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From cleaning up the crumbs to careering around the chicanes

27.11.11

How an engineer from Frederiksberg swapped vacuum cleaners for motorcycles, and how his son gave the world a bike so iconic even Steve McQueen owned one

Peder Fisker was the founder of Fisker & Nielsen, whose main products were vacuum cleaners. He had no previous interest or experience in the production of motorcycles, and had never even taken a close look until the day he spotted one parked on the street. Fortunately for Danish manufacturing, this one (most probably a Belgian FN) wasn’t much to look at. Its design so offended Fisker’s delicate engineering sensibilities that he decided he had to build a better one.

By 1919 he was producing the Nimbus Model A in Frederiksberg at Peter Bangs Vej 30. The motorcycle became popularly known as ‘The Stovepipe’ because of its huge frame backbone, which doubled as a gas tank.

In 1924 the Model B came out with an improved front fork, but elements of both models were markedly different from other motorcycles of the time. In addition to the frame gas tank, the bike used rear suspension, a drive shaft instead of unreliable chains, and one of the first ever kick-start systems designed for a motorcycle, which operated via the camshaft. The 746cc engine used a four-cylinder inline construction to maintain cruising speeds of 70 kilometres per hour (km/h) and a top speed of about 100 km/h. The gearbox had three speeds and gear changes took place by hand.

Source: The Copenhagen Post