The Heinkel Tourist is a motor scooter

Scooter (motorcycle)

A scooter is a motorcycle with step-through frame and a platform for the operator's feet. Elements of scooter design have been present in some of the earliest motorcycles, and motorcycles identifiable as scooters have been made from 1914 or earlier...

 made by Heinkel Flugzeugwerke

Heinkel

Heinkel Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the Luftwaffe in World War II and for important contributions to high-speed flight.-History:...

 from 1953 to 1965. More than 100,000 were manufactured and sold.

The Tourist was sold as an upscale scooter. It was more expensive than a Vespa

Vespa

Vespa is an Italian brand of scooter manufactured by Piaggio. The name means wasp in Italian.The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A...

 or a Lambretta

Lambretta

Lambretta can refer to:* Lambretta, a petrol-powered scooter made by Innocenti* Lambretta , a clothing brand* Lambretta , a Swedish rock band* The Lambrettas, a British mod revival band...

, and was generally heavier, more comfortable, and more stable. It was available with a speedometer, a steering lock, a clock, a luggage carrier, and a spare wheel. It was referred to in England as "The Rolls-Royce of Scooters" and was advertised by a dealer in Massachusetts as "The Cadillac of Scooters".

The Tourist had a tubular steel frame to which pressed steel body panels were mounted. The engine of the Tourist was mounted in the frame and drove the rear wheel by a chain enclosed in the swingarm

Swingarm

A swingarm, or "swinging arm" is the main component of the rear suspension of most modern motorcycles and ATVs...

. Thus sheltered, the chain ran in a sealed oil-bath, extending its life and preventing any oil from contacting either scooter or rider. The engines used in Heinkel Tourists were 4-stroke while most other scooters of the time, including the Heinkel 150 light scooter from the 1960s, had 2-stroke engines.

Production

Heinkel's first prototype scooter was built in 1949. Production of the Tourist began in 1953.

The Tourist was manufactured in five series: the 101 A0 (1953–1954), the 102 A1 (1954–1955), the 103 A0 (1955–1957), the 103 A1 (1957–1960), and the 103 A2 (1960–1965).

101 A0

The Tourist 101 A0 was the first series of Heinkel Tourist, the only series with a 149 cc engine, and the only series with a kick starter. Production began in April 1953. The three-speed transmission was actuated by a twistgrip on a tubular steel handlebar.

In June 1954, the electrics were uprated from 6 V to 12 V to accommodate the addition of an electric starter at that time. Production of the 101 A0 ended two months later. 6,500 Tourist 101 A0s were built.

102 A1

Production of the 102 A1 series began in July 1954. The main changes from the 101 A0 were the larger engine, which had been bored and stroked to a capacity of 174 cc, the absence of a kick starter, and the use of the 12 V electrics and an electric starter as on the last of the 101 A0s.. A glove box was included behind the legshield. The speedometer was mounted on the glove box.

17,500 Tourist 102 A1s were built before production ended in August 1955.

103 A0

Production of the 103 A0 series began in August 1955. 103-series Tourists had four speed transmissions and ten inch wheels, enlarged from the three speed transmissions and eight inch wheels of earlier models. The result was a larger, heavier, and thirstier scooter on one hand, and a faster, more sophisticated scooter on the other.

It is stated that 34,060 Tourist 103 A0s were built before production ended in September 1957, but this production figure is disputed.

103 A1

Production of the 103 A1 series began in September 1957. The tubular handlebars of previous series were replaced by a cast handlebar containing an instrument panel. The engine, while remaining the same in size, was improved by the use of a two-bearing crankshaft. The engine was now mounted to the frame with rubber mounts, improving the ride.

50,050 Tourist 103 A1s were built before production ended in June 1960.

103 A2

Production of the final series of Heinkel Tourist, the 103 A2, began in August 1960. The telescopic forks of the previous series were replaced by a single-sided trailing-link fork. The rear body panel was restyled and was not interchangeable with those of earlier series.

