NGC-Zundapp thrown away for junk

[brider]

Saw this at my local dump, wish't I'd run home to get wrenches and at least saved the cool engine case. I really mourn for bikes like this that get abandoned, wonder what the story was on this one. No doubt thrown behind the shed and forgotten for years.

Note that of all things, the key is still in the ignition!

Anyone know what year/model it might have been?

[wirespokes]

I would have rescued it.

[Sasquatch Jim]

 It'll buff out okay.

[oldbike54]

 Looks like a circa 1970 125 , kinda hard to tell W/O any body work . They didn't really change all that much for several years . Unless it is one of Six Day specials it never was worth all that much . At some point the economics of keeping a work-a-day motorbike come into play and they get discarded.

 Dusty

[Huzo]

Anyone know what it’s “worth..”

[oldbike54]

Anyone know what it’s “worth..”

 Probably what ever it will bring for scrap , minus the gasoline used to haul it away .

 Or conversely , it might be worth a million dollars , although the first valuation is likely more accurate .

 Dusty

[Huzo]

Probably what ever it will bring for scrap , minus the gasoline used to haul it away .

 Or conversely , it might be worth a million dollars , although the first valuation is likely more accurate .

 Dusty

I think that’s probably fairly accurate if you look at it from a factual sense.
While we’re on the subject..
What was/is the value of  the  fence post rebuild bike and would you sooner be the guy that brought it back, or a guy that went and just bought one ?
I don’t recall him being told the bike was a worthless bucket of snot...
Because it most demonstrably is not.
Although by the measuring stick that’s been dragged out here in the last few days, it probably was by the standards of the majority.
I don’t have anyone agreeing, so I must be wrong...Again.

[oldbike54]

I think that’s probably fairly accurate if you look at it from a factual sense.
While we’re on the subject..
What was/is the value of  the  fence post rebuild bike and would you sooner be the guy that brought it back, or a guy that went and just bought one ?
I don’t recall him being told the bike was a worthless bucket of snot...
Because it most demonstrably is not.
Although by the measuring stick that’s been dragged out here in the last few days, it probably was by the standards of the majority.
I don’t have anyone agreeing, so I must be wrong...Again.

 Nothing wrong with bringing back a pile of rust , but it doesn't mean the starting point was worth anything , only that someone wanted to do the work and spend the money to resurrect said pile of rust . The thing is , this particular Zundapp isn't a KS601 , or likely even one of the 6 day replicas , which were really more a tribute model than anything .

 Dusty

[Huzo]

wish't I'd run home to get wrenches and at least saved the cool engine case.

Any particular reason why you didn’t ?
Or here’s a thought..
Take the whole thing home and bring back the crap you don’t want..

[oldbike54]

 Hmm , memory is a funny thing , the ISDT Replicas were 100 CC models , and looking closer indicate this one is a street bike .

 Dusty

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Saw this at my local dump, wish't I'd run home to get wrenches and at least saved the cool engine case. I really mourn for bikes like this that get abandoned, wonder what the story was on this one. No doubt thrown behind the shed and forgotten for years.

Note that of all things, the key is still in the ignition!

Anyone know what year/model it might have been?

Looks like a late '50s 250 Super Sabre.

[Lannis]

There are Zundapp guys just as much into Zundapps are we are into Guzzis, and they would have different opinions of the dumpster-readiness of these remains than we might have .... !

Lannis

[Tusayan]

As it happens I ran into an old guy today who worked at Zundapp in the 50s, as a kid.  He’s not into telling stories at this point but years ago he told me of outings to the Grossglockner (a high pass in Austria) with the bikes instrumented for test.  He described it as a good place to be apprenticed.

The most collectible Zundapps are the four cylinder bikes, but for sure there are people into many of them.  They were made in Munich but at some point closed and sold the factory equipment to (IIRC) India.

[kballowe]

It would be cool to polish up that engine case and hang it on a wall somewhere

[brider]

It would be cool to polish up that engine case and hang it on a wall somewhere

This is what I was thinking way too late after the opportunity was gone...

There was a line of trucks breathing down my neck to get to the pile behind me, BIG sign said "NO SCRAP-PICKING" (but everyone ignores it), and I had flip-flops on so I didn't want to risk a major foot laceration while trying to drag it to my truck, plus I would've needed to get help anyway. Don't mis-judge me; I've scrounged MAJOR scrap items as bulky as this Zundapp, but that day I was not prepared.

