Gun Mfrs. who also make (or made) motorcycles.

Marshwheeling · Apr 27, 2012

The ones that come readily to mind are Benelli, BSA, CZ, Enfield, FN, Husqvarna, Iver Johnson. Simson was new to me, thanks to mrerick's post about the Simson Lugers.

As a motorcycle manufacturer, Simson is hardly a household word, but at least I had heard of them, and even know a collector who owns one. I have yet to ride an FN or an Iver Johnson. I have owned a BSA, and still have a couple of CZs to go with my CZ pistols.

How about you? Does anybody have an Enfield rifle to go with his Enfield Bullet? A Benelli shotgun and a Benelli Sei? Do you know any other manufacturers who make (or have done in the past) both guns and motorcycles?

walnutred · Apr 27, 2012

Singer, though both firearms and motorcycles were secondary and short lived.

ralph7 · Apr 27, 2012

if hi-point made motorcycles, they would weigh 1400 lbs and be powered by a 100cc chinese 2 stroke.

Alpo · Apr 27, 2012

Iver Johnson made motorcycles? I knew it was "Iver Johnson Arms and Cycle Works", but that was bicycles.

cowboy45 · Apr 27, 2012

I had a 1974 CZ 250 in high school. Never owned a CZ firearm.

mkk41 · Apr 27, 2012

I've worked on several marques of Italian motorcycles , Moto Guzzi , Ducati , MV Agusta , Gilera , Moto Parella and last/least Benelli. No way I would ever own one. I do own a Benelli B-76. A sleek , sexy and very accurate pistol , but bewilderingly complicated design. Kinda like Dell'Orto carbs or old Ducati Desmo towershaft valvetrains! Don't know if Benelli made any other pistols , because this one is a good example why they should stick to shotguns! Didn't the WWI Chauchat teach the world about dirt getting into those big cut-out sides in magazines?

Ya know the old saying, "If the Germans can make a (anything) with 100 parts , the Americans can make it with 75 , the Russians with 50 and the Italians with 10,000!

mkk41 · Apr 27, 2012

Alpo said:
Iver Johnson made motorcycles? I knew it was "Iver Johnson Arms and Cycle Works", but that was bicycles.

Yep , from 1907-1915.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1915-iver-johnson.htm

They also made frames for several other motorcycle brands.

BTW , I'm on my way to an antique motorcycle show within the hour.

Alpo · Apr 27, 2012

Guess I can go back to bed. I've learned my "something" for today.

jlrhiner · Apr 27, 2012

Alpo said:
Guess I can go back to bed. I've learned my "something" for today.

No kidding! We got that out of the way early

dave b · Apr 27, 2012

1966 Thunderbolt

deadin · Apr 27, 2012

I believe I saw reference to a Mauser Motorcycle years ago. I know I saw an ad for a Mauser car from back in the '20's-'30's.

JJEH · Apr 27, 2012

mkk41 said:
Ya know the old saying, "If the Germans can make a (anything) with 100 parts , the Americans can make it with 75 , the Russians with 50 and the Italians with 10,000!

LMAO, thats funny

Porsche built Tractors, Lamborghini as well.
Opel made sewing machines before they tried building cars...

feralmerril · Apr 27, 2012

I dont have any pictures saved to my computer but in the past I owned:
About a 1947 cz or "Czeck" sp?
1958 700 royal enfield It said "Indian" on the tank as I belive after indian quit building bikes here they imported them from enfield a few years. Somewhere I read that mine was one of eleven of the last bikes they imported that year and then they were done for good.
Then I owned a almost identical 750 interceptor royal enfield 1965. The difference was the 700 indian had one carb and the 1965 interceptor had duel carbs and 50 more cc.
Then I also had I think a 1967 basket case for spare parts. I sold it and someone else restored it. Those machines were advertised to do 120 mph. I know I broke the speedo and tach on one wild run! I also had about a 1963 BSA like the one shown above. That a old friend left at my place to use.

Gunslinger808 · Apr 27, 2012

AMF, they made Harleys and also did a lot of work on Garands, as well as Marlin rifles.
Unfortunately, the quality was not as good as it could have been on either.

old bear · Apr 27, 2012

dave b,

Very nice looking thunderbolt, you may be low on oil, as there is no puddle of used oil on the sidewalk

Pop's2 · Apr 27, 2012

I owned a 175cc Puch (sold by Sears as an Allstate) rode it back and forth to work during the summer...............a slow, heavy, underpowered machine with poor brakes but very reliable.

"In 1928 the company merged with Austro-Daimler and became a part of the new Austro-Daimler-Puchwerke. This company in its turn merged in 1934 with Steyr AG to form Steyr-Daimler-Puch. Like all enterprises of its kind, the Puch production plants had to change to arms production during World War II"

2152hq · Apr 27, 2012

A H Fox made cars, but I don't recall any motorcycles.

Bill Ruger would have probably made a nice retro-look M/C. His BearCat 'motorcar' was quite a vehicle, but wouldn't pass some of the gov'ts basic design safety regs to allow production.

Wasn't there a Webley (Vickers?)motorcycle..?

Roundsworth · Apr 27, 2012

Royal Enfield applied the name due to their proximity to the Enfield Arms facility. Their motto was something pertaining to being 'built like a gun' with a cannon illustration. RE made bicycles in the 1890s and built their first motorcycle in 1901. They also had real swingarm rear suspension and telescopic front suspension in the 1940s. Here is my 2006 Bullet 500.

anglaispierre · Apr 27, 2012

Baikal (pronounced bi-kle) are part of a massive Russian conglomerate who make, among other things, rifles, shotguns, handguns and, yes, you've guessed, motorbikes. Maybe that is where we got the word "bi-see-kle".

I have never ridden one of their bikes but did once see a Russian bike and sidecar in the UK - could it have been one of theirs?

I do own one of their guns - an IZH-43KH double barrel side by side coach gun with external hammers. I once took it trap shooting when my normal shotgun was in for repair and despite its short length and its apparent unsuitability I didn't do too badly. The other members of the club were quite impressed. And it was fun.

mjr · Apr 27, 2012

mkk41 said:
I do own a Benelli B-76. A sleek , sexy and very accurate pistol , but bewilderingly complicated design....Don't know if Benelli made any other pistols , because this one is a good example why they should stick to shotguns!

I bought one of those in the mid-80s and sold it a couple of years later after buying a SIG P225. The B-76 was lovely to look at but came with one of the worst-designed magazines ever. And it was large and wide for a single-stack 9mm. It's not one of the guns I regret selling--which are most of the rest that I ever sold.

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