55,000 Tourist 103 A2s were built before production of the Heinkel Tourist ended on 31 December 1965.

Specifications

Specifications for Heinkel Tourist by series

Series	Years built	Engine capacity (cc)	Bore × stroke (mm)	Wheelbase (mm)	Length (mm)	Width (mm)	Height (mm)	Kerb weight (kg)	Wheels
101 A0	1953 – 1954	149	59.0 × 54.5	1330	1980	710	980	285	4.00 × 8"
102 A1	1954 – 1955	174	60.0 × 61.5
103 A0	1955 – 1957			1370	2060		1000	350	4.00 × 10"
103 A1	1957 – 1960			1375	2085
103 A2	1960 – 1965			1380	2020

All Tourist scooters were powered by overhead valve

Overhead valve

An overhead valve engine, also informally called pushrod engine or I-head engine, is a type of piston engine that places the camshaft within the cylinder block , and uses pushrods or rods to actuate rocker arms above the cylinder...

 four-stroke single-cylinder engines.

United Kingdom

The Coventry

Coventry

Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...

-based Excelsior motorcycle manufacturer began importing HeinkelTourist scooters into the United Kingdom in late 1955. In late 1956, Nobel Motors of Picadilly became the new official importer of Heinkel scooters and bubble cars

Heinkel Kabine

The Heinkel Kabine was a microcar designed by Heinkel Flugzeugwerke and built by them from 1956 to 1958. Production was transferred under licence to Dundalk Engineering Company in Ireland in 1958 but the licence was withdrawn shortly afterward due to poor quality control Production restarted in...

.

By the end of 1957, the UK importer of Heinkel scooters was International Sales of Dublin. This may have been part of a deal by which an Irish engineering company to build the Heinkel Kabine

Heinkel Kabine

The Heinkel Kabine was a microcar designed by Heinkel Flugzeugwerke and built by them from 1956 to 1958. Production was transferred under licence to Dundalk Engineering Company in Ireland in 1958 but the licence was withdrawn shortly afterward due to poor quality control Production restarted in...

 bubble car

Bubble car

Bubble car is a subjective term used for some small, economical automobiles, usually produced in the 1950s and 1960s.- Varieties :The Messerschmitt KR175 and KR200, and the FMR Tg500, had aircraft-style bubble canopies, giving rise to the term bubble car to refer to all these post-war microcars...

 under licence.

Importation of the 103 A2 began in February 1962 by Hans Motors of London, which had an all-German staff. Trojan Cars Ltd.

Trojan (automobile)

Trojan was a British automobile manufacturer. Cars with the Trojan marque were made from 1914 and 1974.-Early history:The company was founded by Leslie Hayward Hounsfield who went into business as a general engineer in a small workshop called the Polygon Engineering Works in Clapham, South London...

, the manufacturers of the Kabine under licence at the time, was already selling Lambretta

Lambretta

Lambretta can refer to:* Lambretta, a petrol-powered scooter made by Innocenti* Lambretta , a clothing brand* Lambretta , a Swedish rock band* The Lambrettas, a British mod revival band...

scooters and did not accept the offer to import Heinkel Tourists.

United States

Heinkel Tourists were imported into the United States by a succession of authorized distributors:

• Nobel Motors of London, England, 1956-57 Nobel Motors did not import any motorcycles or bubble cars into North America.
• East Land Motors of Brooklyn, New York, 1957
• International Scooters Corporation of Long Island City, New York, 1959-63 . Their contracted sub-distributors were:
  • Schleichler Motors of Oakland, California, for the West Coast
  • Triangle Motorcycles of Chicago, Illinois, for the Midwest
• Scooterama of San Francisco, California, 1963–64
• Schleichler Motors of Oakland, California, 1964–65

Approximately 350 Heinkel Tourists were sold in the United States.