Still, I COULD have run home and changed into boots and grabbed a kid to help...wife  was out of town so I even could have hid it out back behind the big tree...DAMN! 

[Huzo]

This is what I was thinking way too late after the opportunity was gone...

There was a line of trucks breathing down my neck to get to the pile behind me, BIG sign said "NO SCRAP-PICKING" (but everyone ignores it), and I had flip-flops on so I didn't want to risk a major foot laceration while trying to drag it to my truck, plus I would've needed to get help anyway. Don't mis-judge me; I've scrounged MAJOR scrap items as bulky as this Zundapp, but that day I was not prepared.

Still, I COULD have run home and changed into boots and grabbed a kid to help...wife  was out of town so I even could have hid it out back behind the big tree...DAMN! 

Yeah.
That all makes sense, I could imagine myself in the same quandary now you explain it..

[tazio]

There are Zundapp guys just as much into Zundapps are we are into Guzzis, and they would have different opinions of the dumpster-readiness of these remains than we might have .... !

Lannis

Absolutely

[Diploman]

As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ivory Coast, W. Africa 1968-1971, I had a fabulous 50cc Zundapp street bike (can't recall the model), on which I rode over 40K Kilometers on washboard laterite dirt roads.  That poor bike was thrashed beyond reason, and maintained less than optimally, but it never failed me.  Worst breakdowns:  broken chain master-link; maladjusted points.  It was a super-quality product that could do nothing but burnish the image of precision German manufacturing. A tough and feisty little two-wheeler that took me everywhere I needed to go without complaint.  Worst moment:  A frightened antelope started running alongside the bike and me on a washboard dirt road at about 50 km/hr., then the creature suddenly decided to cross the road in front of me;  narrowly missed the 150 lb. beast which had just enough speed to beat me to the looming intersection spot.  A pucker moment, but Zundapp and I survived.  I really wouldn't be surprised if that little Zundapp is still running around the north of Cote d'Ivoire today, given the ingenuity of local African mechanics.  One tough machine!  Interesting features, seldom seen today:  Forced-air cooling via a squirrel-cage fan mounted on one end of the crank;  fully-enclosed chain guard, very, very valuable in the hyper-dusty riding conditions.

[EldoMike]

I'm a Guzzi guy but have always wanted one of these...got this one at Barber last year...

[Huzo]

I'm a Guzzi guy but have always wanted one of these...got this one at Barber last year...

Bloody hell, that looks tidy !
Does it go as expected ?

[EldoMike]

Bloody hell, that looks tidy !
Does it go as expected ?

Runs very well...currently on the rack getting tidied up a little...not restored! Here is a link to more pics...

https://mikeskaggs.smugmug.com/1954-Zundapp-KS601-/

[Chuck in Indiana]

*Nice* find, Mike. Is that the one with the chain drive transmission? 

[EldoMike]

*Nice* find, Mike. Is that the one with the chain drive transmission? 

Yes it is...actually works better than it should...

[brider]

Dig those crazy hub flanges! The Germans are all about efficiency, but I didn't really think that meant weight-savings; why do you suppose they scalloped the spoke flanges?

[EldoMike]

Dig those crazy hub flanges! The Germans are all about efficiency, but I didn't really think that meant weight-savings; why do you suppose they scalloped the spoke flanges?

Always liked the designs of 50's German machines...check out how the crashbars flow..

[Chuck in Indiana]

Dig those crazy hub flanges! The Germans are all about efficiency, but I didn't really think that meant weight-savings; why do you suppose they scalloped the spoke flanges?

Believe it or not.. strength and weight savings. Many aircraft fittings are done that way.

[Diploman]

This looks like the 50cc 2-stroke Zundapp that served me faithfully when I was  peace Corps Volunteer in Cote d'Ivoire, West Africa, 1968-71.  Note the forced air cooling, fully enclosed chain guard and cast aluminum frame. Wonderful machine!

https://www.google.com/search?q=zundapp&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=ppvt2tIwfrHmwM%253A%252C8cr4xgo9F5YVpM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kTT_kn4GgCS50rymX39Yt1VptmUJA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi7tffFhK7iAhXm01kKHV-UCpIQ9QEwCnoECAYQGA#imgrc=_8dHZH6bpW5iVM:&vet=1

Sadly, Zundapp ceased production in 1984, and sold the production tooling and intellectual property rights to a Chinese company which produced small Zundapps for a number of years then changed to making small Honda-derived models.