Our Motorcycle Import, The First 70 Years, 1895–1964, Milan Veselý

The new book is the result of many years of research efforts by the author and his friends. It is prepared as an encyclopedia mapping the first 70 years of motorcycle imports to our territory. The main emphasis is placed on the most complete list of brands operating on our market, the time frame of their operation and the determination of their success expressed primarily by the number of units sold. For the most important companies, an analysis of the structure of the type offer is carried out, information is provided about representatives, operational interesting facts, the most important sporting successes and notes on the service life of their machines and their occurrence in today's collections of historic vehicles. The operation of individual brands on our market is supplemented with basic facts from their own company history.

The book begins with a brief historical overview summarizing the first 70 years of our motorcycle imports. The first part follows, dedicated to 54 brands that managed to sell more than 100 motorcycles in our country. Their treatment is significantly more detailed than the treatment of the remaining 219 brands in the second part. The huge number of illustrations, together with the high level of graphic and printing work, gives the publication a representative character. The vast majority of the illustrative material was taken from period prints and albums of period photographs of exclusively domestic origin.

Historical facts were drawn primarily from old Czech and German periodicals and publications. They were only supplemented with information from contemporary Czech literature and the Internet. Most statistical data was taken from archived company reports and from reports of the Czech Statistical Office. To a lesser extent, period almanacs and period magazines served as a source of valuable information. The huge number of illustrations, together with the high level of graphic and printing work, gives the publication a representative character. The vast majority of illustrative material was taken from period printed matter and albums of period photographs of exclusively domestic origin.