Heinkel com esta scooter seria apontar para o mercado feminino e para uma melhor adequação ao uso citadino. Esta 125cc chegou a ser apresentada em 1956 na exposição de Frankfurt. Anunciava-se uma potência de 6.25 Hp, com um peso de apenas 105 Kg e velocidade de ponta de 82 Km/h. Seria a primeira scooter a ser equipada com jantes Tubeless! O seu preço chegou a ser fixado nos 228€, cerca de 24€ mais barata que a Tourist, mas ainda assim 24€ mais cara que a Lambretta 125.
Estes cartazes publicitários e esta mão cheia de fotos é quase tudo o que se conhece do modelo. A ideia seria criar um scooter ágil e citadina, segmento de mercado dominado pelas Italianas.
Até à pouco tempo.
Em Julho deste ano, apareceu à venda na Alemanha uma scooter incompleta de modelo desconhecido e a ostentar o logótipo da Heinkel na tampa do motor! Avisado por um sócio, de imediato o clube alemão a adquiriu e analisou ao pormenor.
Trata-se efectivamente do protótipo da 112! Tem o Nº de quadro 112V4, rodas 3,50-10 (curiosamente nos cartazes ela aparecia com rodas bem maiores, 12 ou mesmo 14), motor de arranque, carburador Bing 1/20/46 com colector de admissão em borracha, entre outros pormenores que serão num futuro breve divulgados, pois ao que parece já começou a reconstrução deste achado.
A história faz-se hoje também.
Informação adicional:
A intenção da Heinkel com esta scooter seria apontar para o mercado feminino e para uma melhor adequação ao uso citadino. Esta 125cc chegou a ser apresentada em 1956 na exposição de Frankfurt. Anunciava-se uma potência de 6.25 Hp, com um peso de apenas 105 Kg e velocidade de ponta de 82 Km/h. Seria a primeira scooter a ser equipada com jantes Tubeless! O seu preço chegou a ser fixado nos 228€, cerca de 24€ mais barata que a Tourist, mas ainda assim 24€ mais cara que a Lambretta 125.
Cycle World magazine, June 1962
Heinkel Tourist
According to the makers of the Heinkel Tourist, it is a "..de-luxe long range scooter with a world famous engineering name...". If any of out readers were vacationing in Europe somewhere between 1942 to 1946 we are certain they have heard the name before. The Heinkel HE 70 and HE 111 airplanes were some of the most formidable in the air and literally bristled with engineering innovations that were new to aviation. Heinkel's current model is another example of an interesting engineering approach surrounded by a handsome body package. As the name ..Tourist.. implies the Heinkel was designed for comfortable long distance travel. For this purpose it would be difficult to find a scooter more ideally suited. The smooth, one-cylinder. 4 cycle engine is quiet and the rated 12 hp gives an amazing performance considering the size and weight of the machine. In heavy traffic we easily stayed ahead of the main flow of traffic while thoroughly beating many automobiles in the process.
Quite naturally the weight is an asset to riding comfort, though it usually detracts from handling ability. We objected to the weight and bulk of the Heinkel, but considering that it is primarily designed to haul two people, plus a certain amount of luggage or camping equipment. in comfort and for long distances, our objections were easily over-ridden.
The Heinkel takes a back seat to few two-wheeled vehicles in the performance department; the acceleration from a stand-still to average allowable traffic speed is amazing, considering the 175cc engine. Top speed is over 60 mph and it imparts a considerable degree of confidence with its excellent stability at this speed. One of CYCLE WORLD's staffers, when following another in his automobile behind the Heinkel, remarked how much it looked like a full size motorcycle when being ridden through a series of "S" bends. As with any machine, the success, or failure, of its handling abilities lies in its suspension geometry.
We especially liked the front end arrangement. In place of what has become almost common scooter design, the trailing or leading arm system, the Heinkel employs a type more conventional to motorcycle design, straight telescopic forks. We have to confess to preferring the straight fork arrangement as the degree of rider control is greater and it does not have the "spongy" feeling that the multi-link front end system gives. The Heinkel drives through and over the roughest and deepest troughs on the worst street near our offices in a secure manner. The absence of the typical leaping of most scooters through sharp dips further proved the validity of our preferences.
