International Contacts / Internationonale Kontakte
ADLER owners are invited to publish their history and pictures on this page.
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Don from Australia sent these pictures and its history of Model MB250 built 1955 Apr 17 th, 2000.
Homepage ADLER Motorcycles Australia http://www.adlermotorcycles.com Mail to: littleford@hotkey.net.au
Michael
I have just purchased my second Adler. The
first was a 1955 MB250s which I purchased in 1957. This bike at that time
was very rare in Australia as most bikes then were English. The Adler was
a sensational performer and out accelerated all my friends bikes up to
60mph[100kph].My main opposition was a Matchless 600cc twin. The bike gave
me much pleasure and was a great leap forward from the previous bike being
a 150cc BSA Bantam. Unfortunately i only had it a few years before i sold
it as i was having too many disagreements with cars. In those days you
didnt wear a helmet and the only saving grace was like bikes,there was
not many cars on the road. However once owning a bike [any bike] it is
something you never get out of your system.
Five years ago i started riding again and
went the full 'hog' and bought a Harley Davidson. I am now into my third
Harley and have also a 1953 BSA Bantam. I started looking for an Adler
this year and managed to find one of the few remaining in Australia. It
is a 1955 MB250 and i have enclosed photos of the bike. My daughter in
the photo, wants to get her bike liscence on it. The bike is in really
good condition and a real find .
I am now bringing back fond memories of this
motorcycle by doing lots of riding and this one will be here to stay when
all the other bikes have gone.
Regards Don Littleford Australia
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Socrates from Sydney sent these pictures and its history of Model M250 Nbr. 204832 built 1953 Feb. 3 rd, 2000.
Mail to: SocratesV@bigpond.com
Hello Michael,
Thank you for your reply. Since you send
the email about the respondents to your web site I have communicated with
a few people who offered help with some diagrams and information. I live
in Sydney Australia. I have had the bike for 20 years now, but my
father sent it to me about a year ago from Greece. The story goes
like this.... "...When I was 16 I lived in Athens Greece. I
bought the bike from a gentleman who bought it from Germany. He fell
from the bike a couple of times and gave up riding it. He kept it
at his house but over the years some things were stolen, like the kick-starter,
thumb-screws, etc. The gentleman sold it to me in 1979. I then began
restoring the bike with my limited pocket money. I found an original
ADLER kick-starter and my friend's father made some of the screws that
were missing. After 8 months of work on Sundays it was ready.
I did not ride it except for a couple of times because I did not have a
licence. Shortly after I restored the bike I left for Australia to
study and stayed here since (I was born here in Sydney). After many
years I asked my father to send the bike to me, so now it is back with
me waiting to be restored properly this time...." This is how I came to
own the bike. The books that come with the bike show a couple of
previous owners.
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Rowan from Rockhampton sent these
pictures and its history of Model's MB 250 Feb. 11 th, 2000
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1955 Adler MB250
The 1955 Adler featured in the before and after photos was purchased new in Melbourne Australia in 1956 from Mayfair Motorcycles of Elizabeth Street by a German tourist. Nothing is known of his exploits on the continent until about 1960 when he was riding the motorcycle in western Queensland west of Emerald. Just outside a town called Anakie (40km west of Emerald) the Adler broke down with what was thought to be electrical problems. Whilst stopped on the side of the road, a police sergeant by the name of Jack Finch stopped to assist the hapless German. He arranged for the cycle to be transported back to Emerald where several people attempted to fix the problem.
Due to the unfamilarity of the model in the area, no one was successful, but a deal was struck between the unknown tourist and the Sergeant who brought the Adler for the price, I believe, of a train ticket back to Rockhampton some 300km east. After several years in the shed of the police residence, Jack managed to get things going, but when I spoke to him in the mid 1980s, he still could not remember what was wrong in the first place. Jacks two sons used the bike as a ‘paddock’ bike for several years in the late sixties until the Adler finally stopped with terminal gearbox problems. It was then pushed back into the shed, and Japanese bikes took over the role of transport.
The Bike was then sold to a next door neighbour, who pulled the gearbox apart and found the cast iron end plate behind the clutch had shattered into 4 pieces. Due to the lack of spares, the bike was left behind the house until the neighbour married, when the Adler was transported to Rockhampton and parked under a tree at the ‘in-laws’ place.
In 1982, I learnt that the bike was under the tree and visited the old gent who was very happy to let the bike go for (Aus$20.00). I took it home and the ‘before’ photograph was taken the following day, once I had cleaned all the leaves off. The bike was stripped down and in 1995, I decided to use the bike in an international rally called "Wheels West" in Perth, Western Australia in 1987. Restoration commenced and I happened upon a fellow with 2 other Adlers in Sydney some 1500km south of Rockhampton. A deal was struck, and Robyn (wife) and I with 2 other friends drove the 3000km in a weekend to pick them up.
Although my ’55 was incomplete, both the others (1954 MB250 and 1956 MB250S (pictured)) were very complete and allowed me to complete restoration of the ’55 by the end of 1986. The bike was towed in a trailer the 17600km round trip to Perth and back and caused much interest at the Wheels West rally. The rally was over 3 weeks and was well over 1000km in length. It was a most enjoyable ride.
