Description
Lohmann 1953 Batavus 18cc ts diesel Frame # 8124792 Engine # 37032
Lohmann is a German company known for their clip-on diesel engines.
Lohmann mainly produced bicycle parts (including lighting, alternators and saddles).
Just after World War II, in west Germany the company developed a 18cc ( approx. 1 cubic inch..!!! ) clip-on diesel engine.
No motorcycles were allowed to be built with more than 60cc displacement.
This little engine had variable compression, no carburetor or spark plug, and it ran on any liquid fuel.
The operation is based on self-ignition, as with a diesel.
By changing the compression with the twist grip on the handlebars, the moment of self-ignition had to be regulated, and thus the engine power of max. 0,6hp.
At the same time, the fuel dripper had to be set, also by the twist grip on the handlebars.
It does not seem easy as a driver to coordinate those arrangements properly..
The engine usually ran on a mixture of gasoline, petroleum and lubricating oil.
Petrol station petroleum is doing fine and a
mixing ratio of 1:40 (petroleum: two-stroke oil) is no problem with the current 2-stroke oil.
With the right settings of the twist grips on the handlebars, the engine, usually runs within 10 meters of peddling, summer or winter.
The drive was by adjustable friction roller on the rear tyre.
The consumption was 1 liter on 100km and the top speed ranged from 8 to 32 km/h ( 5 to 20 mp/h) depending on the wind and/or the slope.
It remains impressive how simple and at the same time how extraordinarily the design is of this engine construction.
Although we should not ask for the exhaust gas quality, back in the fifties…No emission controls…
The first Lohmann diesels silencer, consisted of a metal plate that was pressed with two springs against the cylinder.
That delivered uproar, whereby the Lohmann in Germany was called “Nervensäge” or “Nerve-saw”
The Lohmann brand disappeared when the German economy began to flourish and mopeds became popular.
In Spain, the Lohmann was licensed as Hispania Lohmann as presented here.
The engine has been fitted to a period Dutch gentlemans Batavus bicycle .