An uncommon Wankel-engined Rotary

Hercules were a German marque that was founded in 1886 and began producing motorcycles in 1904.

Their claim to fame though is producing the first Wankel Rotary Engine motorcycle. While others such as Suzuki (with the RE-5) and Norton (Commander/F1) had more success, it's worth nothing that Norton's engine was essentially that used in the W2000.

The W2000 was a single rotor, air cooled machine with a displacement of 294cc. Inital versions were good for 23bhp though later models were able to produce 32. Air cooling was assisted by a large fan at the front.

While the model shown here has a front drum brake, later models had a front disk.

A review in Cycle World in 1976 suggested that while the bike handled well enough, it's sportiness was hindered by poor ground clearance and was thus more of a commuter bike than a sport motorcycle.

 As the pictures show, it's not a great looking bike, but it sounded pretty sweet as the video shows.

[cid=16956,http://i2.ytimg.com/vi/A9Q4Nhp1BP8/hqdefault.jpg]

Sales were poor, however. The air cooled motor generated a lot of heat and like the RE-5, wasn't a terribly reliable motorcycle.

Today, the Hercules, has a niche but loyal following. Rotaries are theoretically better than inline cylinders, with the engine able to rev much higher and who wouldn't want something that little bit different?

With more modern production methods, maybe we'll see a new one some day soon? It likely won't be a Hercules though as the factory folded in 1996.