Danish company rode its Nimbus for 40 years

In Denmark around 1918, Peder Fisker and H.M. Nielsen prototyped a four-cylinder motorcycle. But it was Fisker and his sons who, around 1930, brought real success with a new in-line four-cylinder design.

Though they didn't invent the shaft drive, their first production shaft-drive "Nimbus" motorcycles became available in 1920, a few years before BMW started production of its version. Most motorcycles of the time were chain driven.

Of the Fiskers' first design, about 1,300 machines were made before manufacturing ceased in 1924.

Later Fisker and his two sons developed a somewhat more advanced overhead cam four-cylinder motorcycle using shaft drive and a frame made of strap steel. Their Danish company, Fisker and Nielsen, started selling this Nimbus motorcycle in 1934. During World War II, the Danish government purchased many Nimbus motorcycles for use by its troops.

In all, about 12,000 Nimbus motorcycles were manufactured. With little in the way of changes occurring over the years, factory upgrades made on the newest bikes could be easily retro-fitted to earlier machines. Hand shift could be converted to foot shift; larger brakes could be installed, as well as an upgraded fork.

In this 1956 example, note the exposed valve train that allows you to watch the valve actuation!

Competition from better, imported motorcycles and cheap automobiles impacted Nimbus sales. The last Nimbus motorcycles were sold to the Danish government and production ended in 1960.

Nimbus Club USA estimates there are as many as 7,000 machines still in existence, most in Denmark, with about 200 located in the United States.

There are dozens of European motorcycles on view at the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa, Iowa. Altough eight brands from Denmark are noted on a specialist website, Nimbus is the only Danish one most of the museum staff has seen in America.