Tiny Terror: Meet the 1959 Harley-Davidson Hummer
Get familiar with a tiny, low-displacement motorcycle that’s a piece of Harley history.
We’re fascinated by Harley-Davidson history here at H-D Forums. It makes us happy when other websites take note of some of the cooler footnotes in the company’s history.
Last week, our friends at Ride Apart wrote up this cool little 1959 Harley-Davidson Hummer 125 that they saw on Bring A Trailer. The “125” in its name stands for the engine’s minuscule displacement. That’s not in cubic inches, either: this tiny two-stroke engine displaces just 125 cubic centimeters.
As you can imagine, there’s no fire-breathing American V-twin to be found here. What’s your idea of a small Harley-Davidson? An 883 Sportster? Perhaps a Street 500 or a 750? All of those are monsters compared to this tiny motorcycle.
With just a single-cylinder engine and 125ccs, this bike was certainly no speed demon. Created as an entry-level budget model, this bike was sold without many of the parts we take for granted.
There’s no rear suspension to speak of, and no speedometer, either. There are no mirrors, no horn, and you can forget about brake lights or turn signals. That’s just as well, since there’s also no battery on board. The previous owner of the bike seen here added the taillight, likely a unit re-purposed from a moped or a small scooter.
Harley-Davidson has something of a history of building their small bikes overseas. Currently, the Street 750 and the Streetfighter are built in India, and in 1960 – the year after this Hummer was built – Harley-Davidson bought half of Aermacchi, an Italian firm that would build small Harley-Davidson motorcycles through the 1960s and 1970s.
This little Harley-Davidson Hummer is no different. It was originally sold in its home country, Germany, as a DKW RT125. After World War II, this motorcycle was sold in several Allied countries under several different names, as the original DKW drawings were distributed as war reparations. In England, this bike was sold as a BSA, while in the Soviet Union, it became known as the Minsk.
The Harley Hummer was intended to compete with the small, inexpensive Japanese motorcycles that were just starting to make an impact on the American market. While the stripped-down Hummer was only sold from 1955 through 1959, there were several variations of the DKW RT125 that Harley-Davidson sold from 1948 through 1966.
Photos: Bring A Trailer
