Prior Motorcycles

A Brief History of the Marque

Prior motorcycles, scooters and mopeds were rebadged Sachs Hercules for the the British market. The name change was due to the existing British brand of Hercules bicycles.

The Prior Viscount scooter was a rebadged Hercules R200 sold in 1958, 1959 and possibly later. One source says the "Prior Viscount had the Messerschmidt bubble car engine with the reverse-running points taken out." (see below). Prior also sold the DKW twin.

Sources: Henshaw, et al.

See also: Prior History

Show/Hide Comments

---

22-Mar-2019
fernandocardoso at fcardoso.pt
Saches Prior (Hércules) 220 K 1961
Estou a restaurar uma Saches Prior (Hércules) 220 K 1961 e pretendo o guarda corrente ou protetor de corrente para este modelo e não consigo encontrar. Tem alguma sugestão?
Muito obrigado.
Saches Prior (Hercules) 220 K 1961
I am restoring a Saches Prior (Hercules) 220 K 1961 and I intend the chain guard or chain protector for this model and I can not find it. Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you very much.
Fernando Cardoso
Leiria - Portugal

• Image posted to Comments.

---

Fri Dec 06 2013
nelson<at>pnpeventos.com
Prior Sachs
Hercules K50
For Sale, in full working condition,
Leiria
Portuguese

---

Sun Jul 28 2013
toddorova<at>hotmail.com
A SACHS Hercules 503 for sale
SACHS Hercules Hercules 503
Hi, I have a vintage Sachs Hercules 503 for sale, bought from Switzerland,in good condition, running.
Bulgaria, Silistra

Ed: The bike is badged as a Prior, so goodness knows how it found its way to Switzerland.

---

Sun Feb 17 2013
pmt1960<at>hotmail.com
value of scooter
prior viscount 1959
i have just been left a viscount prior 1959 which is in very good condition and am trying to find out how much it would be worth and where would be the best place to auction it. I would be grateful for any information you have many thanks
london

• Try the auctions, for a start. Have a look at Bikelinks directory:
  Auctions

---

Tue Oct 04 2011
silverstonepy<at>mail.com

prior viscount r200
quiero venderla.
buenos aires

---

Mon Mar 07 2011
mdickson<at>accelrys dot com
Any info on this Bike
Prior, nurnberg
Hello,
I have just bought this bike and i would love to more about it.
Can you help in anyway.
Thank you,
Marty

---

From mysterybike section:

The Prior Viscount had the Messerschmidt bubble car engine with the reverse-running points taken out. It seemed very fast after the little Lambretta but was only 10 bhp! I used to ride 30 miles along country roads from my home to help construct the Santa Pod Raceway each weekend (about 1963). The trip took 1.1/2 hours on the Lambretta but only 3/4 hour on the Prior!

There was also apparently a Prior Viscount/Hercules R200 1959

This machine came up for auction in 1996:
1958 PRIOR VISCOUNT R200
Estimate £1600-£1800
Hammer Price £1100
Year 1958
Registration number VXA 152
Chassis number 129278
Engine number 129278
Engine capacity (cc) 191

---

If you have a query about Prior machines, please contact us

---