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Thiele
to travel
Simson alpine tour
Simson Alpine Tour
The long way
Already adventurous in the west, once unthinkable for East Germans: over the Alps by moped. Lutz Thiele realized the dream of a childhood behind the wall.
Annette Johann
12/24/2003
It is one of those scorching hot August days when Lutz Thiele presented the old, stuck Krauser-de-Luxe-
Suitcase slammed, the packing straps
tighten and with a few kicks brings the “Habicht” to cruising altitude. In the suitcases sandwiches, water bottle, granola bars and an old medium wave radio.
In the tank 9.5 liters of 1:50 broth, sufficient
for 350 kilometers. Actually, that would be needed
Samson 1:33, but refueling would be too complicated. In addition, the crankshaft was embedded in needle bearings instead of plain bearings during the overhaul, so that it would also have to cope with lean conditions.
Lutz worked on this for a year
Vacation prepared ?? and dreamed of it since he was 14. Back then in this tiny nest, 50 kilometers from the Polish border, where he and his buddies were working on the Simsons and wished for nothing more than once with it
to go to Italy or at least to the Alps. To the south or west, anyway, not Hungary or the Czech Republic
would have been attainable ?? back then behind the wall. San Bernardino, Lake Maggiore, Florence, Venice, Rimini. Exotic realms at the time for a normal Ossi and no closer than the moon. Lutz and the like would have had a very good chance with their Simson small aircraft. Whether sparrow, sparrowhawk or hawk ?? Swallows were only for girls ??, with three to four gears, up to 4.6 hp and over 65 things top speed, the 50 cubic VEB rascals brought together more than most Westmokicks. Only the expensive mopeds from Kreidler and Co. were stronger.
At some point, for a long time in the west
and reunited, Lutz called his
Buddy Kai in the old homeland. He should look out for such a mill.
The adventure took its course. Early morning: Ellwangen, Gunzburg, Memmingen ?? At the beginning of his journey, Lutz Thiele did not have a precise idea of ​​how far an old Simson could get on West German routes. And how yourself
Feel 50 km / h in permanent operation, certainly not. »65 things would have been in it, but would have been pretty unhealthy in the long run. At first I felt like I was standing. ”Around noon, 100 kilometers are still covered. In the evening 283. Lutz runs in
Lindau on Lake Constance. “I couldn’t believe it, thought I might be packing
100 kilometers a day. After a few hours, however, the rhythm was there. I just kept driving,
and the hawk ran like hell. “
Kai actually had one after the call
Simson moped found. 30 years old, ten of them stood and rusted to death. Price: 200 marks. When the owner learns what his hawk should be used for, Lutz gets it as a gift.
“He stayed, pushed the moped into the shed and hoped for the first VW.” While Lutz set off towards the west. Just 18, a trained mechanic, full of hopes and dreams. “Hardly anything went on for us, all of the businesses were broken, no work, nothing at all.” With his 23-year-old MZ and 400 of 80 marks in his apprenticeship wages, he set out to get to know the frosts of freedom. The first attempt ended after
40 kilometers ?? he had to go back with the throttle cable torn. On the second, he did it. In 13 hours to see relatives in Steinbachle near Crailsheim. Old folks whom he repaired tractors and helped out on the farm. He had a job after
three weeks, a little house to renovate yourself after six years. And then it was back, the old dream. That was when he called Kai.
There is camping in Lindau. A tiny one
Expedition tent, light and compact, like all the equipment. There wasn’t much payload. Exactly 32 kilograms, he had calculated using a gear diagram from the manual, if the hawk was to survive the twelve percent gradient at the San Bernardino Pass. The moped was slimmed down, tools and spare parts on special brackets and
the freed battery compartment (»you need
eh only for the indicators «) distributed. A little apprehensive, but happy, Lutz ottelt around Austria. There are still 1500 ahead of him
Kilometre. Main Alpine Ridge, Mediterranean Sea, Tuscany and back. In three weeks. The hawk runs like clockwork. Thusis,
Via Mala, finally the junction for San
Bernardino / Splugen. Left or right? The Splugen is one percent steeper and
52 meters higher than the Bernardino.
Don’t risk anything! He had practiced in the winter. Looked for roads with marked gradients to see what the fully loaded two-stroke engine really packs.
And he plowed just as bravely in Griffelbach as he is now on the Bernardino. Turn after turn, in first and second gear and with the blower puffing, but at least keeping the speedometer needle constant between 20 and 25 km / h. Lutz is thrilled. Even when you are on the road, clouds come up, dripping over the entire mountain range and there is still a full three meters of visibility above ?? it doesn’t matter, he made it! “I was so indescribably happy at that moment.” Just like later at the Italian customs house, after the furious descent with glowing brakes and popping two-stroke engines ?? Always double-declutching so that the little engine doesn’t starve to death. Rolling out under palm trees on Lake Maggiore, the biggest chunks of the tour are already a thing of the past. 526 kilometers in just two days. Brilliant. Lutz uncorked a bottle of red wine with the tent neighbor.
