Do you know Poland in the late 1970s produced the most motorcycles in the world? Today, it does not produce any. It’s worth knowing how it happened?

And all thanks to the Motorcycle WSK produced by the PZL communication equipment factory in Swidnik. The motorcycle prototype was established in 1952, and its mass production under the WSK brand only started in 1955. Motorcycle WSK was a simple and cheap construction. The one has become a very popular individual means of transport in Poland. In 1974, production reached a record level of 105.000 copies per year. In the same year, Marek Michel on the Polish motorcycle WSK125 toured around the globe. He passed the 40.000 km motorcycle and took 115 days or almost 4 months on the go.

The construction of a motorcycle WSK has been gradually modernized. In 1972 in the team of Henryk Zaleski a model with a capacity of 175 cm3 and power up to 16 km was created. For foreign markets (GB, USA), models improved were made. A big challenge was a order motorcycle WSK to Australia. There, the motorcycle was to be intended for shepherds of sheep and replace a horse who drank too much water which was embarrassing in transport. However, the condition was so that the motorcycle could be rolled aside without the effect of flooding the carburetor fuel. For this purpose, the idea of Wojtek Kulesza was used and the motorcycle was held by the membrane carburetor Walbro sed on airplanes.

At a time when in Poland, a motorcycle was a basic means of transport, foreign producers in capitalist countries adjusted their production to a weakening purchasing power. The car market turned out to be the reason. The car has become more accessible. Motorcycles were therefore produced in the increasing smaller series and this resulted in the edition of production costs. There was a completely different situation in Poland. For most citizens, the car was practically unattainable. The sale of cars took place for records and the car cost property. In these circumstances, the production of motorcycles seemed to be not threatened.

However, in 1978, interest in motorcycles in Poland began to fall. Many people appreciated the luxury owning on the road travel roof over the head. Poland has a cool climate with rain and snow for half a year. That’s why the car has become a desire and a symbol of material social distinctions. The motorcycle started to associate as a rural agent for losers. So far, a popular motorcycle in Poland began to bring ashamed to his owner.

A few years later in 31 October 1985, he pulled from the production tape, the last model of a motorcycle WSK, it was the last motorcycle produced in Poland. For 30 years, over one million copies of the Motorcycle WSK were produced.

At the beginning of the 1980s, the motorcycle changed its meaning. He ceased to be a communicative necessity and became a hobby product sometimes an environmentally iconic. The new body of the motorcycle required sophisticated solutions used by the motive in sports or almost artistic finish. In Poland, in contradictions to the residents of Western Europe there were no clients for such expensive products. Motorcycle industry in Poland ceased to exist. Please note how important for the local economy country is the status of wealth of its citizens. (Brux)

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BRUXnews
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