The Heinkel deserves special praise for its styling; not a member of the staff disagreed with the summary of its design - one of the best looking scooters we have ever seen, decorative and yet quite practical in concept. The overall finish is also excellent.
Several claims of unusual construction are qualified for the Heinkel as well, one being the interesting frame upon which the engine and transmission, suspension system and body are mounted. It consists of a tubular atructure that runs in a conventional motorcycle fashion from the steering head down, and then forks over and under the engine. The upper traverse serves as a firm hanger for the body, the lower portion holds the engine in three rubber-bushed mounts that almost completely absorb engine vibrations. The vibration-free characteristics must be considered another excellent feature of the Heinkel.
A brief technical description includes: 4-stroke, single cylinder, 60mm bore, 61.5mm stroke, 174cc capacity, compression ratio 1:7,4, air-cooled engine that is rated at 12 hp @ 5750 rpm. 4-speed gear box operated by a lef hand twistgrip, 4.00x10 tires, 329 lbs total weight, fuel consumption approximately 50 mpg, and electric starting; price is $595.00, FOB West Coast
As printed in Cycle World magazine, June 1962.
According to the makers of the Heinkel Tourist, it is a "..de-luxe long range scooter with a world famous engineering name...". If any of out readers were vacationing in Europe somewhere between 1942 to 1946 we are certain they have heard the name before. The Heinkel HE 70 and HE 111 airplanes were some of the most formidable in the air and literally bristled with engineering innovations that were new to aviation. Heinkel's current model is another example of an interesting engineering approach surrounded by a handsome body package. As the name ..Tourist.. implies the Heinkel was designed for comfortable long distance travel. For this purpose it would be difficult to find a scooter more ideally suited. The smooth, one-cylinder. 4 cycle engine is quiet and the rated 12 hp gives an amazing performance considering the size and weight of the machine. In heavy traffic we easily stayed ahead of the main flow of traffic while thoroughly beating many automobiles in the process.
Quite naturally the weight is an asset to riding comfort, though it usually detracts from handling ability. We objected to the weight and bulk of the Heinkel, but considering that it is primarily designed to haul two people, plus a certain amount of luggage or camping equipment. in comfort and for long distances, our objections were easily over-ridden.
The Heinkel takes a back seat to few two-wheeled vehicles in the performance department; the acceleration from a stand-still to average allowable traffic speed is amazing, considering the 175cc engine. Top speed is over 60 mph and it imparts a considerable degree of confidence with its excellent stability at this speed. One of CYCLE WORLD's staffers, when following another in his automobile behind the Heinkel, remarked how much it looked like a full size motorcycle when being ridden through a series of "S" bends. As with any machine, the success, or failure, of its handling abilities lies in its suspension geometry.
We especially liked the front end arrangement. In place of what has become almost common scooter design, the trailing or leading arm system, the Heinkel employs a type more conventional to motorcycle design, straight telescopic forks. We have to confess to preferring the straight fork arrangement as the degree of rider control is greater and it does not have the "spongy" feeling that the multi-link front end system gives. The Heinkel drives through and over the roughest and deepest troughs on the worst street near our offices in a secure manner. The absence of the typical leaping of most scooters through sharp dips further proved the validity of our preferences.
The Heinkel deserves special praise for its styling; not a member of the staff disagreed with the summary of its design - one of the best looking scooters we have ever seen, decorative and yet quite practical in concept. The overall finish is also excellent.
Several claims of unusual construction are qualified for the Heinkel as well, one being the interesting frame upon which the engine and transmission, suspension system and body are mounted. It consists of a tubular atructure that runs in a conventional motorcycle fashion from the steering head down, and then forks over and under the engine. The upper traverse serves as a firm hanger for the body, the lower portion holds the engine in three rubber-bushed mounts that almost completely absorb engine vibrations. The vibration-free characteristics must be considered another excellent feature of the Heinkel.
