Heinkel Tourist: Under Repair

I spotted this Heinkel Tourist at Carl's a couple of weeks ago. Other than the ongoing repairs to the paint, it looked like a near mint example to me. I'd love to have one of my own some day but it'll have to wait until I get the couple of Vespa and Lambretta that I want first!

While admiring the Heinkel I couldn't help but notice the size of the windshield on the scooter. Absolutely huge and although I initially thought it would only suit a big scooter designed for touring like the Heinkel, I've seen at least one similarly large windshield on a Vespa PX unlike my own. In fairness, it didn't look too bad and in fact it looked quite good. Must give it a try some day...

Halloween Weekend Heinkel

A request from my brother-in-law was a good enough excuse to pop over to arguably Dublin's largest bike shop, Bikeworld. The place is normally known for being expensive as well as unpopular with most of the scootering community. Something to do with Bikeworld's refusal to sell Vespa's legendary PX (when it was in production) even though the company was and is listed as Vespa's sole distributor in Ireland.


Maybe its the recession or maybe their reputation for expensiveness is a bit unfair but whatever it is, I was in a way, pleasantly surprised when I found a proper Dainese jacket for only €65! OK, it was pretty basic actually. The material looked like it could be shredded to pieces if one were to trip off their scooter, never mind a real crash but for that amount of money, I wouldn't be complaining.


But, before I even got to the jacket, I was even more surprised with what greeted me in front of the store...

The Heinkel looked untouched and unrestored from the day it rolled of the production line during the 60's. This particular scooter was definitely in working condition as by the time I walked out of the store, it was gone. A shame I didn't get the chance to meet its owner for a good chat about this wonderful piece of German engineering. Well, Dublin's a small enough city. I might just see the Heinkel again.