60 WWW.CLASSICSCOOTERIST.COM
Situated south of Berlin, the Ludwigsfelde
factory was established by Daimler-Benz
in 1936 to make DB 600 engines for
the new Luftwaffe bombers and fighter
aircraft, and during the Second World War
more than 10,000 POWs, forced labourers
and concentration camp prisoners were
forced to work there.
In the immediate postwar years there
was a plethora of German motorcycle
and scooter manufacturers; but following
partition of the country in 1949, those
which came under Soviet control in the
East (AWO,IWL, MZ and Simson) were
merged together under the umbrella of
the state-owned VEB-IFA. Each were
given a mandate to produce a single
type of motor vehicle and this resulted
in IWL (Industriewerke Ludwigsfelde)
manufacturing its first large-wheeled
scooter which carried the model name
of Pitty on its legshield. Powered by a
DKW-derived IFA 125cc single cylinder
two-stroke engine turning out a modest
5.5bhp the three-speed Pitty (priced at
2,300 Marks) was certainly no speedster,
but it earned a reputation for its rugged
build quality and reliability. In 1956 it
was renamed the Wiesel (weasel) SR56
(Stadt-Roller), the engine gained an extra
1bhp and was given a useful fourth gear;
it also received a major facelift which saw
the bike lose its substantial one-piece
legshield and mudguard for a more elegant
suspended guard.
Three years later the Berlin SR59 (like our
test bike) was launched. This retained the
cycle parts of its predecessor: a tubular frame,
flat, chequer-plate light alloy footwell, 12-inch
light alloy wheels, leading link front forks and
the original rear swing girder fork suspension.
And thanks to its 25cc increase in engine
capacity and an overall reduction in weight, the
7.75bhp fan-cooled motor was able to propel
the Berlin along at a happy 50mph.
In its next incarnation in the early 1960s
the Berlin SR59 became the MZ-designed
Troll, an evolution of the theme which
featured re-fashioned bodywork (more
angular with a tunnel in the middle of the
footwell), a fixed hooded headlight, flashers
fitted to the tips of the handlebars and
bigger 14-inch wheels. At the front end
a pair of heavier duty Earles-type forks
took care of absorbing the jolts from the
irregularities in the less-than-perfect East
German roads; and for those riders wishing
for a bit more ‘go’, the two-stroke single
was now turning out 9.5bhp to give the
new scooter a top speed of around 55mph.
In the Eastern Bloc, the Troll was also
marketed by MZ as the Berlin S, but few (if
any) IWLs found their way to the UK.
During its four year production run,
history records 113,943 SR 59s rolled-off
the production lines. Trolls were made at
the East German factory until 1965 when
production was switched from scooters
to IFA W 50 trucks. In 1991 the site was
taken over by Daimler-Benz and it’s now
where Mercedes vans are produced.is all aluminium) and fit a new air filter for its
first long run to that year’s Isle of Wight rally.
I thought that it might well have been the only
IWL there, so you can imagine my surprise
when on Sunday’s rideout, a whole group of
German registered Trolls, Berlins and Weasels
came smoking by!”GERMANIC RIDING STYLE
Since that trip Roy has used the SR59 on
many Lowriders club runs and during the
summer months has a weekly outing to his
place of work, so what’s it like to ride?
There’s no doubt the styling gives the
Berlin the appearance of being a heavy, bulky
machine, but as Roy pointed out, all the body
panels, wheels and rear frame are constructed
from aluminium; this means the SR59 weighs
in at a surprisingly low ready-to-ride 289lb. A
pair of un-damped leading link forks take care
of suspension at the front, while a simple
rubber ring set-up takes care of absorbing the
jolts at the rear.
The four-speed two-stroke engine is
centrally mounted in the frame which gives
a reassuringly purposeful and neutral feel to
the handling, while the drive to the 12-inchrear wheel is taken care of by a fully enclosed
chain. The foot-change gearbox selects all of
its four speeds in a purposeful manner and
while the IWL might lack the refinements of
some of its rivals produced during the same
period in the West ,the East German machine
is certainly interesting and ruggedly built.
A pair of well-padded single seats – which
Roy has had re-covered – are provided for
the comfort of the rider and passenger and
in the event of a puncture, a spare wheel is
carried underneath the quickly detachable rear
carrier. The 150cc two-stroke engine turns out
7.75bhp at 5100 revs giving a top speed of
around 50mph and the single leading brakes
are some of the best and are more than up
to bringing the combined weight of 131kg
scooter and rider to a controlled halt. Cruising
along the south Dorset coast road alongside
Chesil beach, the Berlin was in its element
and certainly in a different world to 30 years
ago when I sighted my first IWL in the austere
and oppressive surroundings of the old DDR.
Roy has got himself a little gem and it’s one I
would be glad to add to the Westlake garage.
Big thanks to Roy for his time and enthusiasm.
Andy WestlakeThe story of IWL