The bike has completed many rallies and club rides since then and except for a broken crank pin (due to my stupidity) has not let me down once. It is a comfortable tourer at speeds between 90-100km either solo or two up. If there is a headwind or hill it becomes a bit puffed two up, but that may be expected carrying a combined load of 160kg of rider and passenger. I found that reducing the front sprocket by one tooth from standard paid dividends to the tractability of the bike, and made it much nicer to ride, with no increase in fuel consumption. I entered the bike in a fuel economy test run by our Club and with no special preparation or riding style returned almost 70 mpg riding at about 35mph. Top speed of my bike is almost 80 miles per hour and touring range is about 190kp/h excluding reserve. Curiously, the tank holds 15 litres of fuel including almost 5 litres of reserve. I run the bike on 30:1 unleaded fuel and Castrol TT two stroke oil. This yields little smoke and no overheating/seizing problems.
Some technical hints I found during restoration now:-
The engine was completely worn out when I got it due to riding in the Aussie bulldust for years, and I could find no spares for it. I found an owners manual at an auction and obtained a spares manual and workshop manual photocopy from the previous owner of the ’54 and 56 models. With a bit of patience, I found that the connecting rod assembly of an A7 Kawasaki 250 twin was a close fit, once the crank pins had been ground back to 17mm to fit the flywheels. I used Suzuki GT250A pistons and rings, with no modification except running bronze gudgeon bushes instead of the usual needle roller. The crankpin broke on the drive side after 2000 km due to insufficient radias on the pin. I then had both crankpins bored out and fitted to the original 17mm Adler crankpins (as they are originally 2 piece). This has worked for 10 years with no problems. All bearings and seals in the bike were easily obtainable. The roller main bearings were originally standard clearance, but actually squeaked after a while, so the bearing factor replaced them with C3 clearance bearings free of charge after the original replacements were tested.
Everything else was quite straight forward except for the large number of special tools which had to be made for various tasks. The splined shaft for the crank Hurth coupling was the most difficult. You need to see the gear inside the crank to get the tooth form for the tool, but you need the tool to pull the crank apart to see the gear form. Talk about Catch 22 situation. Anyway, I made a lead plug and machined it to the diameter of the hole in the Crank. This was then offered down the hole and sharply tapped which put a partial tooth form on the lead plug. I then did a hobby metal machining course at College so I could use the milling machine and dividing head to make the spline. Three were made before one that worked was produced and it became almost a class project to get the crank apart. Once apart, a tool with the exact tooth form was manufactured also at college.
All I can say further is that the Adler engine benefits from careful assembly as it is a very precision piece of engineering compared with like aged motorcycles (read English bikes). If it is done properly first time, it will be exceptionally reliable and quick for its size and age.
As well as the 54, 55 and 56 models I also have a quite bent and broken frame and spare engine I intend to convert into a nice sports bike (try to have it look like an RS250 if I can), so if anyone can help me with swinging arm conversion info for a plunger frame, engine modifications for more power and any other information regarding making Adlers go faster etc, please contact me. I hope to run 18in wheels and standard forks.
I can be contacted at rbond@cqnet.com.au
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| http://home.bip.net/andreasochulrika/Megaadler.htm | Andreas & Ulrikas MB 250 ADLER Page |
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| http://www.schermer.tmfweb.nl/ | ADLER Homepage from Ed |
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| Date : Mon,21 Feb 2000
Mr.Liebig,
Regards
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Date: May 25 th, 2000
Dear Meikel,
Regards
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| Date Sat,8 march 2000
Mr Liebig thanks for all information that you gave to me....
Regards,
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Date: May 28 th, 2000
I bought the M125 from my friend, and my engine number is 44583. I live
in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. Before i own the ADLER
M125, I had been own DKW Humle, and DKW ifa 1950, but
i prefer to ride Adler M125. It feel more comfortable, maybe the chassis
structure and the simple machine which i can't get from the others. Sorry
I can't send you the pic of my M125 right now.
Regards
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| http://members.aol.com/mattman623/index3.html | Adler MB250 motorcycles > Upstate New York |
| http://www.narma.org/euro/brands/adler.htm | European Motorcycle Universe |
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| http://www.narma.org/euro/brands/adler.htm | Adler Motorcycles biker@cwizard.com |
| May 4 th, 2000
Hi Michael, I appreciate the help you gave me in locating parts
for my ADLER.
Sincerely, Scott Kiefer USA |
April 29 th, 2000
Nice page, It's great that your taking so many pictures.
Daniel L. Nielsen
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| March 26 th, 2000
Michael, I am looking for information about ADLER motorcycles. In the future i will buy a classic Adler motorbike and now i am looking for information. Also i am looking for Adler motorbikes for sale. Can you give me some information? Thanks from Ed Schermer The Netherlands
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March 8 th, 2000
Hallo Michael I is owner from 1972 of a ADLER
250--1958 with a Steib Ls 200 seitenwagen from 1953 and I have planes to
sell it, ( because I have no time to use it ) therefore I interessed of
the value of a vehicle like this.
Best Regards Lars
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| Dec 14 th, 1999
Dear Mr. Michael Liebig, I saw yours Adler homepage.
I thank your help! Sincerely yours Torkos Gyula |
Nov 4 th, 1999
Hello...... I have a friend who just have bought a adler...he thinks it is a ADLER
Trumpf junior BJ 1936.......or a Adler trumpf
Roar Øvergård
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