A brief technical description includes: 4-stroke, single cylinder, 60mm bore, 61.5mm stroke, 174cc capacity, compression ratio 1:7,4, air-cooled engine that is rated at 12 hp @ 5750 rpm. 4-speed gear box operated by a lef hand twistgrip, 4.00x10 tires, 329 lbs total weight, fuel consumption approximately 50 mpg, and electric starting; price is $595.00, FOB West Coast
As printed in Cycle World magazine, June 1962.
!Comparação Vespa GS e Heinkel Tourist!
Em Dezembro de 1992, a Scootering Magazine escreveu este artigo assinado pelo conhecido "Sticky". Escuso-me de traduzir para evitar possíveis conflitos de interesse :). Peçam uma ajudinha ao Google se acharem melhor, mas leiam até ao fim.
VESPA GS VS 1
The Vespa GS (Grand Sport) was Piaggio's first real attempt at a production 'sports' model since previous Vespas weren't exactly endowed with a reputation for breathtaking speed. This model - the VS 1 - was the first of the GS range, identifiable by having the cables routed outside the headset. For its time it represented a great advance in performance with its larger 10" wheels and hydraulically damped front forks. Remember the LD was its main Italian competitor.
This particular machine, TTT 295, originally belonged to scooter shop
proprietor Ken Harris from the Exeter area, then his daughter Jean
Harris. Period photos show Jean riding it in the "scooter-girl"
competition at the Isle of Man Rally in 1958, it being used in a rally
in France and also as a promotional aid for a film called "The Heat of
Summer" in the Odeon cinema Exeter on St. Valentines Day 1960 on behalf
of the South Devon Vespa Club, so no one can say the little Vespa didn't
get its fair share of use. The original colour of the GS was silver,
but it has been wearing this coat of pale blue, the two-tone seat and
the red and chrome hubcaps since 1958.1957 HEINKEL TOURIST 175
Heinkel, like Piaggio, was another firm originally famous for aircraft
manufacture during W.W.II when Heinkel HE bombers helped in the
decimation of Coventry which, in retrospect, doesn't seem like such a
bad thing. The Heinkel, like many other German scooters, was a heavy
but
stable, good quality piece of automotive engineering. The model I rode
had a 9 h.p. two-valve pushrod four stroke engine as a powerplant,
rubber mounted into a tubular steel frame with rare (at least for
scooters) telescopic forks at the front. The main market for Heinkel
scooters was Holland and Belgium and the Dutch Heinkel Club still
flourishes. By the early 60's Heinkel Tourist sales were falling, a
phenomenon the factory blamed on cheap secondhand car prices and the
weather! First launched in 1953 as a 150, the Tourist became a 175 in
'54 with only minor differences to the test model, such as a headset
instead of handlebars.
ON THE ROAD
Both machines started more easily the I expected considering they are stored in cold dampish conditions. The GS required only about three kicks but the Heinkel needed bumping since the batteries were flat (2x6volt in series for a 12volt system). The Heinkel soon settled to an even but slightly loud tickover as we manhandled it off the stand again. It's heavy weight makes it unwieldy at low speeds but once on the move it has excellent balance with the engine mounted forward under the rider and a chain in an enclosed oil bath running to the back wheel.
Gears on the Heinkel are the same as on any modern Vespa or Lambretta but I must confess to having great problems correctly selecting the gears, especially second. This, I was later to find out, is the only major design fault of the heinkel since the ratchet that selects the gears is in the headset and not on the engine. This means that the scooter is very sensitive to gear cable adjustment which must constantly be checked to prevent missed gear changes. The gears themselves seem widely spaced but the torquey old 4 stroke pulls from very low revs making a sort of thudding noise. Acceleration by modern standards is non-existent but that doesn't seem to matter. The comfort and the quality of the ride seem to make speed irrelevant and pottering around in an almost serene casual style is the order of the day. No Vespa or Lambretta comes close in terms of comfort, the seat is the size of a surfboard and amply padded.
I said acceleration isn't too hot but that isn't down to lack of power but due to how much weight it had to pull and eventually it will build up to 60 mph and happily stay there until you get to a hill.
