Description
Böhmerland 1935 602 cc ohv single “Touring Model “ frame # Z1 engine # 466
Albin Hugo Liebisch was born in 1888 in the Bohemian town of Rumburk and died in Passau in 1965.
During his life he created a very unusual type of motorcycle, the Čechie-Böhmerland .
Liebisch was mechanically-minded and after having had a number of technical jobs he opened an engineering and repair workshop in the Bohemian village of Krásná Lípa, close to Rumburk and near the German border.
In this workshop he regularly had to repair motorcycles with broken frames and bent or cracked forks.
He decided to enter the market with a motorcycle design of himself.
This motorcycle would have to have an extremely strong and sturdy frame and a well-constructed front suspension.
After some prototypes the first production Čechie-Böhmerland (This second name was the name used for German customers) was offered for sale in 1924.
During that year some 30 machines were made.
Production stopped in 1939 and the last serial number used was 658.
The average yearly production was a little bit more than 40 machines, of which a few dozen are known to survive.
Liebisch had designed a very unorthodox machine that was certainly not to everyone’s liking but he had a limited number of loyal customers for quite a number of years.
Apart from the long wheelbase notable features were the cast aluminium disc wheels and the leading link front suspension with springs under tension.
Because of the tall engine Liebisch had to find a place for the petrol tank and he came up with the unusual but eye-catching torpedo-shaped petrol tanks on either side of the rear wheel. |
The engine was of Liebisch’ own design and had bore and stroke dimensions of 79,95 x 120 mm, giving a capacity of 602 cc.
It delivered 16 HP @ 4000 rpm.
Liebisch fitted various types of carburetters and gearboxes, ignition and lighting was standard entrusted to Bosch.
Most used colour combinations were yellow-red and yellow-green.
In 1937 a new 346-c.c. two-stroke single appeared on the market, which also had an unorthodox frame with disc wheels.
Only a few were built before the war prevented further production.
This impressive motorcycle, which participared in the prestigious German Bad Münstereifel rally, has a three speed Sturmey Archer gearbox and has been fully restored.
A remarkable feature is that the machine can be lifted on the centre stand with ease, something one would not expect from such a sizeable vehicle.
Miroslav Gomola wrote a well- illustrated book about the make, “ Motocycly Čechie-Böhmerland “.
The book gives excellent information and the text is in Czech, German and English. ( ISBN 80-85991-11-X.)