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Spotted: NSU collection

A small clutch of rare NSU motorcycles has emerged from a country shed and will soon be on sale in Victoria, Australia

(July 2024, story by Grant Roff, pics by GA & GR)

You probably have to be of a certain age and temperament to register with NSU motorcycles but they were absolute world-beaters in their day and attracted international riders including Mike Hailwood, Geoff Duke, John Surtees, Sammy Miller and Australian riders including Bob Brown and Eric Hinton (above).

The German manufacturer NSU dominated the 250 class in the early ‘50s with its twin-cylinder Rennmax. Understandably, it took a few years after the end of WW11 for NSU to re-enter polite society but Werner Hass managed a second in the Isle of Man TT in the 250 class in 1953 and NSU 250s won five of the first six places in the 1954 TT, putting the previous year’s Moto Guzzi winner into fifth place. The NSU twin won world championships in 1953 and 1954.

While today’s financial planners would have encouraged a street version of the excellent twin, NSU came up with a single cylinder bike which was very advanced at the time – the Max 250. It had an ‘Ultramax’ overhead camshaft drive which was quiet and very efficient, giving the Max a top speed approaching 130km/h while BSA was marketing its C11 250 with a practical top speed of under 80km/h.

By 1955, NSU was the largest producer of motorcycles in the world and was visited by Soichiro Honda who took notes (and parts) to build Honda into the giant it became.

Features of the Max included a monoshock rear end which was replaced with the introduction of the Supermax in 1956 with cheaper-to-produce twin rear shocks.

The Supermax engine refinements gave it a 10km/h upgrade but stiffer competition meant it never matched the sales success of the original Max.

NSU also produced the ‘Sportmax’, a racing version of the Max which was both expensive, hard to obtain but extremely desirable. Australian racers who acquired an example included Bob Brown, Eric Hinton, Jack Ahearn and Jack Forrest.

Jack Ahearn set an Australian speed record for the 250 class at 195km/h on the Hazell and Moore Sportsmax on a public road up near Barradine in NSW.

MEANWHILE, BACK IN VICTORIA

Not every motorcycle racer becomes a world champion but club racing can be every bit as exciting. Victorian Ray Lander (Eric Raymond Lander), born in 1934, was a stalwart of the Harley Club of Victoria which was established in 1924 and which currently owns land next to the Broadford motorcycle complex.

Ray, as he prefers to be known, was a treasurer and committee man for the club as well as producing its club newsletter for many years.

His first race was at the Puckapunyal Camp circuit in 1952 but the times allowed you to diversify your racing interests. Ray was active not just in road racing but in trials, hillclimbs, grass track, scrambles and sprints. He was probably most successful in trials, coming second in the Australian Titles Classic Lightweight in 1989. He raced against the best on tarmac, once coming second to Ken Rumble at Darley.

Ray ended up with three NSUs which he still has: a Spezialmax (Special), a Supermax and a replica Sportsmax.

The Spezialmax and Supermax are in very good, original condition.

The Sportmax was Ray’s ambition to make a replica of the rare, hard-to-get factory bike and has its own fascinating history. In developing the bike, Ray corresponded with Eric Hinton who generously passed on secrets from his own success with the model including cam timing and solving gear selection issues. Here’s Eric’s hand-written note on float height, a constant problem with Ray’s bike due to a rich mixture.

“I think your inlet trumpet is too long and, perhaps, the float level is slightly out on your carb. The float was originally mounted solid with the carb but to get the float level correct they (the factory) soldered a large washer onto the float to raise the level which usually meant the carb flooded and wet your left leg all the time with neat petrol. I was the first to cut the piece off its tank and fit a Norton-type float mounting which worked perfectly.”

Ray is 90 now and the bikes are coming up for sale to help fund his care needs in his later years.

If you buy Ray’s Sportmax, you’ll get Eric’s letter along with lots of correspondence with the NSU factory.

Ray actually went to England (and the IoM) searching for the necessary factory parts to make his replica as original as possible, although the tacho drive is of his own design.

Ray’s son, Rohan (above), is a motorcycle mechanic who did his apprenticeship with Mick Hone when the Mick Hone/Robbie Phillis team was dominating Superbike racing in Australia.

Rohan is still sorting out appropriate prices for the NSU bikes with all their provenance documents. He adds he will also have an abundance of NSU spare parts up for sale.