In Germany – 2010 Van Veen OCR 1000

In Sport by Abhi3 Comments

Post-Sale Update: 29 bids got the price up to $20,099 but that wasn’t enough to meet reserve.

Alright, here’s a bike I’m really excited to share with you. Henk van Veen (Dutch importer of Kreidler two strokes) decided to get into the large-displacement game by developing a new bike with Wankel rotary power – his prototype was a Guzzi V7 frame with a Mazda rotary engine! Eventually, that led to the Van Veen OCR 1000.

Van Veen OCR 1000 - Engine

Let me just start by saying that if you’re interested at all in this nifty bike, check out this very comprehensive (as always) report from Jason Cormier at OddBike – he calls it arguably the best rotary powered bike of the 70s. If you’re lazy, I’ll give you the basics (but seriously, go read that article).

The 996cc rotary engine put down 107 horsepower and 103 pound feet of torque, and that power was pushed through a Porsche-designed transmission and a drive shaft. It was impressive on paper, but also in weight and in price – 700 pounds and $15,000 in a time when you could get a BMW for half that.

Van Veen OCR 1000 - Cockpit

Just 38 bikes were built, and then the tooling and spares were sold off. If you read the story, you’ll know that a “new” Van Veen was announced in 2011 – two Dutchmen got the old tooling and planned on building 10 final bikes. MSRP for the last run? $115,000. This bike for sale is apparently one of those final 10 – as the seller says “Our offered OCR 1000 was finished in 2010 by Mr. Wielinga [one of the two Dutchman that bought the tooling], so that we know offer a perfect OCR 1000.”

Van Veen OCR 1000 - Exhaust

Find this Van Veen for sale in Osnabruck, Germany with bidding up to $9,099 and the reserve not yet met