The Motorcycle With An Engine In Its Front Wheel
There are quirky motorcycles, and then there is the Megola.
Built in Germany between 1921 and 1925, the Megola was the result of someone looking at a motorcycle and deciding that the engine was clearly in the wrong place.
So they put it inside the front wheel.
And not just any engine. The Megola used a five-cylinder, 640cc radial engine, with the cylinders arranged around the front axle. The engine and wheel effectively became one mechanical unit, driving the front wheel directly through planetary gearing.
No chain.
No driveshaft.
No gearbox
And, rather surprisingly, no clutch.
The engine produced around 14 horsepower and could push the road-going Megola to roughly 109km/h. The sporting versions were even quicker, reaching around 140km/h.
But here’s where things get really interesting: The Megola could actually race. In 1924, Toni Bauhofer won the German road racing championship in the over-500cc class on a Megola.
The unusual layout gave the bike a remarkably low centre of gravity and good stability. The downside? When you stopped, the engine stopped too. There was no conventional clutch or starter, so getting going again could involve a bit of pushing.
Imagine doing that in modern traffic!
The Megola was clever, fast for its day and technologically fascinating, but perhaps just a little too weird for the average motorcyclist. Production lasted only a few years.
And that is exactly why we love it.
The Megola didn’t put an engine in a motorcycle’s front wheel. It basically built the front wheel around the engine.
Now that’s a quirky bike.
