Quasar (motorcycle)
The quasar was a covered motorcycle, 1968 produced in the UK by Malcolm Newell and Ken Leaman, initially equipped with a 850 - cc four-cylinder engine of Reliant Motors, which reached a cruising speed of 90-100 mp / h ( 145-160 km / h) and under favorable circumstances, the 160 km / h even exceeded.
Design
The driver of the quasar was in contrast to the conventional motorcycle with his feet in the forward direction within the vehicle rather than the front and it was surmounted by a roof. For large driver with modern motorcycle helmets, this could mean a problem in certain circumstances, although it was also possible to carry a passenger in a confined space.
The bike had a front laminated glass windshield with wipers as the car and heating. The use of a semi- open body caused dead angle, forcing the driver to move his head in order to ensure that the angle was not blocked by the substrate of the windshield. Behind the driver was a transport capacity of 60 liters and factory panniers were available. These were not wider than the narrow mirror.
History
1968, after his idea was for a trike with name "revolution" failed, and which forced him to close his motorcycle shop in Devizes, met Malcolm Newell his later partner Ken Leaman in Scotland and both decided to build the first quasar prototypes. The first regularly produced copy was in Bristol by Ken and Malcolm at Wilson Brothers, where Ken was employed full-time, built and sold in December 1976. The rights to the vehicle remained at the Wilson Brothers, although Ken the vehicle completely alone designed and built.
Although plenty advertised, the demand was too low to cover production costs. Between December 1976 and October 1979, only six copies were sold.
1980 convinced the designer of the fluorescent backlight, John Malfoy, his former employer ROMARSH in Calne ( Wiltshire ), to produce five quasars under license from Wilson Brothers. All five motorcycles produced were sold to December 1981 and further production of ten specimens was taken in August 1981 in attack.
As ROMARSH went bankrupt, John Malfoy bought the leftover parts and built these into other motorcycles. Regardless produced Malcolm Newell least another copy from other spare parts. Overall, only 21 bikes with the Reliant engine were built, but Newell went on to produce more copies in his own business in Heddington. These were equipped with motorcycle engines.
Later pieces contained motors from the GS series from Suzuki, with both chain and shaft drive, one with the engine of a Honda VF750 and even a copy with the six-cylinder engine of the Kawasaki Z1300. Malcolm also built a Names " phasar " series, in contrast to the quasar had an open roof. These were powered by engines of the Honda Gold Wing & VT500, Moto Guzzi V50 & Convert, the Kawasaki Z1300 and the Yamaha RD 250 & RD 350. He is working on a trike with two front lying, tilt -capable wheels when he died at the age of 54 years in 1994.
Lack finances were only 21 quasars built in the original design of which stand in 2012 ten were officially approved.