Hoffmann (motorcycle)

Hoffmann Gouverneur

1953 Hoffmann S 300 Gouverneur
Manufacturer	Hoffmann-Werke
Also called	MP-250 S 300
Production	MP-250: 1951–1954 S 300: 1953–1954
Assembly	Lintorf
Class	standard
Engine	OHV flat-twin engine MP-250: 248 cc S 300: 298 cc
Bore / stroke	MP-250: 58 mm × 47 mm (2.3 in × 1.9 in) S 300: 61 mm × 51 mm (2.4 in × 2.0 in)
Power	MP-250 (1951-2): 11 hp (8.2 kW) at 4500 rpm MP-250 (1953-4): 14.5 hp (10.8 kW) at 4800 rpm S 300: 17 PS (13 kW)
Transmission	four speed foot shift
Frame type	Pressed steel spine frame with detachable double cradle
Suspension	Front: Inverted telescopic forks Rear: plunger
Brakes	drums front & rear
Tyres	3.25 x 19
Weight	MP-250: 130 kg (290 lb) S 300: 150 kg (330 lb) (wet)

Hoffmann was a bicycle manufacturer in Ratingen-Lintorf, Germany. Between 1948 and 1954 the company also manufactured motorcycles. It made a range of models using engines from 125cc to 250cc made by ILO, and the Gouverneur, which had a transversely-mounted 248 cc flat twin four-stroke engine designed by Richard Küchen, and shaft drive. The Gouverneur was developed into the MP 250-2 and finally, in 1953, the S 300 model.

From 1949 to 1954 Hoffmann also made at least 60,000 Vespa motor scooters under licence. A licensing dispute brought this to an end in 1954. At the same time Hoffmann also withdrew from making its own motorcycles, and had further legal problems with their microcar, the Auto-Kabine.

Jakob Oswald Hoffmann moved his Solinger Bicycle Factory to Lintorf, near Düsseldorf, shortly after the end of World War II. In the immediate postwar era the factory made household goods, tools, and bicycles. The factory began making motorcycles in 1948.

On 9 August 1949, Hoffmann's factory was granted the first licence to manufacture Piaggio's Vespa scooter. One month later, on 9 September 1949, the factory changed its name to Hoffmann-Werke. Hoffmann made thousands of Vespas each year from 1949 to 1953, ultimately making at least 60,000 Vespas by the end of production.

In 1951, Hoffmann introduced the Gouverneur, a 250 cc four-stroke flat-twin engine motorcycle with shaft drive. The Gouverneur, designed by noted motorcycle designer Richard Küchen, expanded Hoffmann's range upmarket from their existing line of two-stroke ILO-engined motorcycles. Both the frame and the engine were new designs, and the development costs of the Gouverneur were very high. This was compounded by quality control problems caused by a workforce without experience in making engines.

In 1953, the Gouverneur's power output was increased from 11 hp (8.2 kW) at 4500 rpm to 14.5 hp (10.8 kW) at 4800 rpm

Hoffmann built the Auto-Kabine 250 microcar in the last quarter of 1954. This was a copy of the Isetta, using the Gouverneur's 250 cc flat-twin engine, and featuring a single suicide door on the right side of the car instead of the Isetta's door on the front.BMW, the official licence-holder for Isetta production in Germany, sued Hoffmann, forcing them to end production after selling slightly more than 100 Auto-Kabine 250s for DM 2,900 each.