The handling is really excellent as far as I felt happy leaning it on damp greasy roads with a pair of prehistoric Fred Flintstone tyres on it. Leaning takes a bit more input than I am used to, but once over then an uneven road surface doesn't upset the handling anywhere near as much as on a Vespa or Lambretta. This is because the whole engine doesn't have to move when you hit a bump, only the rear wheel and the swingarm moves, so the suspension reacts much faster. Also the telescopic forks have much more movement than a Lambretta. This all adds up to a much more luxuriant ride but without feeling soggy and out of control.
The Vespa on the other hand handled exactly as I expected; in comparison
to the Heinkel you get really pitched about on a bumpy road, and the
front end dive is terrible - just like on a Rally 200 twenty years
later. Nobody can accuse Vespa of rushing into a re-development
program, eh! The surprising thing about the GS was its performance; its
acceleration was on par with a PX125 and top speed by the speedo was
about 60mph, not bad for an unrestored 1955 scooter. The GS engine's
main difference to modern Vespa engines is that the induction isn't
rotary disc through the cases but piston ported like a Lambretta with a
downdraft carb bolted onto a inlet on the barrel.The GS frame feels slightly smaller than a P Range but without a legshield toolbox I could comfortably get my knees in the dry behind the legshields.
The brakes on the Vespa were ample for stopping such a light scooter but the front end dive made the rear brake far preferable for slowing down in anything other than an emergency. The brakes on the Heinkel however, were nothing to write home about and I'm sure neglect had more than a little to do with this, but as the manual says, copious engine braking from the 4-stroke motor goes some way towards making up this shortfall.
The lights on the GS were totally crap, as were those on the Tourist but in the Heinkel's case this was down to the dead batteries stealing all the power from the motor and in fully charged condition the 12V system is supposed to be very bright. Also, think how long it took before Vespa eventually got electric start.
To pick the best scooter out of the two is not an easy matter. The GS is probably THE classic Vespa styling-wise, but to ride it is very similar to all other Vespas. It was very quick in its time but it has no useful features like a spare wheel and in comparison is lacking in comfort.
The Heinkel doesn't look anywhere near as bad as most of the British scooters of the same period. My personal opinion being that it looks typically Teutonic but is one of the nicest looking non-Italian scooters. It is full of special features like the electric start and it has an air of quality of manufacture shown in the alloy footboards. It just feels solid and well made. Where the tourist is let down is its sluggish acceleration and poor low speed manoeuverability which would make it a handful in town - where the GS is nippy and small - but on the open road the Heinkel is infinitely preferable. For going to rallies and touring, as the name suggests, the Heinkel is still an excellent prospect and given a bit more speed, it would be as good to ride to a rally as any of today's Vespas.
Why the Tourist was never such a big thing in the U.K. I can only speculate. Maybe it was too expensive. I know the club scene for Heinkel owners was nowhere near as well developed as it was for Vespa and Lambretta or even as good as the Owners Club scene in Germany or Holland, but I think the Heinkel is definitely the more preferable of the two even if there are only less the ten VS1 GS Vespas known to have survived in this country.
Ultimo Stand Heinkel na Alemanha
A Mellers foi a ultima empresa a vender scooters Heinkel e ficava em Hamburg.
Quando a Ernst Heinkel AG terminou a produção, em 1965, a Kerl-Heinz Meller passou a ser o fornecedor de peças para toda a gama Heinkel, chegando inclusive a montar Heinkels novas a partir dessas peças. Existem Heinkels comercializadas novas em 1978. Em 1983 encerraram a actividade, tendo vendido todo o stock ainda existente por 6000 marcos que foram reunidos pelos sócios do Heinkel Club Deutschland, criando a Heinkel GmbH, empresa que integra esse mesmo clube e que ainda hoje fornece as peças para os seus associados.
125 anos
Apesar
de atrasados, os parabéns a Ernst Heinkel, sem ele eu teria de andar de
Vespa, ou Lambretta ou coisa que o valha :)
Nasceu há 125 anos atrás. 24 Janeiro 1888
Obrigado
Nasceu há 125 anos atrás. 24 Janeiro 1888
Obrigado
