The Hummer was a motorcycle model manufactured by Harley-Davidson

Harley-Davidson

Harley-Davidson , often abbreviated H-D or Harley, is an American motorcycle manufacturer. Founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the first decade of the 20th century, it was one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression...

 from 1955 to 1959. However, the name "Hummer" is now used generically to refer to all American-made single-cylinder two-stroke Harley-Davidson motorcycles manufactured from 1948 to 1966. These motorcycles were based on the DKW

DKW

DKW is a historic German car and motorcycle marque. The name derives from Dampf-Kraft-Wagen .In 1916, the Danish engineer Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen founded a factory in Zschopau, Saxony, Germany, to produce steam fittings. In the same year, he attempted to produce a steam-driven car, called the DKW...

 RT125, the drawings for which were taken from Germany as war reparations after World War II. RT125 drawings were also given to the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 as war reparations, resulting in the BSA Bantam

BSA Bantam

The BSA Bantam is a two-stroke unit construction motorcycle that was produced by the Birmingham Small Arms Company from 1948 until 1971...

 and the MMZ M-1A Moskva

MMZ (motorcycle)

MMZ or Moskovskiy Mototsikletniy Zavod was a motorcycle manufacturer, based in Moscow. It commenced operations in 1941 building the M-72, a Soviet licensed copy of the BMW R71. With the German Invasion of the Soviet Union, the plant was transferred east to the town of Irbit in the Ural region...

, later known as the Minsk

Minsk (motorcycle)

Minsk Motorcycle, or also known as Motovelo Corp, is a company that produces motorcycles. Minsk produces bicycles under its AIST brand. Motovelo is located in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.- History :...

.

Model 125 (1948–1952)

The Model 125 or S-125 was introduced by Harley-Davidson in 1947 as a 1948 model. The 125 cc two-stroke engine produced three horsepower, which was sent through a three-speed foot-shift transmission. The front suspension used girder forks suspended by large rubber bands.

More than ten thousand Model 125s were sold during the first year of production.

The rubber-band front suspension was replaced in 1951 by a telescopic fork referred to as "Tele-Glide".

Model 165 (1953–1959)

The Model 165 replaced the S-125 in 1953. The engine was increased in size to 165 cc.

Hummer (1955–1959)

The Hummer was added to Harley-Davidson's model line in 1955. It was a stripped-down basic model using a redesigned "B-model" engine with the old 125 cc capacity. It was named after Dean Hummer, a Harley dealer in Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...

 who led national Harley two-stroke sales.

The Hummer was as basic as it could have been. It had magneto ignition and was sold without battery, electric horn, turn signals, or brake light.

Super 10 (1960–1961)

The Model 165 and the Hummer were both replaced by the Super 10 in 1960. The Super 10 used a 165 cc version of the "B-model" engine previously used in 125 cc form in the Hummer.

Ranger (1962)

The Ranger was an off-road Harley-Davidson motorcycle. It had an extra-low final-drive ratio of 7.0:1 (12-tooth countershaft gear and 84-tooth rear sprocket) with neither lighting system nor front fender. It is believed to have been built to consume their supply of 165 cc engines, which would not be needed for their other models.

Pacer (1962–1965)

The Pacer was the replacement for the Super-10. It used the newly-enlarged 175 cc B-model engine.

In 1963, one year into production, the frame of the Pacer was heavily redesigned. The new frame incorporated rear suspension through an "L"-shaped swingarm that actuated a spring mounted horizontally under the engine. The seat and rear fender were supported on a subframe bolted to the main frame.

Scat (1962–1965)

The Scat was a dual-purpose motorcycle based on the Pacer. It had a high-mounted front fender, high handlebars, softer springs supporting the seat, a "scrambler"-style high-mounted exhaust pipe, and street-legal off-road tyres. The extra-low final-drive ratio of the Ranger was available on the Scat as an option. The Scat also received the Pacer's new frame in 1963.

Bobcat (1966)

The Bobcat was the last of the RT125-based Harleys and the only one offered in 1966, its only year in production. Based on the '63-'65 Pacer frame, it had ABS resin bodywork moulded in one piece that covered the tank and the rear tyre and supported the seat. It was the only RT125-based Harley with a standard dual seat.