Pic of the day: 1922 Megola Sport bike

This 1922 Megola Sport is so lovely it looks like it could easily be the inspiration for modern motorcycle design concepts.
It was built in Germany in 1922 by the Megola company – a fusion of the names Meixner, Cockerell and Landgraf.

It’s styling is quite something, but more interestingly it houses the engine beside the front wheel.

Getting the bike to start involved spinning the wheel until the engine kicked in.
The motor is a five-cylinder, 640cc radial rotary unit (of the type found in early aircraft like the Sopwith Camel), which apparently could achieve speeds of up to 85 and 140 km/hr.

No gears or a clutch were involved.
Megola was around from 1921 to 1925 and about 2,000 of these bikes were produced.
For more pictures and information on the Megola Sport, see the Visual Gratification blog.