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Dutch Motorcycles

Today in Motorcycle History

Gruno Motorcycles

Based in Winschoten, the small bicycle firm produced the first Dutch motorcycle in 1899. That year they built a motor tricycle and a bicycle with a clip-on engine. By the 1900s they were building motorcycles marketed under the brands Gruno, Dreadnought and Nederlandsche Leeuw.

The Gruno company had a very long lifespan and was linked with many other marques, including RAI (RI). It is understood that they may have built mopeds for RS Stokvis and Amstel in the 1950s.

N.B. There are several Dreadnought brands, the most famous perhaps being that of Englishman Harold Karslake, built in 1902. Another was from Birmingham, but there appears to be no other reference to a Dutch Dreadnought motorcycle so perhaps it was actually a bicycle.

Source: Wikipedia NL


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