OTTEN

300cc - 1901

Dutch pioneers

The history of the Dutch motorcycle industry is somewhat thin but nevertheless began as early as 1900. A bicycle with an engine mounted above the front wheel was displayed at the Berlin Show. Then came the Otten, built at Breda in 1901.

Scandal on the Streets

Pioneers of motorcycling in Holland, the three Otten brothers of Breda – Frans, Anton and Adri – built their first engine in the workshop of their father, Pieter. They built a dozen bikes in total, including the oldest-known ladies' model. Their sister Petra, said her outraged parents, "disgraced the family name" by riding it through the streets of Breda.

From Autos to Gas Masks

The two examples now displayed in the Dutch National Motor Museum at Raamsdonksveer were discovered in the family's possession in 1953 by Frans Otten (then aged 72), but the Otten family's Renault garage still preserves a 1910 Otten and a restored 1901 ladies' model (doubtless the one on which Petra scandalized the citizens of Breda). It was a Belgian Minerva that gave the Ottens the idea of building motorcycles. An Otten even took part in races on a small cycle track near Breda, touching speeds of up to 45 mph. The Otten family also sold the first automobile in Holland, a French Georges Richard, which was delivered in pieces. During WWI, they built hand-operated corn mills, and Frans Otten and a Captain Acaden developed a gas mask, which they tested on goats before selling it for a monumental amount.

SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 300cc air-cooled single-cylinder four-stroke

Valves: automatic intake, side exhaust

Fuel System: surface carburetor (1901); Longuemare pulverization unit (1902); Zenith (1911)

Transmission: direct-belt drive

Suspension: none

Brakes: cycle-type rim (front & rear)

Wheels: wire clincher (front & rear)

Weight: 78 lb

Maximum Speed: 43 mph

With its elegant white rubber tires, the Otten was available with a patent "anatomical" saddle (lefthand machine) to cushion ample Hollanders riding on cobblestone streets.