LAURIN & KLEMENT

1.5 hp Slavia Model B - 1900

First of a famous make

Engineer Vaclav Laurin and businessman Vaclav Klement joined together on January 1, 1896, to build bicycles under the name Laurin-Klement (or, in their native Bohemia, Slavia).

Bettering the Werner Brothers

On their return from a trip to Paris, where they had closely examined the Werner "motocyclentte," the two Vaclavs decided to venture into this new form of transport and build a more robust motorcycle than that of the Werner brothers, bearing in mind the atrocious state of the roads in Bohemia, then a northern crownland of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It became Czechoslovakia after the breakup of the empire in 1918.

Born With the Century

After building their first prototype at the end of 1898, L & K launched into production with the Model B during 1900. This very basic motorcycle was notable for its ignition system: It abandoned the dangerous hot-tube ignition in favor of a spark plug and a low-tension Bosch magneto, curiously located beneath the engine and driven by chain. Transmission was direct by leather belt and the engine had the conventional tum-of-the-century feature of an automatic intake valve opened by the suction of the piston descending in the cylinder. The L & K single was built in several capacities, from 184 to 500cc, the last of which was the Model L 3 hp of 1903. Well-received, the first Laurin-Klement model was built in quantity and sold under various names apart from "Laurin-Klement." It was Slavia in its Bohemian homeland, "Republic" in the rest of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and "Achilles" in Germany.

SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 184cc (60x65mm) air-cooled single-cylinder four-stroke; Bosch magneto

Power Rating: 1.5 hp

Valves: automatic intake, side exhaust

Fuel System: surface carburetor

Transmission: direct-belt drive; auxiliary pedal gear

Suspension: none (optional telescopic forks) (front); rigid (rear)

Brakes: optional band (front); band (rear)

Wheels: cycle-type clincher (front & rear)

Weight: 106 lb

Maximum Speed: 20 mph

Fitted with the revolutionary magneto ignition, the 1900 L & K also bad a surface carburetor, a dangerous device warmed by the exhaust pipe to evaporate the gasoline!