Nimbus with Bender sidecar.

Date of Manufacture: 1952

Engine Size: 750CC



Denmark's Nimbus began producing motorcycles in 1919 and was that countries leading motorcycle manufacturer. The first 746cc inlet-over-exhaust in-line 4-cylinder engine powered bikes were designed with functionality over styling in mind. Early models even had a swinging arm rear suspension years before other manufacturers.



Revamping the plant into a modern facility in 1934 allowed Nimbus to produce the new MkII model. The MkII used a modified engine from the previous design and incorporated an overhead cam, overhead valves and a hemispherical combustion chamber. Being an air cooled longitudinally mounted engine, overheating problems were obvious on long hard rides, evident by the extreme cylinder head warping. Although the engine did not produce an enormous amount of power it was well suited to effectively handle a sidecar.



The new MkII frame lost its swinging arm rear suspension and the heavy tube frame gave way to a riveted steel strip frame as the model shown here illustrates.



The MkII design lasted until the company closed its doors in 1958 and in the 24 years of production, the MkII's parts were interchangeable. Even after the plant closed it still produced parts for the MkII in order to fulfill Danish military contracts.