Lot details
Registration No: Un-Reg
Frame No: 1014712
Engine No: T.B.A.
cc: 494

NSU entered motorcycle production in 1901 with a one and half horsepower Zedel engined machine, marketed under the Neckarsulm Motorrad trade mark. This was quickly followed by machines using both single and twin cylinder engines of their own manufacture. An interesting design feature of the pioneer NSU products was the use of a contracting band front brake and the company pioneered the use of rear suspension, offering a coil sprung frame as an option prior to the 1st World War. The 1920's saw an expansion in the range of models offered, with unit construction singles in the smaller capacities complimented by large capacity vee twins, however, as the decade ended and the effects of the Great Depression took hold the company suffered a decline in fortune.

In response to this they employed former Norton designer, Walter William Moore who was responsible for the introduction of an over head cam single, clearly influenced by his Norton CS1 design. This machine met with considerable success in the hands of riders such as Tom Bullus and Toni Ulmen and helped promote NSU's range of unit construction, road going singles. An improving economy and the quality of the range of machines resulted in NSU becoming one of the largest manufacturers of motorcycles worldwide by the middle of the decade.

The unit construction 501 OSL headed the range for much of the decade. Displacing 494cc the over head valve single produced a claimed 22hp @5,500 rpm resulting in a top speed of 130km/h. In contemporary adverting NSU were able to describe the model as being "ready for the motorway" whilst owners had the satisfaction of possessing one of the fastest German road motorcycles available at the time. The model was noted for its high specification which included a foot operated gearbox, full lighting set and a twin port head with the option of a raised exhaust system being offered.

This example of one of the rarer versions with the closed frame is described as being in good original, running condition.