Simson regulates the establishment of contact all by herself, one marveled at the two as if they had come straight from the moon.
You are almost on the Mediterranean when
the little bird suddenly drops its wings. Simply that way. In the middle of a full uphill drive, the engine dies. Five kilometers from the targeted campground
in Montoggio it’s all about screwing. Full program: candle, ignition, spray feed, carburetor ?? but Lutz finds nothing. Let cool down. After countless start-up procedures, the first tentative expressions of life. The hawk is slowly coming to. But the cause remains unclear, which seriously unsettles Lutz. To be on the safe side, he hangs the carburetor needle a notch higher for the purpose of greasing the mixture, but that can’t be the problem. What to do? First stay in Montoggio. Lutz goes on excursions and operates on the bird for three days. Diagnosed from failure
threatened chain tensioners, a crack in the engine housing and worn strut bearings, but nothing dramatic. “Of course, there was always a certain trepidation as to whether the whole thing would work.”
And in the ADAC foreign protection letter-
Department had been told before the trip that damaged end-of-life vehicles are usually not brought back, only scrap value
and train tickets would be reimbursed.
Leave the hawk to be scrapped? Never! Better to move Tuscany to next year and
but very carefully back on the axis. The wonderful winding roads of the Ligurian
The Apennines and the cliffs of Lake Garda reconcile Lutz
with the botched plan,
Italy shows itself from its most wonderful side, the enthusiastic passers-by always accompany him and his in between
sometimes after an indisposed friend
Home. Through Ticino, over the heights
of the Reschenpass to fine Bad Worishofen. There, too, the two stand out.
In the ice cream parlor, an elegant elderly lady interrupts her afternoon chat, steers purposefully towards Lutz and his field-brown eastern moped in order to competently follow up
inquire about all vehicle details.
Only later does he find out who she was: one
of the last representatives of the Kreidler-
Dynasty. The old, tough competition! Back then, behind the wall. Now the barriers have fallen.
Kultbikes Ost
Once the product of sheer pragmatism, the Simsonian birds from the 50s enjoy cult status today. And thanks to mass production, they can often be found as bargains.
Forty years on the worst
Roads of the world tested «?? the clever slogan of the former VEB vehicle and hunting weapons factory Ernst Thalmann sums it up: In contrast to many other products of socialist origin
the small machines from Suhl were extreme
durable and robust. Despite limited funds for research and development, often sloppy suppliers and a rigid planner-
economic definition of 50 cm3 (larger two-wheelers were reserved for MZ)
It is the Thuringian to implant rock-solid chassis and engine technology into their vehicles. Many Schwal present themselves accordingly-
benches, sparrows, sparrowhawks and hawks today
as housemates suitable for everyday use. After the fall of the Wall, the company struggled with bankruptcy several times until the foreclosure auction on February 1, 2003 heralded the final end for the traditional factory founded in 1856.
During the GDR era, production was strictly based on the modular principle. The basis was always a 50s-two-
stroke engine that has been with the
SR models has been continuously optimized. In the seventies he won the sparrowhawk and hawk as well as the
later S 50 and S 51 mopeds also received some respect in the west. Varying with
Semi-automatic, manual or foot control, three or four gears and fan cooling, the motor base was implanted in all models. The development goal was not high-performance athletics,
but durability. Today a big advantage over the mercilessly squeezed West mopeds, of which only a few have survived the century. In addition, the GDR did not part with something that had been saved and waited for years. With a total of more than five million vehicles produced, the base that can be found is in the
new federal states still broad. The first
The baroque swallow, which quickly conquered the hearts of the Wessis after the fall of the Wall, experienced a spontaneous cult coronation. Strictly speaking, it was the house’s scooter at the time and was therefore only for girls … Real guys drove hawks or sparrowhawks.
However, these tore through their more brittle
VEB design does not become so unconditional
Passion. A good model overview and
two books offer a lot of background knowledge
the Schrader Verlag: Frank Ronicke, “Simson Mopeds, Mokicks, Scooters”, 125 pages, 26 euros, as well as from the series Schrader-Motor-Chronik “Schwalbe & Co, Simson mopeds and scooters «, 12 euros.
Quite a few dealers have now opened up
the GDR vehicles specialized in the replacement-
partial supply is comprehensive and inexpensive,
the internet filled with private and profes-
sional providers. Very interesting: www.schwalbennest.de. Two tips: Zweirad Schubert in Ellwangen, phone 07961/565155, or Simson Strauch in Stuttgart, phone
0170/2048777.
A good Simson is already from around 300 euros
to get and thus considerably cheaper than comparable western models. On the downside, the Richter scale is open, and thanks to the availability of spare parts and excellent workshop manuals, restoration is unproblematic. but
When buying, pay attention to damage to the stand on the machines, which are often carelessly parked after the turn. GDR oils and fuels were
miserable and can in the long term cause major damage to the land in an idle mixture factory. Habicht pilot Lutz Thiele himself offers an exchange of experiences: Contact
at asia.ost@freenet.de. And finally, a travel tip: The Suhl Vehicle Museum, phone 03681/705004, open every day except Mondays.
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