.

NSU 350 Supercharged

.  

From the moment NSU began producing motorcycles, it was chiefly concerned with racing vehicles. Its first Grand Prix motorcycles appeared about 1910. They were fairly advanced for the time, with a two-cylinder V engine (only 500-cc. but modeled after American motorcycles) and a rigid chassis with front fork elastic suspension.

In 1930 NSU challenged Norton with a single-cylinder single-shaft model designed by Walter Moore. This vehicle had its moment of glory when the British racer Tom Bullus rode it to a 500-class victory at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Italy, in 1930. In 1936 the NSU 350 single-shaft motorcycle registered the fastest lap at Monza. The following year both the 350 and the 500 were equipped with two-shaft distribution.

But the engine that was to lead to a series of top-notch racing motorcycles was not built until 1939. It was a four-stroke, two-cylinder engine with two-shaft overhead distribution and a volumetric vane supercharger. A 350-cc. version was readied first and then a 500-cc. model.

The NSU two-cylinder with supercharger competed in the 1939 European championship, but it did not achieve brilliant results, and there was nothing to indicate that it would be the ancestor of a series of engines that would win world championships and set records.

Motorcycle: NSU 350 with Supercharger

Manufacturer: NSU, Neckarsulm

Type: Racing

Year: 1939
Engine: NSU two-cylinder, four-stroke, with two-shaft overhead distribution with two bevel gear shafts. Displacement 344.82 cc. (56 mm. x 70 mm.)
Cooling: Air
Transmission: Four-speed block
Power: About 60 h.p.
Maximum speed: About 125 m.p.h.
Chassis: Continuous double cradle, tubular elements. Front and rear, elastic suspension
Brakes: Front and rear, side drum