We’ve seen a few vintage snowmobiles here recently, and the most interesting feature of the Hercules W-2000 motorcycle is the Sachs-designed Wankel rotary engine, used by several snowmobile manufacturers in the late 60s and early 70s. This 1977 Hercules W-2000 Wankel-powered motorcycle can be found here on Facebook Marketplace in Belchertown, Massachusetts, and they’re asking $8,500. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Brian S. for the tip!
This has to be one of a handful of the most unique motorcycle types of all time, at least in my opinion. We’ve seen two Hercules Wankel W-2000s here on Barn Finds over the last decade or so, here and here. In 1886, Hercules started making bicycles, and motorcycles came along in 1904. 70 years later, the W-2000 was available for purchase. It was said to be the first rotary-powered motorcycle offered for sale to the public through a dealer network.
The more I get into vintage snowmobiles, the more I realize that the rotary machines sometimes had a Sachs rotary similar to the one in this Hercules. The rotary didn’t last for too many years in snowmobile production, but a few makers offered them, including Skiroule, Scorpion, and Polaris. Arctic Cat stuck it out the longest with Sachs Wankel engines. OMC came up with its own rotary snowmobile engine for their Evinrude and Johnson sleds in the early 1970s, after Sachs wasn’t in the snowmobile game anymore. I thought it was interesting that this same basic single-rotor engine was similar to what was used in some snowmobiles. You can see that this W-2000 is in somewhat rough condition and could use a full restoration. The W-2000 is a bit low, clearance-wise, and reviewers didn’t care for that and said it’s best used as a commuter rather than a touring bike.
The cost of restoring a mini bike isn’t cheap, so imagine taking on a Hercules W-2000! Speaking of cost, Hagerty is at $5,600 for a #4 fair-condition example, which may be above the condition of this one, since there’s a lot of surface rust, lots of chrome to redo, and it isn’t running. At $12,100 for a #2 excellent example, that asking price doesn’t leave much room for restoration costs. That being said, the seller says it has 71 miles on it, but we don’t know its history at all. I’m assuming it was stored for decades, but who knows.
Around 1,800 of the W-2000 Wankel Hercules motorcycles were made between 1974 and 1977, and the seller believes this is a 1977 model. The engine is a Sachs-designed Wankel single-rotor 294-cc engine with around 30 horsepower and 25 lb-ft of torque when new. It’s backed by a 6-speed manual transmission, and although fairly light at 380 pounds, performance wasn’t up to a regular motorcycle engine. This one has compression but isn’t in running condition. You would be the star of almost any vintage motorcycle show with a Hercules W-2000. Have any of you seen one?
Never knew about rotary snowmobiles until seeing it here, Scotty, learning new stuff is a daily occurrence on BF it seems!
It’d have to be a hard core bike freak to bring this back to its original life but it’d be worth it to ride to a Bikes and Coffee klatch.
But IIRC, these were the same engines used in the Norton Rotary Commanders that every bike magazine initially bemoaned in their extended ride tests because of oil usage but thought them strong pulling and smooth otherwise.
Good catch, Brian S. and thank you for the info, Scotty.
The Nortons were twin-rotor engines with the crank across the frame; these are inline – like a Guzzi – I think.
If there was/is any doubt as to what is going through this guys head, vehicle wise, this should confirm, it’s not normal,,,whatever THAT is. I’ve actually heard of this bike, but never thought I’d see one here. That’s how lucky we and the site are to have him.
As said, I had a Johnson rotary snowmobile, I got for nothing, like new, had 50 miles on it. I never did attempt to start it, and eventually took it to the dump, a fate of the few sold, I’m sure. I never knew there were “other” rotary motors, like hot dogs, pretty much all the same, and quite frankly, like most, didn’t care. The Mazdas pretty much killed that deal for many. Not mentioned, unless I missed it, was the Suzuki rotary motorcycle, and probably the one most are familiar with. I think Suzuki was the last holdout on a 2 cycle motorcycle, and dabbled with the rotary as an alternative to 4 strokes( just the opposite of Honda) and still sold about 6,000 RE5s, so not a total dud. The name was the key there, Suzuki, as I read this bike only sold about 1700 units, making it incredibly rare. I’m sure some are very familiar with the rotary, and might be fun restored,,,and with guys like the author, it’s entirely possible. Cool find.
I owned a ’76 Suzuki rotary, the RE5 back in the early 80s. It wasn’t overly powerful but it made a wonderful tourer. I took it to Nebraska and back, from Oregon. They are worth big bucks now if they’re in good shape.