When it comes to our militaria hobbies I think all of us have those bucket list items. Items we know we will probably never get to own, but dream about anyways. For me one of the items on my list was a true German TR era motorcycle. I would be satisfied with any of them! Zundapp, BMW, NSU, DKW, you get the idea. Something about the German bikes of that era really get me going. My passion for these bikes eventually led me to building a motorized bicycle and dressing it up to resemble something a German solider would ride. German WW2 style moped Well.. I'm happy to say I no longer have to pretend, I finally got my hands on the real deal! It's debatable whether or not you can consider it a motorcycle, but either way it certainly satisfies my itch. I'm now able to cross this one off the bucket list.
First and foremost I'd like to thank my very good friend and fellow forum member BrodieBartfast. Without him I would have never been able to add this piece to the collection. He was the one that showed me the listing for it, and he went above and beyond acting as the middle man getting this to me. I think it goes without saying shipping an entire bike 'What ever the type' across the Atlantic is no small feat. It's all thanks to him that this is possible.
The bike is a 1938 dated NSU quick. From the research I've done I believe it's the 98 model. Finding information about these bikes is a bit challenging. As apposed to a full blown motorcycle, I believe this would be better classified as a motorized bicycle or moped. This is due mainly to the fact that it utilizes pedals in it's design. These were fairly popular bikes in Germany during the pre war, war, and immediate post war periods. One of the main reasons for this was it's affordability and ease of use. Buying one wouldn't break the bank, and you didn't have to be a seasoned rider to operate one. The NSU quick was also commonly used by motorized units of the Hitler Youth. You can find a good deal of photos online where entire units are outfitted with bikes of this type. Were any of these ever used by the German military? Well, Kind of. Military use of the NSU quick happened, but it was very rare. I'm almost certain these bikes never saw front line use 'Which is no surprise' they were most likely used in rear echelon areas only. The only known military quick to survive the war is an example that was left behind in the Jersey islands. It spent a good deal of time in a museum there after the war, and then later acquired by a British collector after the museum shut its doors.
My particular example is far from showroom quality! It's a project bike all the way. As you can see it's missing quite a few parts, but I intend to fix this very soon. I already purchased an original engine for it, and it's currently under the care of BB until I can gather the funds to have it shipped. The rest of the missing parts 'Which are a lot' will require a TON of surfing on eBay Germany. The likelihood of finding any parts for this project here in the states are very slim.
I just wanted to share this exciting new addition to my collection. I will post updates on this thread as the project comes along.
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