Hercules (motorcycle)

This article is about the German manufacturer. For the UK company of the same name, see Hercules Cycle and Motor Company.
Wankel-engined Hercules W2000

Hercules is a brand of bicycle and motorcycle that was manufactured in Germany.

The Hercules Company was founded in 1886[1] to produce bicycles[2] by Carl Marschütz in Nuremberg, Germany[3] and began producing motorcycles in 1904. It was merged with Zweirad Union after being purchased by ZF Sachs in 1963.[4]

In the 1950s and 1960s Sachs was the largest European fabricator of two-stroke engines for motorcycles.[5] Many of these engines were used in the Hercules line of small motorcycles, scooters and mopeds.

  1. ^ Deutsche Autos. Motorbuch Verlag.
  2. ^ "1939 Herrenrad Hercules (Fahrrad Werke, Nurnberg)". The Online Bicycle Museum. Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 6 July 2016. The German Hercules bicycle is a large and powerful machine.
  3. ^ Tracy, David. "Let's Have A Close Look At The Hercules W-2000: The World's First Rotary Motorcycle". Jalopnik. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  4. ^ "History". Sachs Bikes. Archived from the original on 7 February 2009.
  5. ^ "Hercules Motorcycles". Cybermotorcycle.com. Retrieved 3 September 2014.