The Vintagent Road Tests come straight from the saddle of the world’s rarest motorcycles. Catch the Road Test series here.
The creations of Hans Windhoff began in Berlin with radiator production for cars, trucks, and aircraft. In 1924, he entered the burgeoning motorcycle market with water-cooled two-stroke machine of 125cc – an excellent although expensive creation, with the engine built under license from a design by Hugo Ruppe, whose ladepumpe (an extra piston used as a supercharger to compress the fuel/air mix) design was used most successfully by DKW in their GP bikes.

















Am I remembering correctly that there was one of these–maybe the same one–at the Guggenheim exhibit?
No Windhoff at the New York exhibition, which was the basis of the extensive catalog. They may have added one at Chicago, Las Vegas, or Bilbao – did you see the exhibit there?
Nice to learn that it rides as well as it looks. That surprises me, having owned a BMW R17, and ridden (once) a Zundapp KS800-which are kind of soul buddies of the Windhoff. Both were pretty awful to ride-especially the Zundapp. But it sure was a looker. Sal Defeo had one in a bone-yard gas-stations at Ghost Motorcycles in Port Washington Long Island. in 1965.
The “Mooch”, it turns out is Sal’s nephew. It’s a small world.
Hi Charlie,
the BMW R16 I test rode in 2010 was fantastic, probably because it a was very well tended machine: https://thevintagent.com/2017/12/11/road-test-1929-bmw-r16/
The Windhoff was the same – first class attention, which may have included some technical improvements, but not to the handling! I know the Windhoff is considered ‘under-developed’ for serious riding, which means anyone intending to do the Cannonball on one will have to pay attention to oiling and the crankshaft…exactly the same as for the Hendersons on the Cannonball, which ALL have improved high-pressure oiling systems, and most have improved breathing via re-cast cylinder heads, and stronger crankshafts (forged). If you intend on using a $100k machine, it pays to invest in such improvements!
The R 17 I had was very original, but pretty worn out. It did not deal well with the potholes in Cambridge Mass, which was where I was living at the time. I recall Marian’s fist coming down on the back of my hat, when we hit a particularly nasty one on Mass. Ave. She yelled “sell the f—ing thing!” I said I would, but it was difficult to find a buyer, when it lunched its crank pin about a week later. I had bought it for a whole $300.00 in 1965 money. About a year later, Amol Precision bought it, and the Luftwaffe mechanics took over.I think they rebuilt the crank shaft and short block for my R66 in exchange, which seemed like a fair deal at the time.
I think Susan yelled the same to me from the back of the SS100 Brough we rode on the Cannonball…but it wasn’t ours to sell!
Having now had the chance of riding both the Windhoff and the more refined Brough Austin, which of the two do you consider to be the better handling bike?
That’s a great question! And one I can’t answer as I haven’t ridden a solo Brough-Austin 4 nor a Windhoff with a sidecar – although examples of both exist. The Brough is a strange thing to ride solo, and takes some getting used to, while I imagine a Windhoff with a sidecar would be just fine. Here’s my thinking though: the Windhoff, while an amazing design, and far more advanced than anything George Brough actually manufactured, was yet undeveloped and not quite refined. Having spent many hundreds of hours on Brough Superiors (crossing the USA twice on them), I’d say the Windhoff might not make such a journey, at least not in the manner I rode it. The Windhoff is mechanically more noisy than any Brough too…but it’s an amazing motorcycle.